Gramma and Grampa McGifford came to Ottawa for a week and it was pretty non-stop activity for the kids . . . which we're now paying for - hehehe! Oh - and so are you because this post is kinda picture heavy - but hey - we have to take lots of pictures when you only see them once or twice a year!
They flew in on Thursday night and that's when the showing off started.
Kaleb wanted to show off how strong he was using Navia as his weights.
Then it was off to piano lessons and Kaleb choose to have Grampa as his helper. Grampa did a great job helping him!
Friday morning came bright and early (especially because Gramma and Grampa were still on Saskatchewan time!!!) and we had to divide up to get everything done. Grampa was on dentist duty with Kaleb. Because we only have 2 vehicles he was the lucky one to bike - so Kaleb and Grampa biked to the dentist and then they biked Kaleb to school. Unfortunately they kinda forgot his backpack - so Kaleb went off to class while Grampa biked home to find it, and when it wasn't at home he had to bike back to the dentist's - found it, and biked back to the school. Kaleb came to pick it up and Grampa said good-bye, walked outside and then found Kaleb's waterbottle. Yep - another trip back into the school but this time Grampa got to go all the way up to his classroom to deliver it. So a little trip to the dentist ended up giving Grampa a whole lot of exercise and no nap time!
While Grampa was keeping busy, Navia was on a field trip with her class to Valleyview Little Animal Farm she felt pretty lucky because Gramma and Mom were able to come along with her!
It was so funny watching Navia and her friend on the see saw - the boys on the other side were a lot heavier so that each time the boys hit the ground the girls flew up in the air and just screamed and laughed like crazy! There was no way that you could watch without joining their laughter.
It took Navia a little while, but she found the perfect pumpkin to bring home and show Grampa and Daddy.
We got home in the afternoon we had lunch and then Navia and I took Grampa and Gramma to Watson's Mill in Manotick - just 10 minutes away from us. The Mill is gorgeous with the stonework and being right beside the river, etc - it's a nice place to just hang out.
Grampa bought Navia some duck food from the Mill and they had fun feeding the ducks. When she moved from the rock they followed her to the grass and one even started eating from her hand - which she said "feeled ticklish".
The miller saw that dad was interested in how everything worked so he turned on one of the water turbines so that we could see it all moving. It was really neat. The miller told us to come back on Sunday and he'd be grinding flour - which seemed like a pretty cool idea.
If you know my mom you know that she couldn't have a grandchild here without taking pictures of them - and this is a pretty good one of our not-so-little girl!
When we got back Navia and I started on dinner - she's a big help in the kitchen you know . . .
. . . while Grampa and Gramma went to the school to pick up the kids and walk them home - which of course meant a stop at the school playground.
Whenever there was spare time you'd hear "who wants to go on the trampoline" and well . . . Grampa would usually head out there and they even got Gramma to go on too!!!
On Saturday we decided to go out pumpkin picking - not just to a farm that had them already picked, but to an actual pumpkin patch. This was a first for Grampa and it was a lot of fun for all of us.
We took a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch and then the hard task of choosing just the right pumpkin began.
Navia found her "perfect" pumpkin pretty fast.
Kaleb thought this was the perfect one - but then found another one which was the perfect one - and then another one, and another one and well . . . finally he decided on one with Daddy's help.
He kinda liked that there was a worm stuck to this one . . . boys!?!?!?!
Emma had a lot of fun finding hers - which again took a while.
When we got back from the farm we started on making our Thanksgiving desserts - well - the kids did! Emma and Gramma made a couple of great pie crusts for the pumpkin pie and the deep apple pie, while Navia and Daddy made the pumpkin pie filling and I worked on the Chocolate Cheesecake (yep - that's what Daddy ordered for Thanksgiving dessert - weird, but yummy!!!)
On Sunday we went to our church in Stittsville and then to a restaurant for lunch. I love it when someone else cooks!!! On the way back home we stopped at Watson's Mill to see the working mill - which makes the entire place shake.
Emma took a turn as making flour the manual way.
When Gramma is around it's the only real time that we can have a family picture . . . Thanks Mom!
Emma took a turn behind the camera too - taking Gramma and Grampa's picture. I'm thinking she takes after Gramma!!!
On Thanksgiving Monday Daddy and Grampa took the kids out fishing while Gramma and I started on the meal prep. By the time that we got out there they were on their second fishing spot.
This one had some great leaves to play in, which was an added bonus!!! If you don't like destroying leaves and all out leaf war, then I'd suggest you quickly pass the next pictures because there was a lot of that going on!
The kids had fun showing off their airplane flying skills to Grampa and Gramma so that they could see how high they can fly in the house.
After our Thanksgiving dinner we were pretty stuffed and decided to go for a walk before we started into our desserts (yep - it is plural!!!)
We went to Hog's Back Falls and had fun just hanging out there.
We were trying to stretch Navia so that her tummy could eat more dessert - and by the amount that she ate, I think it worked!!!
On Tuesday it was back to school and work. Gramma and Grampa went to meet Mom's aunts for breakfast while I worked on my lesson plans and the kids were all at school.
Grampa has discovered how much nicer our internet speed than theirs. I'm actually thinking that they should NEVER get high-speed because Grampa would just turn into an older version of Kaleb - hehehe!
When Grampa and Gramma come over the games come out. I was able to catch just a couple pics of what this looks like - they are competitive, but also the older ones are really good with letting Navia have a chance.
Gramma and Grampa also did some gardening around the place (okay - Grampa did the lawn and Gramma more of the gardening) and Navia had fun helping out.
On Tuesday nights Kaleb and Emma play basketball while I'm teaching. This time they had family there to cheer them on.
They had to leave early Wednesday morning (7am - yikes) and when the kids woke up the first thing they talked about was wishing that a week was longer than seven days because they had so much fun with their grandparents . . . and well, I kinda agreed. It is so nice to have family around and watch the kids just love them and have fun with them. The hardest part is definitely saying goodbye.
So . . . remember that if you come out here we will have a hard time letting go of you . . . we miss our family a ton and love them even more!!!
