Jim, Annie, Sam and Elena came late Tuesday night for a 6 day visit and we couldn't have been more excited to see them! It had been since late September and we don't FaceTime as often as we should! Thank goodness for phone calls (Jim and Sara talk pretty frequently...she loves when he gives her a call on his way home from work to catch up!), social media updates and text pictures though so at least we can stay in touch those ways!
Trevor took a nap that day so that he could stay up late to see Sam! They probably got here around 9:30pm and if it had been just a few minutes later than Sam might have found a sleeping Trevor on the couch. The boys picked up like no time had passed. Trevor and Sam are very into maps!
On Wednesday we stuck around the house to do some cooking and let the girls take their morning naps. When Sara and her Dad went to the DMV to sell her car, everyone else went to the park! Bet it was nice for them to be outside in the sun and warmth given the cold temps MN is having!
It's fun seeing the girls 'play' together. The last time they were together they were just crawling in the same direction. Now Elena is walking and Ashley is close! And playing together now is more like antagonizing one another by taking away the toy the other is playing with. They especially liked each other's loveys.
That evening we had Annie's cousin Brooke and her two girls over for a BBQ. We opened a bottle of Kim Crawford in honor of Nicci :)
On Thursday we met Mom and Dad at the Wildlife Zoo out by the house they rent. That zoo is like no other...it's amazing how close you get to the animals and how many animals they have!
The boys would run from exhibit to exhibit!
Jim, Annie and Sam braved the Parrot feeding....
Polly want a cracker?
Uncle Jim and the boys! He took them on a train ride around the park.
The crew!
We enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch...tailgating out of Papa Steve's car!
See folks...and that is how close you can get to a rhino! CRAZY!
Mid-afternoon we headed to Nana and Papa Steve's house so that Jim and Annie could see it and we could hang out! The boys liked playing with Uncle Don, Jim enjoyed putting the puzzle together and Annie enjoyed getting some vitamin D in the sun! We also enjoyed a wonderful dinner made by Uncle Don!
On Friday it was a bit 'chilly' but we had some fun at the train park. Papa Steve and Nana Jeanne with the girls...
....nice photo bomb Annie!
And this time it was Nana Jeanne with the photo bomb. Hi!
And one last one of the crew...with the photo bomber! Such fun times we have all together! It's nice having a sister-in-law that you've known your whole life (it of course is just as nice having one that you met while dating your future husband too) but it's funny how easy our family just works together because of this!
Where are Jim and Sam on the train ride? Well Trevor wanted to sit near the back and Sam wanted to sit in the front so we split up at the last minute. Choo! Choo!
We showed them the train museum where they have all of these working model train tracks set up. They also have a little caboose for the kids to play in. Everyone thought it was a hoot!
So much fun! You can hear Ashley's laughter through this picture!
On our way to the playground Ashley practiced her walking. Boy can she cruise....she practically runs!
Precious!
Ashley's latest trick is climbing up the stairs to the top of the slide and turning around...
...then going down on her tummy...
...laughing the whole way. She's so proud of herself. Such a big girl! (You can't see it here but she's wearing the Randle shirt as we call it because Randle gave it to our niece Lauren when she was little. Ashley loves to pick it out of her closet to wear when it is clean!)
And Trevor...well he still prefers the swings although he is getting much gutsier on the playground equipment. Things we used to help him with are easily now done by himself!
Once we got home we spent some time in the courtyard. Trevor had a ball pulling Annie and Sam around in the wagon.
But once the girls were up from their naps, Annie and Sam got booted from the wagon. The girls loved even just sitting in it going absolutely nowhere!
Mommy/Auntie Sara with her two gal pals!!
And before the four kiddos (Jim, Annie, Sara and Brian) went out for dinner and drinks, we snapped a quick family photo. Pretty impressed that this came together in a matter of minutes but that is what happens when Nana Jeanne buys the clothes she wants the kids to wear and tells the adults a color scheme (in this instance it was wear any combo of jean and black). Except then we notice that Annie brought a shirt that would coordinate nicely and the shirt Brian wore to work would be great too so we all laughed that we made the in-laws look like out-laws! He he!
Our neighbor Becky came over to take our picture but guess what! Our camera was dead!!!! Ugh!! Fortunately we saw our neighbor Tim outside and he has a similar camera to ours so he offered to snap a few pics! We think they turned out great!
And Jim snapped this cute pic as we headed back home!
After that the four of us headed out to a yummy Mexican meal at Sol in the Scottsdale Quarter. Then we ventured over to City North where we had yummy drinks and shared a dessert at Ocean Prime. Not the best pic because the flames from the fire made it all blurry but we must remember how Jim wore bright white socks that embarrassed Annie so much she did anything to cover them up!
On Saturday morning we showed Jim and Annie our favorite donut place. They too thought it was delicious...so be warned future guests. Your stay will most likely involve a trip to LaMars!
Not only are the donuts fabulous, it's hilarious to watch Ashley take down almost an entire cake donut! This girl can eat! Elena did pretty well too!
Apparently though Ashley didn't have enough to eat because after getting to Nana Jeanne's and putting on our swimming gear Ashley climbed into the travel high chair we bring along places and asked for food! She must be growing!
Boy did we have a great time at the pool! How fun to see the girls in their cute suits and hats!
We ordered lunch from the grill and soaked up the sun for hours. Trevor was showing off his swimming skills for his relatives and it was reassuring to us that he indeed still did remember!
We hung around Nana and Papa Steve's for a bit in the afternoon and enjoyed a wonderful meal of lasagna before heading home. That evening after the kids went to bed, the four amigos hit the hot tub! It was fun hanging out and chatting!
On Sunday, Uncle Don, Nana and Papa Steve came up for an early brunch because Jim and crew had to head out around 10am for their flight. Here we thought their flight left late afternoon and we had all day together, but nope. So after brunch we said our 'see you next times' and they were off! Ashley and Uncle Jim have a special bond...even if he now calls her sausage fingers ;-)
And poor Sam. He didn't want to leave. He cried and said over and over that he wasn't going to go...well who can blame him? We are a pretty fun bunch and it is warm and sunny here :)
But it won't be long. We'll see each other again this summer sometime! Assuming summer comes to MN this summer because we aren't going back til it's warm! Thanks though for coming Roslansky clan! We enjoyed every second of our time together. It went much too fast but our hearts are filled with special memories and we will see you all soon on Facetime!
