Let's start with our greatly anticipated visit from Grammy Kathy and Grampy Tom, Ryan's step-mother and father.
Grampy Tom arrived in Ocean Beach a few days before his beautiful bride flew in. He was planning to drive his motorcycle from their home in Texas, all the way to San Diego. Around the half way point, his motorcycle broke down, and plans changed. When Pop rolled in, it wasn't on his motorcycle, but toting his ride in a U haul. His bike was dropped off at a local shop to be fixed during the visit, and as you can see, we got right down to eating.
When Grammy Kathy landed, we celebrated with a scrumptious dinner at one of my former places of work.
After dinner we pounced Cup of Yo, to enjoy a frozen treat.
The next day we began taking them on a tour of some of our favorite, quite alluring locations.
...a beauty, enjoying the beauty at the Cabrillo tide pools.
Pop gazing at Coronado from the...
Cabrillo National Monument
cheese
We reveled in a quick visit to stunning Torrey Pines...
...to watch hang gliding.
The next morning Grammy and Grampy came over bearing a special gift for Ryan. His grandfather's handgun, purchased while stationed in Italy, along with a paper target which was used by his Grandpa. Ryan felt so honored, and it was exciting for the kids to see the used target. Rowan is especially fascinated with family history and all of the kids are interested in target shooting sports.
Next, we decided to visit Little Italy's famous farmer's market, where Pop and Ma found some fresh squeezed lemonade, and we each found precious quality time with each other.
and downtown San Diego,
We decided to take them on a car tour of Balboa Park,
and downtown San Diego,
including the Star of India.
We topped the day off with a very special treat from our neighbor Carol. She owns Lighthouse Ice Cream, which serves renowned waffle ice cream sandwiches.
Back at our place, I somehow captured a grin on Pop's face!
The next day, we were blessed with an opportunity to visit our cousin Jessie at her sweet pad in LA, with Grammy and Grampy.
Thanks to Kierce, we have this unique photo of the honored couple, or are they really undercover aliens, and Kierce found them out???
Eventually, we were whisked off on an adventure with Jess to a local shopping mall; a quite interesting one I might add.
This mall resembled a small town...
...with giant sized fun!
We made our way to a BBQ restaurant where we were treated to a delicious meal by Tom and Kathy. Feeling blessed after dinner, it was difficult to say our "see you laters" knowing it would be a while before we would see Grammy Kathy and Jess again. After lots of hugs, we drove the long way home through LA, meanwhile our visitors traveled to Las Vegas for more fun.
It was fun to drive the Sunset Strip and Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Being a longtime fan of the movie Pretty Woman, the gang humored me by driving Redeo Drive too.
After a short visit in Vegas, Tom saw his beautiful wife off on a flight back to Texas, and drove back to our home to stay while his motorcycle was being finished. Once his ride was fixed, Grampy took Merrick for a whirl.
Merrick was more than stoked to take off.
The next morning before the kids awoke, we said our "see you laters" and captured a few more memories.
This visit was so precious. I can see clearly just how precious, these two smiles tell it all.
Thank you Grammy Kathy and Grampy Tom for taking the time to visit us before moving back to Michigan. It was amazing to be able to share a big piece of our life with you <3
