The Last Hoorah?

As I mentioned, my dad was up this past weekend (well, he came up on Wednesday, so it was longer than a weekend!) for a visit. The reason for making the trip this time was for Bryce’s birthday, but he’s planning on turning around and coming right back when our baby makes his/her debut, so we’ll be seeing him again (hopefully) very soon!

It was a busy, but very fun few days. We literally got the entire family together every single day he was here, which is usually not the case when he visits. We will always do a few group dinners or other activities, but this time we maximized the time and saw a lot of each other. And although my brothers and mom live locally, we don’t normally get to spend THIS much time together, so it was a nice treat all around.

There was a lot of eating involved. I’ve been afraid to get on a scale.

And I took a million and one photos. So settle in for the long haul.

On both Wednesday and Thursday nights, we all went out to dinner together. On Friday night, we had everyone over to our house and ordered pizza. Afterward, we let the kids run around in the sprinkler while all of the adults relaxed in the front yard. I love these action shots of Nora and Hunter. Hunter’s faces are priceless!

When I ordered this Melissa & Doug sprinkler from Kohl’s at the beginning of the summer, I wasn’t sure how much Nora would love it, or how much use we’d get out of it. Now? I think this thing is gold. We’ve actually gotten far more use out of it than we have the kiddie pool, simply because it’s so much easier. We can take it out without much effort—after naptime, or even for 30 minutes after dinner. And Nora seems to definitely enjoy it.

Just as I was beginning to wonder how we were ever going to get these children inside without epic tantrums ensuing, a storm began to roll in. Dark clouds and heavy breezes. We played it up, “Hurry! We have to go inside before the rain comes!” and the kids played right into it. BWA-HAHAHAHA. It’s so nice when attempts to outsmart them actually work. :)

Nora crashed easily into bed that night and slept until after 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. YES.

Saturday, we got up and relaxed a little bit before heading out on a couple of errands before Bryce’s party. The party started at noon, so no sooner were we back from errands than it was time to head over to Tyler and Marie’s.

I showed you guys yesterday the John Deere smash cake I made. When we were on our way over to the party, it down-poured, but thankfully it blew right on through and the weather cleared before most of the guests even arrived. And the rest of the afternoon was beautiful!

(The birthday boy with his Uncle Trevor)

Nora was beyond excited to get to see Hunter AGAIN. In case I’ve never mentioned it before? She worships the ground that Hunter walks on. She is ALWAYS asking to see “my cousin Hunter.” It’s adorable, really.

Within probably half an hour of our arrival at the party, Nora wanted to go play in the water, so I changed her into her suit, and in it she remained until we left around 6:30 p.m. that evening. She was in her element and having the time of her life. Because of the timing of the party, she skipped a nap, but you never would’ve known it—no crazy meltdowns, no bad moods. Just play, play, play.

Nora LOVED this sprinkler/splash pad thingy. She seriously giggled and squealed the ENTIRE time she played in it. What can I say? I guess she’s easily amused. It was damn cute… and contagious! You couldn’t help but laugh at her laughing.

Bryce went easy on the cake. He actually wanted nothing to do with the cake part. Any time a bite of cake made it into his mouth, he spit it out. Little man only wanted the frosting.

But as usual, my kid completely devoured not one, but two cupcakes. What else are birthday parties for? :)

After cake, Marie’s dad loaded up all of the kids (and most of the adults, too!) on the wagon for a hayride. By this point, I was already hot and uncomfortable sitting in the shade, so I opted out. But Michael took Nora, and he said she had a great time. They were gone for like 40 minutes, so it was a good ride!

I think most of the party guests headed home around 3:30-4:00, but a small group—mostly family—stuck around for a few more hours after that. Nora didn’t even fight us AT ALL when it was time to go home. We got her home, through a bath, and then she passed out within minutes of being in bed. It was a long, full day.

On Sunday, Nora slept until 8:00 a.m. again (WOOT WOOT!). The day was pretty low key and normal—errands (my dad tagged along), and then some stuff around the house. The rest of the family came over to our house for dinner again; we made a huge thing of pasta and sauce with meatballs. After dinner, we took to the backyard to let the kids play again and get some family pics.

The two preggos: Kara (due 10/26) and me (due 8/6). Kara is expecting a girl, to be named Sadie! We had to document the two bellies together while we still can! It’ll be fun to show the two cousins some day.

We then had to get each of the grandparents with their three grandchildren. Pretty soon, there will be two more to add to the pile—there is not enough lap room in the world for that many. :) And these pics will be THAT much harder to take, what with five children looking every which way but at the camera.

Total side note: Despite being divorced for 25 years, my parents are really awesome and civil with each other. My dad is always great about us including my mom in these things. Because as I mentioned earlier, even though we’re all local, it’s not always the easiest task to get everyone together. So when it happens? It’s nice for my mom to get to enjoy it, too. I’m so thankful that they let bygones be bygones and can be friends—especially for the sake of the kids and grandkids!

We were informed that Sunday was National Ice Cream Day, so shortly after wrapping up pictures, we all loaded into our cars and my mom treated everyone to ice cream. Just to round out the weekend of eating with more eating. :)

It was a really good weekend. My dad left yesterday morning.

My dad’s visit was really the last “thing” we had coming up prior to the baby’s due date, so now… it’s time to have a baby. SO WEIRD, OHMYGOD.