"The Greatest Mom on Earth!"

This past weekend my mom came in for a quick visit! We are so spoiled because we have been getting used to her week or two week trips, that for some reason this one just seemed too short! But she was able to combine some Parent-Teacher Conference comp time with Columbus Day and a Personal Day to allow for a 5 day mini vacation!

She got in on Friday and we spent the day playing with the boys, shopping, baking cookies, cooking dinner, and visiting our favorite- Yogurtland! We love that when she comes we can just live life as we normally do and wrap up our evenings relaxing on the couch and watching Reality T.V. together!

Saturday we got up and headed out to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus! I hadn't been to the circus since I was 6. And now I know why! It's definitely fun, and exciting, and amazing, but it is also VERY overstimulating, bright, loud, in your face, and even a bit creepy! I'm still glad that we went and it was a good and different experience for Nolan, but not something we'll need to do every year!

Nolan and Grandma before the show!

There was an all access pre-show! The clown with the green hair was Nolan's favorite! Although he also really liked when the ***11*** clowns dressed as Super Heroes climbed out of a Volkswagon Bug!

Grandma sporting the one and only free thing at the circus!

Everybody wanted to be a clown! It comes pretty naturally for Mark!

Heath was a very good boy for the entire 2 1/2 hour show! He clapped a lot, took a little nap, sat & stood on our laps, and was intrigued by all the lights and sounds!

Love this silly boy!

A glimpse at the circus train from our great seats! I just bought average priced seats, but it wasn't very full so we moved a lot closer! For most of the show Nolan sat in awe! There were a few times when he got a bit scared because it would get really dark or loud. But when he saw something he really loved his eyes lit up, he pointed, smiled excitedly, and talked non-stop about it!

This was Nolan's favorite part- 7 motorcycles driving in a steel ball at the same time! He couldn't get enough of this! It truly was amazing and death defying!

Of course Nolan loved all the animals too- elephants, tigers, horses, and even a puppy that got carried by elephants and jumped on a horse's back!

Our little family after the show! We were all exhausted and overstimulated and ready for a nap!

When we were little and went to the circus we got the circus program. We read it over and over for years and loved looking at all the pictures and remembering the acts. We still have it in my parents garage somewhere! My mom thought it would be neat to buy one for Nolan to have as a keepsake as well. And it was a very good decision! We have already read his program more times than we would care for, and Nolan loves showing it to everyone and telling them all about what he saw!

Grandma and Nolan needed a little down time so they watched "The Wonder Pets go to the Circus" and had a milk and cookie snack!

Heath's new face- the stink eye!

"Nolan and Daddy Time" in his fort! Nolan loves his Daddy time and will say "No Girls Allowed"! He even asks, "What's the password?". This day when my mom and I wanted to come in it was "Choo Choo Airplane"!

The rest of my Mom's visit was spent with trips to the grocery store, a sewing project, dinner out, watching the boys while I was at school, and a nice evening with Mark's parents & Aunt Sue and my Uncle Gerry and his wife Christine. We loved every minute together, laughing, playing, and just being together!

We snapped a few photos on our last afternoon- it was quite rainy and dreary all weekend so we didn't get to be outside much. So we took advantage of a few minutes in the sunshine!

Grammy Pammy and Heater smiling!

My big boy being silly!

Playing Peek-a-Boo!

Grandmomela!

My mom and I take a picture together on every one of her trips out to Colorado! She has a photo album just for all of our photos together! I can't remember the exact number of times she has visited, but I think it's over 15! We are so thankful that she has a job that allows her to come out so much! Since the boys were born she has come out every Spring Break, once during each Summer, a few times over Columbus Day weekend, and a couple Christmas' too!

Grandma...

Thanks for coming out for the weekend! You are so much fun and you bring great gifts! Thank you for our new books and "Passin' Gasser" too! We love your cookies, watching shows together, building tunnels, and reading books! Thanks for watching us when Mommy went to work. It was fun playing all day, going for a walk, and making messes! We can't wait to see you in Chicago for Christmas! Give Grandpa a squeezer from us! We miss you already!

xoxo Nolan and Heath