I've Been Quiet, MIL was in Town
And it was a good visit. Meeting your wife online comes with some concessions, and considering she moved out from California to Kansas for some yours truly, I knew even before I said 'I love you' that if thinks were going to go long term, we'd be having some things different in a normal relationship.
Which is why I always welcome the In-Laws when they come to town, and am even wiling to drive several hundred miles to have a meal with them if they're traveling cross country in their RV. In this case, it was Grandma J (aka shutterbug) who came to visit us all, but we all know it was to visit the little one's. *wink*
She flew in last Saturday and and the good times rolled all week. We took her to Olive Garden twice (the closest one to her was several hundred miles away), visited the Kansas City Zoo, she watched the girls while my wife and I went on a date and goofed off out at the Legends Shopping center and took in Iron Man and the Chop House, watched the girls again while the wife went on a massage and I took The Dude to see Wall-E. She even suffered through a family reunion with us (and I'm happy to report that out of the 3 batches of brownies I made, triple chocolate, walnut, and marshmallow, only 3 pieces of walnut were left).
I think the worst part of the entire adventure was moving the air mattress back and forth from the living room. The Dude loved it because he'd wake up and go down and read books with Grandma, but then I had to move it out of the living room over towards the laundry room, which impeded our access to do laundry. Thankfully I knew this was going to be a pain in the ass all week and I did most everyone's laundry before she came so we only had to do emergency spit up loads.
The only odd part of the visit was the Monday and Tuesday when my wife had to work and I was with the chitlins and Grandma. I had my own little routine down in keeping the peace (most of the time) and keeping everyone full of food. She kept asking if I needed help, and a part of me wanted to say "no, I've got this down," but another part of me knew she wanted to help because she lived 1800 miles away and didn't get the opportunity to help.
When it came time to leave, The Dude, REALLY missed Grandma. From the minute we hit the elevator with the stroller, he kept saying, "Goodbye Grandma." My wife and I knew we had to do something to help take his mind off of it for a bit, so as we got him in the van, we both kinda knew were to go. For nearly twenty minute, he kept rocking in his seat and saying, 'Goodbye Grandma...Goodbye Grandma."
I kept and ear on it, and when he was quiet, I asked, "Dude, can I take you to T-Rex to eat?"
"YES!!!!"
We ate lunch right when they opened so there wasn't a line or a crowd, then hung out by the fountain so he could get a little wet and Pink and I could relax in the shade with the girls.
Awesome week, awesome weekends, awesome times.
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