Graybills visit in July

Last month we got a visit from my aunt Diane, uncle Todd and cousin Abby. The kids were super excited to see them, and Ewan associated Abby with cookies because Josie had baked her some the week before. We’d say Abby and he’d say ‘cookie!’ It was a very fun and busy trip and I opted mostly to leave the big camera at home because we did so much. We definitely wore them out that weekend. They arrived on Thursday and we ambushed them at my parents house, already waiting for them there. We let them eat and drink a bit while the kids demanded lots of attention as usual. We had a nice easy dinner on the grill before heading home for a the busy following day.

Friday morning I took the kids into the city at frog pond to wade in the water, play on the playground and wait for everyone else. Jordi took the rest of the crew on the Google tour of the building to give Abby a completely unrealistic idea of what most working environments look like. Once they enjoyed their coffees they drove downtown to meet us at the common and we went to lunch at PF Changs. After lunch we headed over to the public garden and rode on the swan boats for the first time in the kids lives. Ewan at first refused to get on the boat at all, but once it got going he enjoyed the nice leisurely pace and the sights to see around the pond. After the ride I put him in the stroller and within the first few yards of walking I think he fell asleep as we went to look at the swans and other water fowl on land.

Next we headed towards the giant public art project on the greenway via Chinatown. We stopped for some bubble tea, tried to find a public bathroom which was a nightmare, and eventually made it to the greenway. We found the cookie monstah truck and had split an ice cream sandwich and then took a nice long break sitting on the greenway chairs as the day had gotten quite warm. After our rest we found the giant string art hanging in the air, but weren’t all that impressed. I had heard better things about it at night. At this point it wasn’t too far off from dinner and we were pooped, so I took Abby and the kids and went home on the train while the rest of them took the car which took way longer. We picked up some pizza and ate at our house before crashing for the night.

Saturday we went for an early trip to the beach, we tried to go to Good Harbor but were too late and just barely made it into Long Beach. We had a nice day of frolicing in the sand, water and eating some more ice cream. Our immediately family didn’t make it out to dinner as we’re not too excited about a seafood place. But then we met up again in the morning at our house for a quick tour of our new upstairs and breakfast from quebrada. It was quick, but it was lovely to get to see them all and hopefully we can all visit again soon!

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