A surprise visit

Grandma and Grandpa E. came up this weekend for a whirlwind visit. We decided not to tell the girls and let it be a surprise. They got in late Friday night, so Saturday morning we told the girls we'd decided to go out to breakfast as a special treat. We never, ever go out to breakfast, so if they'd been any older this probably would have set off their "something's up" radars, but they just thought it was a great excuse not to do their Saturday jobs. We went to the "Pig & Pancake", a name that has made me laugh for four years, and imagine our shock when we walked in and discovered Grandma and Grandpa sitting there! Chris and I got a surprise as well - his brother Scotty came up, too. He's leaving for his mission in Georgia in about a month and managed to convince his parents that they needed to bring him along, because he wasn't going to get to see the girls for at least two years.
The girls loved having him here to play with. Ellie especially. She decided Scotty was her own personal buddy, to boss around as she pleased. And being the awesome uncle that he is, he did anything and everything she commanded. It was a win-win situation.

After breakfast we put together a picnic lunch and headed to Washington Park. The playground there is enormous and we hardly ever go, so it was another special treat. The twisty slide was my favorite part. Not going down it, mind you, just watching the kids. It was one of those older metal slides, and it's nice and slick from all the use. This is what all the kids looked like as they started down it:
But they all came out looking like this:
There's a big sandbox, which ended up being the highlight for all the girls (and I have my suspicions about Grandma, too.) They built a pretty impressive sandcastle, complete with tunnels:

After we were all sufficiently worn out from the park, we came home and grilled burgers and watched Hook.

Church is at 1:00 for us, so on Sunday Chris and I fixed a big brunch of lemon pancakes with raspberry syrup and baked eggs. We got a breakfast cookbook and have been trying something new each week. These definitely passed the test. After church the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we changed clothes and went to the park by our garden. We threw frisbees and played and had a great time. Grandpa coached Vicki on how to catch a frisbee (like a crocodile) Lexi demonstrated her gymnastics skills, and Ellie picked flowers she wasn't supposed to ("but Mommy, they're for you!")

Monday morning Grandma and Grandpa went to help out in Vicki and Lexi's classrooms for a little while, and then they came and got Ellie and took her swimming at the hotel. And I got to run some errands all by myself. This was another win-win situation. After we picked the girls up from school we went to Round Table Pizza for an early dinner, and then, sadly, Grandma & Grandpa and Scotty had to leave.

We had a great time and only wish they could have stayed longer. (and I wish I had taken the camera with me more places!)

Oh, and now they'll believe us when we tell them that it's not always raining here!