Grandma's Visit!

On Monday, October 26 we drove to Orlando to pick up our first visitor - Grandma!! We patiently were watching the screens to see when her plane arrived!
The boys can see her coming - see Justin's hands by his face - they were so excited & giggly when they saw her coming!
One of the first things we said to her was that she had way too many clothes on!! It was 90+' outside and she had a turtle neck on!!
Miley grew just a little since the last time she saw her!
Miley wasn't afraid of her at all and snuggled right in for a hug!

We kept Grandma really busy - but also let her relax too! The following are some of the fun things we did while Grandma was here!
Grandma likes Talapia - so the boys set out to catch her dinner... and they did too! All three of them have a fish on in this picture!
Grandma soaking up the sun, reading a good book and watching the boys catch fish!
Levi's big catch - Justin's was even bigger!
One afternoon we took Grandma to see where Eric goes to school and while we were there we cooled off in the pool!
Almost every morning we had school - here Levi & Grandma are playing Guess Who?
After school we headed out to show Grandma around town. The boys really wanted to take her over the bridge to see the ocean.
Then we took her back to "The Fountains" where the boys love to run through the water.
There is a nice dock by the fountains to watch for salt water fish and dolphins! We saw lots of pelicans too. We were bummed though because we weren't able to see any dolphins.
There was a school of needle fish that we were watching.
On Wednesday night our church had its Fall Festival. So the kids put on their costumes and we headed to church!
Miley was a beautiful lady bug!
Justin wanted to be a pilot and look just like his dad!
Our very warm little Lady Bug!
The first time that we have a palm tree in our Halloween pictures! Levi wore the indian costume that Grandma R. made for Thanksgiving last year.
We visited several skits presented by Bible Characters. Here they are in Noah's Ark and the girl behind them with the goats is Pricilla and she is a helper in Levi's Awana class. Every time we see her he says "She's my friend." It is so sweet!
The gym was full of games and more candy. Justin tried and tried to win a goldfish. He did - he won two! Here Eric and Justin are discussing where the fish will live! (Needless to say the fish did not make it till morning!)
Miley was so warm when we got home she just sat around in her onesie cooling off with Grandma. Her costume was beautiful - but it was quite warm - and the weather was very warm high 80's!
So precious!
She is so cute!
Getting ready to carve pumpkins!
Where are the boys? Why is it that they are SO excited to carve their pumpkins - but when it comes down to it they disappear and mom and dad are left with the task!?
Miley's pumpkin

Justin's deer and Levi's bear.

We were trying to come up with places to take Grandma - one day we went to the Manatee Observation and Education Center (the online pictures made it look really interesting... not quite what we were expecting) but we enjoyed our visit anyhow!


We took our lunch to a park north of Ft. Pierce on the ocean. It was overcast and breezy but nice.
Checking out the ocean.
The boys received a Halloween package from Grandpa & Grandma R. since this would be the first year that we couldn't trick or treat at their house! The boys were so excited to see what was inside!
On Saturday we went to Al's Family Farm a citrus farm south of Vero. We were hoping to see some of the orange packaging process but only the gift shop was open. Grandma bought oranges to send home and we all had ice cream!!
Saturday night our friends Abby & Ada came over to go trick or treating with us around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful night to be out!
Our last stop - our house where Grandma & Miley welcomed the kids with treats! Miley made it a few houses but got really hot - so she went back to hang out with Grandma!
The after trick or treat tradition - checking out the candy! Looks like everybody did pretty well!
On Sunday evening we went up to Indian Harbor Beach to see if we could find the church where Grandma was on S.W.I.M 40 years ago. The town looked nothing like she remembered, as we headed down a street to go back to the main road - we found the church! It was the coolest thing to have no idea where we were and yet to drive right by! The 7-11 was on the corner too just like it used to be! While we were there we stopped by the "turtle park" but because it was dark we were only able to see 1 turtle. It was a fun stop anyways! Finding the church was the best part!
Miley playing with one of the boys trucks!
Grandma & Miley
Levi went out fishing with his homemade fishing pole - an arrow with a piece of yarn tied to it. I thought how appropriate that was as he was wearing his cowboy chaps and no shirt! Too cute!
Miss blue eyes!
Heading out to fish.
Justin reading to Grandma.
Reading Curious George.
On Monday night - Grandma's last night in town we went to Mulligan's Beach House - right on the ocean and sat outside for dinner. It was delicious!
Levi playing with his spaghetti - this bite looks a little scary!
Grandma's flight wasn't until 5:40 on Tuesday. After taking Miley for her doctors appt. we headed to Orlando to show Grandma Disney. She had never been there before. We went to Fort Wilderness campground and rode the bus to the lake, then we rode the boat to Wilderness Lodge. After walking through the Lodge we got back on the boat and took it to the Contemporary Resort and caught the monorail. We rode the monorail around the circle and saw the Polynesian Resort, the Grand Floridian, and the Magic Kingdom before returning to the Contemporary where we then got back on the boat and rode it back to the campground. Then we took her to Downtown Disney to the Lego store! In just a couple of hours we gave her a quick look at what Disney is all about!
Waiting for the monorail.
Riding the boat.
Checking out the horses at the petting zoo (only it says don't pet the horses...hmmm... and they are the only animals there...)

All in all we had a great day and dropped Grandma off at the airport to head back to Michigan! What a great week! Thanks for spending some time with us Grandma!! Love you!!