So, my "taste of home, 2 ways" is what we got served up during the week surrounding my birthday. My parents finally got to come for their first visit to Tiffin!! The 1st "taste of home" was actually seeing my parents after 10 long months of being away. It was so exciting as we stood in the Detroit airport...waiting to see them, and any changes that they may have gone through (like my mom's almost completely white hair!), while simultaneously wondering what they're going to think of all of our changes (kids grow A LOT in 10 months!). But the new feeling doesn't last long, and we slipped easily into that comfortable feeling that only families share. After an hour & a half drive, my 2nd "taste of home" arrived. That was simply having my parents be present in our new life...seeing our home through their own eyes, not on a computer screen, and exploring our new town with us. My homes collided by having my family "in" my family~and it felt good. It was so great incorporating them into our new life here in Tiffin! Now, when I talk about going to the park, Mom & Max have the memory of walking there with us and having a pasta salad dinner under the pavilion. When I talk about skating around the park on my Heely's and shooting baskets at the courts as a family, they've now been part of it and they even got to shoot a few with us! We get to store the memory in our mind's eye, and I only have to try to re-create the memory by blog for you that weren't here to directly share and participate. Also, my parents have a taste of my home. The distance between our homes doesn't feel so far anymore, now that we've been able to share ours with them. So, thank you, Mom & Max, for giving us "A Duo of A Taste of Home".
While they were here, they painstakingly took on the project of refinishing our dining room table. Although it was hot (a refreshing change from Idaho) while they were here, they buried themselves in our shared garage, day after day, cleaning and stripping,detailing and sanding, staining and varnishing. Since our table once belonged to Joe's parents, there are lots of memories attached to it. Now, in it's stunning new state, created lovingly at the hands of my parents, it will go on to be part of our memories, as well. We treasure it every day~again, thank you, Mom & Max!
On my birthday (Sunday, May 30th), we forced them to stop this project of love (in between coats!) and we headed out for a day of tourism. First stop was A Day Out With Thomas. We drove for 2 hours to reach our destination, which was basically a traveling, carnival-type venue, all based around Thomas the Train. Maxie's latest obsession is trains, so we all had a wonderful time watching his face light up, over and over again, as he found himself surrounded by everything train!
First things first~sunscreen mohawk for Joshie Bear...
Engineer's cap for Maxie!
I just love how Mykah accessorized for this photo, don't you?!
As usual, Maxie checks to make sure we're close by. Josh couldn't care less, as long as he can put something inappropriate (like a train touched by thousands of other grubby little hands) in his mouth. EWWWWWW!
Who's noticing that we are coordinated~Max & Joe, Mykah & I, and the boys?! Totally NOT planned, I assure you, but if it had been planned, Mom didn't get the memo.
Hoppy balls! Max wouldn't get any closer than this, and Josh just wanted to carry his around then launch it at some poor, unsuspecting child.
Since it was my birthday, I got lots of snuggle time and lots of posing for pix! I have to take advantage when I get it, right?!
Baby Mykah, taking a break!
Waiting anxiously for our ride on Thomas the Train!
Glowing faces of happiness? or heat stroke?! The adults were pretty happy to be inside an air-conditioned train! My parents do actually like each other, but they were craving some air circulation and didn't want to disrupt the flow:)
No captions needed...
Our tourism turned into a little terrorism, as usual...
Nothing, however, that a separation couldn't handle!
The 2nd half of our day was just a half hour's drive from the train station where we had our ride on Thomas~The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland. My dad LOVES Elvis, so we thought this would be a fun stop! An interesting tidbit~when we lived in NY, we were 2 hours from The National Baseball Hall of Fame. Here, 2 hours from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and 2 hours the other direction is the Football Hall of Fame! (You can probably guess where we'll head for their next visit!)
GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!! Joshie Bear ran wayyyyy out of patience for his stroller!
Fast forward 2 days, Maxie still hasn't taken off his hat!
A few pix of Tiffin~the courthouse that some people are trying to save and some downtown shops. Notice, Max hopped into Tiffin life by wearing the hat he bought at the University when we stopped by there! BTW, you're not imagining the 3rd picture~ the convenience stores here are drive thru!! You pull right in and tell them what you need, then the clerk comes to your window with your "order"! The newness still hasn't worn off:) Sometimes, we think of random things before we go and giggle after we send them to fetch Junior Mints, beef jerky, a newspaper and a lottery ticket! Then, when they come back, "Whoopsie, forgot to tell you we need a water and a soda!" (JK! we've only thought about it!)
Golfing fun with Papa...you probably won't be surprised to learn that, courtesy of Nana & Papa, all the kids have golf clubs (only my parents would give REAL clubs, not plastic ones, to a toddler!), so Papa got to spend the afternoon giving lessons~just like when I was a kid! Good thing I was behind the camera, because I got a little teary watching my dad and my kids play together.
Here's Papa teaching the 15 month old the proper grip:)
Poor Papa~as hard as he tried, he couldn't correct Maxie's hockey grip! He resorted to just making sure Josh was out of the way when Maxie started swinging!
Mykah's 1st time hearing Papa say, "Keep your head down, eye on the ball!" She usually gets Papa channeled through me!
In serious need of a caddy!
In the end, Josh just wanted to eat it~as usual!
We had a wonderful visit with my parents, as you can see from the length of this entry! Oh well, that's what my blog is for~to share! Thanks for stopping by. Since we are headed to Idaho & Utah in 6 days, we'll have much more to share and SOON!!! In the meantime, blessings to all!
1 comment:
Looks like a whole lot of FUN! Can't wait to have more FUN when you get here!!
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