Visit from the Grandparents

The weather this past week has been good for one thing: curling up on the sofa with a cozy, thick blanket, a cup of hot chocolate, and reading all day.  Normally, I absolutely love these days.  I can just read...I can't see the dust on the furniture, the dog hair on the floors, the dirty clothes gathering up in the laundry room...I can simply read.

Unfortunately, this was not the idea week for this read-only weather because the GRANDPARENTS were here!  Though I know they are more interested in spending time with Leila than with me these days, I always love a visit from my parents.  ;)  They so nicely came to keep me company as Devin spent the week in Del Rio, Texas for work.  Because the weather was so dreary, we spent our time indoors: shopping for clothes for Leila (and please no comments on the fact that she has more than 100 outfits already), exploring the little towns outside of Florence, going out to eat, and honestly, just enjoying each other's company.

Dinner at Fava's Restaurant in Georgetown, Kentucky

Some of the highlights of the week included:

-Leila's first time in a restaurant:  On Monday, we were famished from our shopping trip so we decided to go to Olive Garden.  She did wonderfully!!  (And by "wonderfully" I mean, she had no idea she was in a restaurant because she slept the whole time.)

-The Flea Market in Georgetown:  Daddy did some research and found a flea market that boasted being "the best in the area!"  Always up for an adventure, we loaded Lil'Bit in the car and drove the 30 minutes to Georgetown...or at least, Daddy thought it was supposed to be 30 minutes, but it was, in fact, an hour.  And when we arrived, man, were we disappointed.  It was so gross that Mom walked through next to me threatening bodily harm if I let anything touch the stroller.  We decided to leave very, very quickly and ended up exploring the downtown area full of quaint little shops.  Our afternoon was salvaged thanks to a cute kids store and a diner named Fava's.

-Kinman Farms:  On Saturday, we all (including Devin!) went to the Fall Festival at Kinman Farms.  Though the festival wasn't all that great, it was a fun afternoon as the weather finally warmed up and dried out and we took some fun pictures in the pumpkin patch.  We then, once again, explored another small town with shops and decided to eat at a little diner/pub.  It was there that I discovered this:

The Kentucky Hot Brown

Yes, I know it looks like a plate of pig slop, but it's the best ugly-meal I've ever had!  You're looking at Texas toast, layered with turkey and ham, smothered in melted cheese, and topped with bacon, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and a roll.  So freakin' good!

There were so many good times had this week, and despite the fact that all times were great times, I definitely have a favorite memory.  Ever since I was a little girl, Saturdays were meant for garage sales with Daddy.  I was Daddy's companion, and I cherished those early morning father/daughter times.  In college, I would come home on the weekends just to go to garage sales, and I continued that through the first three years of marriage traveling from Charlottesville to Chester just to go.  I was saddened when Devin and I moved to Kentucky because that meant no more garage sales with Daddy on Saturday mornings; there was no way I was going by myself because that's just not how it was supposed to happen.  So imagine how happy I was Friday night when Daddy reminded me what time I had to get up to hit the garage sales with him the next morning.  Such a small thing, but it's something that brings me such joy.  I hope Devin and Leila have something that's just theirs that she will love and look forward to as much as I love going to garage sales with my Daddy.

And, to close out this somewhat long post, here are a few pictures from the pumpkin patches at Kinman Farms:

My little pumpkin

Family fun times - check out Leila's piggy hat!

Leila with Grandma and Grandpa

The little John Deere Baby!