Fun times with Gramma & Papa Hires!

The girls and I were lucky enough to have Rich's Mom come and stay with us while he and his dad went on a fishing trip with some of my family and other friends up to Canada. It sure was nice to have her help with our energetic girls. :) We had so much fun exploring and showing her around our "new" home and areas! Audrey & Lauren were thrilled when they spotted her coming down the gate and could hardly let her get a word in edge-wise while we were waiting for her luggage. :)

Audrey was beyond THRILLED with her new "purple flying unicorn".  ;)  She's definitely in a unicorn phase right now and promptly wanted her face painted with a unicorn...and then a puppy!  :)  We took gramma to Kid City, a local children's museum, and showed her all the fun stuff there.

On the weekend we hit a local Strawberry festival.  A beautiful day and we all had fun!  Who wouldn't love to slide down a giant blow-up slide, play some drums, go for a tractor ride, feed some llamas, enjoy some strawberry kettle corn, decorate some maracas and end the day with a cool balloon kitty and balloon princess crown!  :)

Sunday was Father's Day and we missed having Rich and his Dad with us but got some pictures and videos of the girls programs at church and enjoyed a yummy lunch out.  Rich's mom even helped me transplant my herb garden using my Topsy Turvy product from the Strawberry Festival.  Gramma got the girls a new ball sprinkler toy - a perfect afternoon for that!

Monday we headed down to New Haven to see the ocean and play at the beach. The one we wanted to go to was charging $30 a car to enter!!! Yikes, we drove around and found a free smaller one that had a cute little kiddie park too.  Mom and I thought it was still a little chilly but the girls were begging to put their swimsuits on and loved playing in the sand and water.  That night was more facepainting...  (Fairies for both!)

We surprised the girls and took them to see Madagascar 3! They LOVED it - we did too! Super fun and our last night before Rich and his dad came home.

Daddy's HOME!! Rich's flight got in first and the girls were so excited to see some of the fish he caught. I can't believe it traveled so well and was still frozen solid!  They got to try on some of his gear and then it was time to pick up Papa and head to lunch.  We took them to see Mark Twain's (aka Sam Clemens') house and toured around there.  Fun to see some new places for us too!

Next up was the Elizabeth Park rose gardens.  It reminded us a bit of the rose gardens back in MN.  The girls were in their elements, running around looking, touching and smelling all the beautiful flowers.  They definitely had more than roses and we will be back here many times I'm sure.  :)

The next morning we said our goodbyes as Papa and Gramma had to head back home.  :(  We had such a great visit and were so thankful for all their help with the girls and with our house and yard.  Until next time...  Here's a little clip of Audrey mastering this spin ride at the park!  :)