Nana & Uncle Dave Visit

Koen's school had Grandparents' Day on Friday, so we had invited Doug's mom (a.k.a. Nana) out for the event.  She gladly accepted (yay!) and also brought Doug's brother Dave along for the weekend which was a special bonus.  The boys love seeing their extended family and the excitement it brings to have these special guests in our home.  Nana always seems to come bearing gifts, so on Friday morning before Koen headed off to school with his grandparent, the boys all opened their Valentines.  These monkeys are so cute!!

They also got a group gift. 

Some new supplies for our baking activities.  

Penn slept in and opened his monkey a few minutes after the boys.  He was tentative at first with the surprise of more faces around in the morning.

But once he saw that he just received a new snuggle buddy he warmed up just fine.

Tav couldn't wait to get started with his baking supplies, so after Koen left we first pretended with the new set with Play-doh.  

Penn was jealous of Uncle Dave's attention on Tav and Tavin getting all the fun, so he asked to come up on Dave's lap (unheard of, Penn must have known this guy is experienced and super sweet).

The little guys, Doug, Dave and I all hung around until mid-morning.  Doug and I were contemplating that it was the most relaxed Friday morning we'd had since Christmas vacation as Doug has been working most of his days off.  It did get a little hectic as I had to go to Tavin's preschool parent-teacher conference (in which I received so many kind, postiive remarks about my sweet, middle man...my heart beamed).  The teacher was actually behind and so I knew I wouldn't make it back to pick up Tav for his speech therapy appointment at Children's.  I also realized I had the stroller that can make it in the snow in the trunk of the van.  Oops.  Doug was a champ though and decided he and Tav would bolt and take the bus from home to the hospital (thankfully Uncle David was on hand to hang with Penn and they had fun...Dave taught Penn to throw blocks at the xylophone to make it make music...classic!).  Unfortunately the bus was either really early and they missed it or it was late, so Doug decided they would walk as fast as they could.  Poor Tav.  He was a trooper as he always is.  And Doug was an awesome Daddy and carried him much of the way.  They made it in the nick of time and had a nice session with Miss Christal.  Unfortunately, the walk must have done him in because as we picked him up and took him to lunch things went downhill fast.  Here he is slowly walking into lunch with Nana.

Once we got into the restaurant he complained of sharp stomach pains.  It was evident that keeping him at lunch was out of the question, so Doug took Tav, Penn and I home.  Tavin went straight to bed upon his request (12:45pm).  He ended up sleeping soundly until 4:45pm and then woke up just like his usual fun, sweet self.  I guess that it was just over-exhaustion, praise the Lord.  Poor Tav, I'm sorry!  As you can see here though, he was in fine form for receiving presents from Uncle David in the late afternoon.  He was so excited about his pirate Duplo set!

Koen was happy (and previously convinced) that there was a Lego set for him.

And for that Penn Rye?

A Megablocks dump truck!  He is loving it.  

While we were opening presents and hanging out in the afternoon/evening, we had some Olympics on that I'd recorded.  I happened to catch Koen and Penn staring at the figure skating.  I figured this might be good to have on film in case they ever say they hate it or would never watch it.  Gotcha!

Oh and just a random picture of me caught in a smile because of my sweet Penn.  What a charmer!

It was a great day.  And I haven't even shared the pictures yet that Nana got at Grandparents' Day.  

Friday was a great family day.  We had a great Saturday too.  Doug had to work all day because he was preaching all weekend.  It was nice to have the distraction that Dave and Nana provided since Doug was out.  The boys loved it of course.  And I appreciated it (especially since we leave Monday for an 8-day trip to Texas, so I have just a tad bit of planning).  Around 11am Dave and Nana took off for a PITT game.  We had someone in our congregation give Doug the tickets, so we were thrilled that Dave and Nana could enjoy the sporting event.  Dave and I got to go up to Wexford with friends to see Doug preach and then go to dinner at a friends' house and Nana got to hang out with the 3 little Melder men and put them to bed (thank you, Nana!!).  Nana and Dave left Sunday morning around 9:30am.  It was a great long weekend visit and we are already thinking through when the next visit can happen.  What a blessing that Koen could have his Nana along for Grandparents' Day and that all of us could have these few days with she and David.  Thanks, Nana and Dave, for coming and we are so thankful you got home safe today despite the snow!