Goodbye Grovers

Natalie and Claire loved riding the metro around DC.

We had a wonderful week long visit with Ian, Adrienne, Claire & Natalie. A week never felt so short! Even though they will be spending the rest of the day in town, I had to say goodbye and head back to work after meeting them for lunch today.

Luckily, Lane was able to take Friday and Monday off from work, and I was able to take off Monday. In between tons of sight seeing, there was much belly love to be shared. Claire and Natalie presented me with some baby books and super adorable baby girl outfits for Baby Grover. They also her read stories every day, kissed my belly, talked to her, felt the baby move around, and gave me a long list of possible baby names to choose from. They just love their little cousin!

In between playing games, cooking adventures, tickle sessions, and other fun times at home, our guests managed to visit the American Indian Museum, go to the park, spend all day at the zoo, tour the Capital Building, visit the Botanical Gardens, see the White House and Washington Monument, walk the cherry tree laden Tidal Basin, visit the Jefferson Memorial, go in the paddle boats, visit the Air & Space Museum, visit the Natural History Museum, check out the live frog exhibit at National Geographic, AND the National Aquarium. WOW! We are impressed. Ian and Adie even had a date night where they saw a show at the Kennedy Center, went out for dinner in Georgetown, and saw a movie being made at a metro stop!!

The girls got to experience some cold weather too. They are from Santa Barbara, where it is usually about 68 degrees and sunny all year round. Claire isn’t even used to wearing pants, and when we tried to get her to bundle up for the 40 degree chilliness, she assured us she would put a sweatshirt on before going outside. After one day outside, we managed to convince her and her sister to bundle up a little bit more.
This is how the boys spent much of their time walking around the city.

Natalie LOVES to change her clothes. In fact, she promptly emptied her suitcase and changed outfits as soon as she arrived to the apartment. On Saturday, as we were getting ready to go to the park, Natalie asked for a bag for her clothes. I was really confused, and suggested she just put them back in her suitcase. Silly me, I didn’t realize she needed the bag so she could fill it up with clothes to take to the park! (just in case, people!) After we denied her request, she decided to bring a purse along. As soon as we got there, she pulled out a skirt and top she somehow managed to stuff inside.

One of the girls’ favorite pastimes was to put on their fluffy socks and use them as “ice skates” as they performed dance routines for us on the wood entry way of our apartment. Not only did they put on special socks for these performances, but they had to get into full costume, by putting on their hats, scarves, and gloves. One afternoon they asked Uncle Lane if he would participate in the performances. Lane disappeared for a few minutes and came back all ready to participate. I cried so hard from laughing when I saw him all dressed up in HIS hat, scarf, and gloves (and short sleeved t-shirt), pirouetting across our entry way with the girls. He was a total hit!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for coming to visit, Grovers! We had so much fun and hope you can come again soon to meet your newest niece and cousin!!!