A late summer family visit

In early August, my family came to visit! It was a hot few days, but we still managed to spend some time outside and have a sweet visit.

They arrived on a Saturday evening, and we had our customary chicken tacos, since it's my g0-to crockpot meal for a flexible mealtime and everyone can customize their own meal. Cooper and Finn built a large castle out of magnetic tiles with my brother and my dad and my mom read books to the boys. Before heading to bed somewhat early, we enjoyed some of our favorite sourdough cardamom bread for a nighttime treat.

On Sunday, we went to church and then came home for lunch before driving to our favorite local arboretum. We did a short (buggy) hike, and Cooper enthusiastically remarked how beautiful the trees were, asking to borrow my phone to take some pictures. All of the photos below this paragraph are from Cooper! I love how he was so overcome by beauty and that he wanted to capture it.

After the hike, the adults enjoyed sitting in the breezy shade of a patio in one of the gardens while the boys played. That is, until I realized we had a diaper mishap with Arlo, at quite a large scale, with only one wipe in the diaper bag, to boot. I'll spare you the details, but there was an involved mess in places I never expected it to be. After showers and cooling off back at home, my mom read books with the boys and they worked on a craft she brought along. For dinner, we had burgers on the grill with our favorite homemade sourdough buns.

Monday morning, Nicholas had to work, but the rest of us drove out to the farm store for milk, cream, and cheese. We admired the zinnias (all of us) and the large rooster statue (Cooper and Finn).

At my mom's suggestion, we went to a local botanical garden in the afternoon. The gardens are beautiful and well-kept, and the boys are endlessly intrigued by the little water feature in the gardens. The adults meandered through the gardens, I snuck in a little bit of sock knitting, and the boys played before we came home for baths and more book reading. I made sourdough naan, paired with a favorite meal as of late, Greek Chicken with tzatziki. My brother prepared some peppers from his garden with onions and spices, as an additional add-on to dinner, and he cooked green beans from his garden for a side dish.

On Tuesday morning, we enjoyed breakfast and then we visited. I had to make some phone calls, so my mom held Arlo and sang to him, and my dad and Matt played Legos with the big boys.

Also, during this visit, my family gave me my birthday gifts early. Among them were beautiful honey from Northern Minnesota, fabric bowl insulators, a sweater's quantity of Harrisville Designs Highland, a yarn that I've been so excited to try, the most beautiful Christmas book, The Book of Christmas by Neil Philip, and an incredibly special pearl ring that was my Grandma Donna's. What beautiful, generous, and thoughtful gifts!

I typically outline family visits like these day-by-day, since I enjoy looking back and seeing how we spent our shared time together. But there are always little moments that deserve a special mention, or moments where I can't exactly remember where they fit in time-wise, but they are no less meaningful to me.

Other favorite memories from this visit:

• My brother playing Legos with Cooper and Finn, seeing the wild creations they made
• My mom (always!) being so helpful with loading/unloading the dishwasher, folding laundry, reading to the boys, etc. Seeing a need and lovingly serving, without anyone asking her to.
• Talking with my dad about some of our family history, like my great grandparents education and background and hearing more about the homes he grew up in in Northern Minnesota, and the detailed memories he has from them (down to even what the rent was and how old he was when he lived in each home).
• My brother's enthusiastic approval of the sourdough cardamom bread (my family loves cardamom as much as I do). And my dad said it reminded him of the cardamom bread his grandma would make (she was Finnish).
• My brother working with Finn to repair an outdoor toy and the seriousness with which Finn approached the task
• Arlo falling fast asleep on my mom, and his big giggles when she played peek-a-boo with him

And finally, it was time for my family to start the drive back to Minnesota. We exchanged hugs and they headed north, while I headed to hair cut appointments for the big boys (obviously necessary)!

Thank you mom, dad, and Matt for making the trip to visit with us! We love you guys so much.