Grandma and Papa Come to Celebrate Samuel Turning 2

Grandma Pat and Papa Harry came to visit from Illinois! They arrived on Wednesday, February 11 and left on Monday, the 16. We had a nice and busy time with them.

Thursday...................

We spent time around the house... baked and decorated Valentine sugar cookies and my mom and Harry did some grocery shopping for me mostly in preparation for Samuel's 2nd birthday party.

Friday....................

It was Samuel's actual birthday and Don had the day off! So, we got an early start and had breakfast at IHOP before we headed down to Washington D.C. We went to the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. We hadn't been since they renovated and I don't think we had ever taken the kids there. They had a whole section on transportation. I was pleasantly surprised at how much the boys enjoyed looking at everything. They loved all the trains, old cars, motorcycles, buses, etc. and Samuel spent the entire time walking and avoiding the stroller. He did great! He slowly walked around with a very curious look on his face the entire time. The boys also enjoyed the kids hands-on part of the museum before we departed there around 12:30 p.m.

Getting home at a decent time gave me time to start working on Samuel's heart-shaped birthday cake. Then Friday night my mom, Harry and I enjoyed the movie "Martian Child" which was cute.

Saturday....................

It was Valentine's Day and the day of Samuel's birthday party! And Benjamin had reminded me several times that Samuel was not actually two until he blew out his birthday candle. hmm. Who knew? His party wasn't until 4 p.m. so we had plenty of time for some last minute preparations and naps for the kids. We had some good friends over as well as my parents here and it seemed to fill up our house! The kids had a ball just playing and getting into all the toys. We did a small craft project which was quick and easy. I made lasagna and salad and ordered a couple of heart shaped pizzas from Papa John's. Everything went well and it was nice to visit with our friends.

Samuel was pretty excited about his cake. He sat up in his chair for a few minutes just checking it out and trying to poke at it before we started singing "Happy Birthday." He hasn't figured out just how to blow out a candle yet but his big brother had no problem helping him with that task.

We enjoyed our cake and ice cream as well as those Valentine sugar cookies then Samuel opened his presents. He did a great job opening gifts and was excited about everything.

Sunday...................

It was like the day after Christmas at our house. Samuel (and Benjamin) enjoyed all the new birthday presents in our house. Samuel received a lot of really cool things that both the boys were thrilled about. We tried them all out! Then Benjamin and I were off to his friend, Brooke's 4th birthday party. It was at a paint your own pottery type of place. We had a great time then returned home to spend a little time outside enjoying some neighborhood parks and a nice long walk with the dogs.

Sunday evening we all went out to dinner at Red Robin (a restaurant chain that features fabulous hamburgers and bottomless french fries). We enjoyed our last evening with my mom and Harry in town and I mentioned to our waiter that it was my mom's birthday (which is not actually until the 24th of this month, but of course, they will be enjoying sunny Florida by then). So, they came out with balloons and an ice cream sundae and sang happy birthday to her. It was really a nice night out.

Monday...................

It was President's Day so Don had another day off! We all got up to see off my mom and Harry. They left around 8:15 a.m. and we were all a little sad to see them go. I reassured Benjamin that we will be seeing them again this summer. And when Samuel woke up from his nap later that afternoon he was looking around and calling "Papa!"