Family Time

My mother-in-law is visiting from Pittsburgh this week - and my brother-in-law was able to come up from CA for the weekend to visit. We didn't let the kiddos know too far in advance (the night before about the arrival of "Unk" and on the way to the airport about the arrival of "Yia Yia") because Big Brother spins himself into an excited boy ball and has a hard time eating/sleeping/staying calm until the person arrives. The delay of sharing the information worked well. Little Sister is too young to get herself worked up, and she served as a wonderful secret keeper when we'd discuss plans (brother, of course, was never within ear shot).

 

It is always great to have visitors. I am an only child, so I bask in the energy of family gatherings - observing the sibling interactions and learning more about my husband through stories of when he was growing-up as the oldest of four kids. We've had fantastic weather for a good week-long stretch, so that only helped make the weekend and the start of the week even more wonderful. Our adventures took us OUTSIDE (hooray!) to transplant some bushes in the yard, to wander around Molbak's (a local nursery filled with glorious plants and garden goodies), and to wash the layers of dirt off our cars. It felt so good to be outside that Little Sister meandered around the yard until she couldn't hold her eyes open any longer - and she fell asleep in her uncle's lap. Priceless!

 

Not sure what adventures the remainder of Yia Yia's visit will hold, but I do know that we will get outside to enjoy the warmth and sunshine as much as possible. I'm holding down the fort while the kids nap now - Yia Yia is out storing up as much sun as she can to get herself through the rest of the brutal snowy winter back in The Burgh. She can't get enough of our blue skies and temperatures over 30 (and they've actually been as high as the 60s!).

 

Even if my husband has gone for his run today (even I did a quick 2 miles on the treadmill this morning), I might see about asking him to join me for a quickie again when he gets home from work. It is too beautiful a day to not be outside for a run! I think it might be time for me to make the transition from treadmill to trail now that the weather is consistently better (I won't say that too loudly, for fear we'll be slammed with grey skies again). However, this means that I'll be running with the jogger again while Big Brother is at school in the mornings, so I'll have to refigure my daily routine. It should be worthwhile, though - and just the change I need to get serious about a 10K this spring.