Family Visitors

My parents, Heather, and her kids came up for a visit last weekend. They arrived Friday at dinner time and we kicked things off right with a group hug.

Dad made us a beautiful bench that gives us extra seating and storage space; they brought it up with them and it was even more amazing in real life than in the pictures. We were the first to sit on it at dinner that night.

The next morning, we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and enjoyed some pre-breakfast card games.

Heather mentioned wanting to go to a used bookstore, so of course we had to take her to Smith Family Bookstore. 

Everyone was impressed by the massive amount of books they have and the entrance through an unassuming door, up some stairs, around a corner, and then books everywhere that just keep going. 

 We had some baking time Saturday afternoon making rolls and blackberry pie.

Since it was Earth Day, I suggested celebrating by planting seeds in the garden.

Everyone chose something to plant.

It was fun to plant with everyone and I'm looking forward to thinking of them as their seeds grow.

After dinner, we went to Hendricks Park. There were so many things in bloom; it was beautiful and a great evening for a walk.

Somehow we had given Heather the impression that we were going to a park with a playground, so she was pretty surprised when we got there and it was fun to see her reaction as she kept being impressed by all the beautiful flowers.

There was so much blooming, both in the trees and bushes and along the sides of the trail, it was hard to take it all in.

These were getting ready to bloom and were still all folded up and crumpled looking.

After being overwhelmed by flowers, we returned home for some wild blackberry pie.

Sunday morning, after a dance party and a few rounds of the human knot, we went for a walk to the nearby Willamette River.

It was a little misty, but still a nice morning for a walk.

We ended our walk at the Mongolian Grill for lunch. Apparently, it made quite an impression on the kids last time they were here, which isn't surprising since it's tasty and fun. 

Gotta make trips to BiMart and Fred Meyer when in Oregon.

We spent the rest of the cozy, rainy afternoon playing games and baking ginger cookies. 

That evening, we had a movie night and watched the Parent Trap (1961), something we loved watching as kids. The next morning, we had a quick breakfast together before everyone hit the road for the drive back to California.