Grandma's Visit

We were lucky enough to have Grandma for a whole week as she visited us from Maine. She was very clear that she didn't want us to do anything special or different while she was here, but just wanted to spend an average week with us. Literally as soon as she arrived, Grandma teared up just thinking about leaving. But the week stretched out nicely as our stay-at-home Iowa lifestyle lends itself to long days filled with toddler pursuits.

The weather at the start of the week was gorgeous for November, high 60s, so Grandma got to go to our favorite neighborhood park. Lucy impressed her with her ability to jump, climb, and slide. Since we've been coming to this park at least twice a week for three months now, there really isn't much she can't do here.
We also did some walking "the little doggies." I had Shorty on a leash here, and you can see who Grandma is walking. I'm usually a little bit embarrassed to be seen walking my dog and my kid together, but apparently it's not an issue for Grandma. Note the short sleeves in this picture. Beautiful weather little doggie!
Lucy also perfected her "Tink face" with Grandma. This is her mad look, formerly used in our range of emotional expression exercises ("show me your happy face!") but now used independently and given to Grandma on several occasions her behavior was deemed inappropriate. Grandma thought it was a good mimic of Tinker Bell's angry face from the new Tink movies.
We also had lots of fun celebrating Grandma's birthday! It was a big one, but her interest, I'll let you guess which big one it was. Here are Grandma and Lucy opening Grandma's gift that Lucy picked out. Thankfully the stained-glass woman still had one yellow flower left.
This is the beautiful no-bake cheesecake we made (though it was actually pretty good). There were lots of fingerprints in the batter and even a couple in the finished product. One of Lucy's favorite things to sing is happy birthday, and she sang sweetly to Grandma for several days. Proper York birthday etiquette: light candles, sing, blow candles out, and repeat. As many times and you're allowed.
Toward the middle of our week together the weather took a turn, and we got our first real rain here since the first week in September. A perfect chance to try out all of our new rain gear!
But most of all, just like Grandma wanted, we hung around the house and did what we normally do: dishes, laundry, play, make a mess, clean the mess. I'm not sure how Grandma got a picture of me doing the dishes, because I thought she did them all while she was here. I got a little spoiled. Anyone else want to visit and do my chores?
The last day of Grandma's visit was a gymnastics day for Lucy. If you've talked to my mother, you've probably heard about it. Lucy impressed with her usual feats of strength and agility, outshining the other kids in the class. Just add it to the Grandma brag book.
Feel the love! We'll miss you till Christmas Grandma!