I'm Going to Let the Sheet Start Us Off...

That's right. Josh's parents came to visit last week. In true Alaska fashion, we wrote a welcome message to them on a bedsheet, and hung it from the walkway overpass that we drive under every time we make our way to Walmart, church, or anything other part of our town besides our street. So, that was Saturday, which was also the day they came in. Sort of. Mom and Dad actually arrived at midnight, so technically it was Sunday they got here, as Sunday was the day we all saw them since Josh went by himself to the airport.

Sunday we took it easy and went to church. That was pretty much it for Sunday. The boys didn't really take long to warm up to their grandparents, and soon was being had by all.

Monday we went to the Alaska Native Heritage Museum in the morning. It is really a neat place. We got to see all kinds of different living accomodations, and a dance performance/"lecture".

While the boys did incredibly well while we were there, Deacon decided he was ready to go long before Grandpa was. Grandpa graciously agreed to leave early, but unfortunately we weren't quick enough getting out and Deacon had a bit of a meltdown. We got everyone back home, fed them some lunch, put the boys down for naps, then Mom and Dad headed back on their own to finish up the museum.

After naptime we went for a little hike to Eagle River (since it's right across the street). While a bit muddy, it was a nice time. Many a rock was thrown (or skipped [or attempted to be skipped]), as were some sticks.

Then it was back to the house for dinner, baths, movie time, bedtime for the kids, game time for the adults (which actually took place during the rest of the naptimes and bedtimes - yay), and then bedtime for the adults.

Tuesdsay I had a meeting to attend in the morning, so Josh took the kids and his parents to the zoo. The zoo here has a fabulous family pass, which we got, which allows free entry for both parents, all kids, and all grandparents, for a full year. Plus we get a big discount on extra tickets. That being said, if you ever come visit us, expect a trip to the zoo.

Tuesday afternoon we just hung out around the house, ordered some pizzas (and didn't realize until too late that the wrong size had been delivered - oh well), and rested for the afternoon. You know, as much as you can rest with Zeke and Deacon around.

Wednesday Josh took his dad fishing in a somewhat local stream. The plan was they would fish all morning and when the boys got up from their a.m. rest time that Mom and I would load the boys up and join Josh and Dad at the river. A good plan. However, we got there and it was chilly, and muddy, and there were a TON of people there. Seriously, who were these people and why weren't they at work at 11am on a Wednesday? Sadly, this meant there was nothing for the boys to do there since they couldn't really make noise (they might scare the fish), and they couldn't do their all time favorite activity of throwing rocks in the water (again, because of the scaring of the fish thing). So, we got there, hung out for, um, 10 minutes, then went back home, had lunch and put the boys down for naps.

Of course, I was already a little jaded getting out there because Josh's original directions for me were less than helpful and when Mom tried calling from the road to figure out if we'd gone too far or not far enough or whatever, no one answered either cell phone. Josh did call back quickly though, and we figured it out. I was just a little annoyed, is all. It was sad it didn't work out, because if no one else had been there (like we figured), it would have been a fun time for - the boys anyway.

SO, onwards we go. Wednesday afternoon went much like Tuesday afternoon only Josh did a little "fish fry" action for dinner. Yum. And the kids played in the yard. And that all for Wednesday.

Thurday morning we went to the Alaska Botanical Gardens. It was very nice. A little smaller than I imagined for some reason, but beautiful. The herb garden, in particular, was a favorite. There were also mushrooms all over that we were told to leave alone as there was a mushroom walk scheduled for the afternoon. And for the most part we did leave the mushrooms alone. Some pictures were taken, and Deacon did plow through a little grouping of two or so, but that's about all the damage we did.

After naps, we went to the playground at the local elementary school with Grandma (Grandpa stayed home a took a nap of his own). I had pulled pork going in the crock pot, so there was no worrying about getting home/staying home to make dinner. We had a good time at the park. There was an after school thing going on, so there were a bunch of big kids around for a bit. Zeke LOVED this and tried so hard to keep up with them, never realizing that he was being ignored (for the most part, one boy did see him there and gave him a high-five). Once the big kids left though, we had a great time climbing and sliding and swinging.

After the boys went to bed, we spent a few more hours hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa before they had to leave for the airport. Their flight was at 1am (Friday), so Josh took them to the airport and I went to bed.

All in all, I'd say it was a great visit. Exhausting, but just the right amount of time, and just really great. Thanks Mom and Dad/Grandma and Grandpa for coming to see us. We love you!

(Oh, and if you want to see the rest of the pictures from the week, I have them up on flickr, HERE.)