Friday, April 30, 2010

"My Papa"..."No! MY Papa!"

We had a wonderful visit from Danny's Dad this last week.  Grandpa (who the girls affectionately refer to as "Papa") needed to bring a bed to the newlyweds in LA (and a guest bed for us), and since he's retired now, he had the time to spend a few days with the grandkids while he was here!

The girls waited patiently ALL day on Monday, while Papa drove patiently ALL day.  Finally, at long last, Papa was here!  Sophie was already in bed,  but Claire took off at a dead run through the dark of night to meet Papa at the car.  She was so excited!  We stayed up talking for a while that night, and then everyone went to bed.

At some point on Tuesday morning, Claire woke up and went right into Papa's room and cuddled with him until Sophie woke up.  Papa and Sophie had an excited reunion, and then the three of them continued to play while I slept in a little bit.  (Thanks, Papa!)  After playing for most of the morning, Papa treated the girls to a Happy Meal at McDonalds!  I'm ashamed to say it, but despite my best blogging intentions, I forgot to take my camera!  Trust me though, we all had a blast!  The girls then came home and took naps...and of course Claire napped with Papa.  We grilled some fantastic burgers that evening, and then Papa, the girls, and I enjoyed a quiet evening at home reading stories while Danny went on splits with the missionaries.  Seriously, I think Papa read at least half of "Where The Sidewalk Ends"!  Once the girls went to bed and Danny got home, the adults stayed up WAY too late talking.  That's my favorite part!

Now that Robbie and Kris are in the area, we have to share our time when family comes to visit!  Papa headed to San Pedro Wednesday morning to take Robbie and Kris their bed and spend the day with them.  From what I understand, they worked hard getting their new home unpacked and enjoyed a nice dinner at PF Changs.  I think the best part of the day for Robbie and Kris was returning our air mattress and sleeping on an actual bed!

That brings us to Thursday, which was our last day with Papa here.  The girls were very excited to have Papa here when they woke up again!  We decided to go up to base and meet Danny for lunch and then have a personally guided tour of some of the cooler parts of the base.  I think Papa and Danny enjoyed the time together!  I did remember the camera this time, but could only use it at lunch.  Sorry, no pics Papa checking out the B-1 Bomber or the B-52 Bomber.  Or the girls running around the F-16.  It's a secured area, you know.  :)  But...here we are enjoying a yummy pizza at Anthony's!



After our lunch with Danny, we all came home for naps again.  Once again, Claire got her beloved nap with Papa!  After naps, Papa shampooed the carpets for me (thank you, thank you!) and told me that he was going to cook dinner for us.  When Danny got home we piled in the car and headed to Johnny Carino's!  This is one of Danny's favorite restaurants, but Papa and I had never been there.  It was DELICIOUS!  Thanks for dinner, Papa!




Sophie really didn't want to sit with boring ol' Mom when Daddy and Papa were there!  Can I blame her?  I just had to document on picture that I was there too... :)

After dinner, Danny, Papa, and I were up way too late, again, talking.  Seriously, I had so much fun just talking with Dad.  Danny and I were commenting to each other how hard it is to be so far away from family.  But I have to admit, it's kind of cool in that when they come to visit, you really get to spend 100% of your time with them.  You take the time to stay up late as opposed to getting the kids home and into bed.  It's really a unique time, and we're so glad we got all that time with Papa.  We're looking forward to when Grandma can come too!  :)

2 comments:

Naomi and Family said...

He seems like a pretty darn great father in law! That's awesome! Glad you had such a great week!

David and Camillia said...

Its sounds like it was a great visit from papa. :) It would be so nice to have you guys closer.