Tree house!

Each Spring my parents come to visit, and we are starting to develop some traditions.  For one, we always have a small list of things that we look forward to having fixed while dad is here.  This year though, we skipped right over the loose doors and broken towel racks and requested help building this here (incomplete, yet still charming) tree house.  

JB and dad worked with our friend John to get the basic structure up in one day.  I went off to teach my class at Baylor and had lunch with my mom and her sisters and by the time we came back there it was.    

JB and dad spent many hours together during the rest of the week working on the railings.  JB is excited about the cedar posts they are using to build the railing and he has (as you can well imagine) many visions for the tree house as an on-going project.  I like the idea of having vines climbing up the sides.  Mostly though, I like the idea of it being safe.  That's the first priority.  Poor Benjamin is just dying to get up there all by himself and we just can't let him do that yet.  Finding the time in our normal lives to work on the tree house has been hard.  Maybe we can dedicate a weekend in May to its completion.  

Another beloved tradition is the meeting of the grandparents.  Sarah and Hank come down for the day and we all have a big lunch together.  Our children are so blessed to have two such wonderful sets of grandparents.  

This year's visit was extra special because Aunt Kathy was able to come down to visit from Maine!  It made me so happy to have all three sisters together at my house.  Kathy stayed with Aunt Mary in Temple, but they were in Waco nearly every day.  

I thought a lot about how different this visit was from last year when they came a week or so after Eliza Jane's birth.  Oh my, that was a hard time. Then, I was just thankful to have my parents here to hold the baby and play with Benjamin.  This time JB and I were able to cook and we had conversations and really enjoyed the kids.  E even took her first independent steps during their visit.  I expect that next year, when E is almost 2, will be even better.

And here is a post-grandparents, early morning-pajamas-in-the-hammock picture.  This happens sometimes.  Not a bad life.