To celebrate Natalie’s spring break Jolie, Grandma, and a bunch of kids came to visit. We were delighted and the girls were so excited. They arrived in the afternoon and Grandma and I surprised Emily with checking her out early from school. Nichole, Jennifer and the kids have never seen snow and they had been delighted with some snow in Gatlinburg. Still more came the day they arrived and we enjoyed playing at the park with the snow falling on us.

Snow here does not always last long and this snow shower ended before we left the park. Natalie gave Emily a ride across the park.

The "oldies" bundled up to stay warm.

What could be better than swinging while it is snowing?

Our silly kid slide photo!

We moved a few things around to make it easier to sleep and play. The under-the-bunk play space was just the perfect size for Mikayla.

The girls were excited to take their Daddy to the Children’s Museum.

Natalie is getting a lesson about how to make a call with a rotary phone.

Dylan is taking a trip on a rocket ship!

Posing with Anakin Skywalker. Who knew it was so easy to visit the outer reaches of the universe in one afternoon?

The kids enjoyed the train room. They even stopped long enough for a photo.

One afternoon we had a picnic at Norris Dam. We took the walk to the middle so we could see off both sides of the dam to compare. It was a cool picnic. Thankfully it was a sunny day and the sun kept us warm.

Of course we had to stop at Krispy Kreme doughnuts and enjoy a dozen or so. We were sad that the visit was short, but it was good to visit for the time we had. It will have to tide us over to summer when we will visit again.

The grandparents had to go home. We let them go, but not without a little guilt. The day they left Julia didn’t have much to do with them. It wasn’t from not liking them, it was because they were leaving. It was a moody pout. Emily enjoyed the “one last” game – one last kiss, one last hug . . . We will be seeing them in a month or so.

Every time we are together the Mama attempts a photo of the girls with their Grandparents. It is always quite a bit of work to get a shot. All the traditional posed photos either had someone not looking at the camera or very serious faces. We don’t live in the early part of the century when that was cool, so we are opting for the absolute silly photo instead. Enjoy the fun of the moment!

The day after the rain was a beautiful, temperate low-humidity day. After dinner we made a trip down to the park. We were hoping the girls would tire themselves out for bed. Julia spent the whole time swinging. Every time you asked her if she wanted to get down she would answer “No”. Only at the end when we told her that we would leave soon and it was her last chance, did she decided to play on the other equipment. Emily played on everything. She enjoyed swinging, sliding, playing hide-and-seek with Mama and another boy, being helped across the monkey bars, climbing into a make-shift pirate ship, and a million other things. In the end it all worked out. Emily was tired and rode home in the wagon and Julia used her extra energy walking home with Mama and Grandma.

One day of our Grandparent visit was a stormy day. After naps, we ventured out to the local used bookstore to wait for Robby to get off of work. The girls like going and finding all kinds of books on the shelves they want and might get to buy. This visit Grandma bought each of the girls one book. They looked through lots of books to find the right ones. They did a really good job of sticking with us and enjoying their books. I’m not a fortune teller, but I suspect we will make repeat trips to this store each time the Grandparents are in town.

There is something about out of town guests that gets you to pick up your camera and photograph things you find in your daily life that you don’t photograph often. We went outside to play in our back-porch playhouse. The roof is only half installed to give the girls more light in their house. Also, it makes it easier for parents to check on the girls. The fact the roof is missing annoys Emily a lot. This day it was not so annoying. She figured out that she could climb up and look out of the top of the house. That was her fun new game. The big people pretended to be giants and visit the house with the normal sized little girls. We also read “The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs” by Jon Scieszka. This story gives the wolf’s defense of the house-blowing-down events. After reading this story the playhouse became the pig’s house built of brick. You have to love the world through a child’s eyes. Both girls love to open and close the windows and doors. They both took turns knocking on the door and having the other answer.

Just a fun one. Grandpa was willing to play a little dress-up with Emily.