A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

The visit was short and sweet this summer, but my parents did fly in for a couple days to see us and their parents in Visalia (all 4 of them are still living). It was a FULL week, so here goes with the "report" of their visit. We picked them up on Monday morning in Sacramento (it was more than $200 cheaper, per ticket, for them to fly in there) and stayed for the night to enjoy some of what Sacramento has to offer. We checked into our hotel and walked the river walk a mile into Old Town to visit the Train Museum that afternoon. We also wandered around Old Town, stopping for a snack of ice cream and to "pan for gold" in front of the Gold Rush Discovery Museum. We headed back to the hotel down the river walk and passed the Sacramento River Water Intake structure. It's a pretty amazing structure! We walked out onto it, into the middle of the Sacramento River and enjoyed the cool breeze! Then we finished our walk back to the hotel, cooled off with a jump in the pool, and then drove to the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown (which is housed in the old train depot, fitting for the day). YUM! Tuesday, after checking out of the hotel, we headed to Fairfield to visit the Jelly Belly Factory. Did you know that every Jelly Belly in the world originates from the factory in Fairfield? Well, after our tour we headed home for a relaxing dinner with my dad's sister, Yvette, and her family. We enjoyed chatting and watching the amazing All-Star game all the way to its conclusion! Wednesday we drove to Visalia for visits with the grandparents but managed to make it home in time to catch the last matinee showing of Wall-E. This was Violet's first movie in the theater (minus one she slept through in her car seat at 8 months old). All the kids loved it! Thursday morning my mom got some one-on-one time with the kids as Randy, my dad, and I went golfing in Madera. Thursday afternoon was finally a chance to relax. Friday, my parents drove back to Visalia for one more visit with their parents, and after a small shopping trip into town that afternoon we had a family BBQ to end our time together. Saturday morning we dropped the kiddos off at Grandma Arlene's house so that we could drive my parents back to Sacramento for their 4 p.m. flight. Like I said, short and sweet, but packed with lots of fun! We were so happy they could come out! Even with today's technology (ie. our blog, iChat, pictures and phone calls) there truly is nothing like being in the same room with someone you love. I am so thankful that Randy was able to take the whole week off to be with the family, and that my parents took the time and the money to be with us and our kids! Thanks Mom and Dad for a great visit! Enjoy all the pictures! Panning for "gold". Looking at stuff in the train museum. In front of the train engine! Grandpa and Audrey checking out the trains. Grandma with the girls at the toy trains. Audrey's photo of me and my mom. Violet and I ready for the tour! They don't let you take photos once you're in the factory...so we only got a couple right before. Audrey waiting in line with her balloon flower. Randy and I in front of a portrait of Ronald Reagan (the president that helped make the Beans famous) made entirely of Jelly Belly Beans! A game of baseball in the front yard. Just Isaac being Isaac! Daddy and Violet goofing off. Audrey's ready for the pitch! Grandma and Violet sharing some popcorn.