Grandma Kris comes for a visit!

It is a beautiful thing that we live on the west coast for many, many reasons. One of the best reasons is the close proximity in which we live to family. Granted, we are not in the same state, and we are roughly 17+ hours away. However, the opportunity for affordable airfare and short flight time is abundant, and we already have received phone calls from people looking for the next best time to pay us a visit!

My mom decided to fly down and play with us here, in sunny California, over the long holiday weekend. We had more than a fabulous time! She arrived on Saturday and we immediately hit the ground running with our itinerary for fun!
We spent a couple of hours at Redondo Beach on Saturday afternoon, basking in the sunshine, playing in the surf, and sharing life together on the sand. It was beautiful! Mom was beside herself with glee and giddiness, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching her reunite with Maddie. We enjoyed a nice dinner at home, followed by a yummy dessert and special viewing of "Mamma Mia," one of our favorites, and one my mom had never seen.

On Sunday, we woke up and got ready for church. About 10 minutes prior to leaving, we heard a loud, odd sound coming from the kitchen. Brant turned the corner into the kitchen to find our pretty little girl, in her pretty little dress, covered in pears and pear juice! Ack! We worked as a team to clean up the kitchen, throw her into the bathtub, get her into a new dress, blow-dry her hair and managed to make it to church on time. Lesson learned from this experience? Maddie knows how to open the refrigerator. Oh, the joys. :)

We had a lazy Sunday afternoon, which was a wonderful thing for everyone. After Maddie's nap, we drove over to Griffith Park, intending to go up to the observatory and see the Hollywood sign. Unfortunately, there was no parking available anywhere near the observatory, and due to time, we thought it would be best to bag it this time around. Mom, we owe you this next time! We still managed to find something fun to do. We found the historic Merry-go-Round. I don't know much about it, but it was definitely old! We arrived right as it was finishing its last run for the day. Maddie was delighted to sit on a stationary horse right outside the gate.That evening, we pulled out "Just Dance" for the Wii and practiced our dance moves - it was a lot of fun! We didn't stay up too late, because we wanted to be well rested for our next day's event. Can you guess where we went?
We spent all of Monday at Disneyland!! 13 1/2 hours, to be exact. The most important fact to share about this trip was that it was the first time my mom has been to Disneyland in 20 years! It was really, really special to be able to share this with her. She had a fantastic time and fell into the magic immediately. I'm pretty sure we hit just about every major ride in the park. Mom and Maddie both got "ears" and wore them proudly. Seriously, how cute are they?!Brant and I do own some ourselves, but they are in storage down in Portland at the moment. We are still trying to find them, and when we do, we will wear them loud and proud!
Maddie didn't try too hard to pull the sword out of the stone. She thought her Daddy was too cute!..The most memorable part of the day for me was riding on the big roller coasters with my mom and hearing her scream. I mean, SCREAM. She was not quiet, and it was almost as though she wasn't even stopping to take a breath! It was hilarious! We went on the Matterhorn, and she decided she'd turn right back around and go on it with Brant (there wasn't even 3 minutes between rides for her!). She was a trooper all day and knew how to play! :)My mom had to leave on Wednesday. She spent Tuesday with Brant and Maddie, while I went to work. Our entire time together was spectacular, truly. We had such a great time! The weather was perfect, the company awesome, and the memories will be cherished forever. Thank you, again, Mom! We can't wait to have you come back!!