Our awesome mini-trip...

    On Sunday we had the fleeting thought that maybe we should drive up to my parents house for a quick visit and to install the flooring they had been wanting us to install for months now. 


       We figured it would be great timing, as it was also my dad's birthday, and what a better present than to have a visit with his adorable grand-kids for his birthday? ha ha


       Monday morning we called around to switch the appointments that we had, and figure out work for my hubby this week...and realized that it could actually happen. In all of about 1/2 hour we packed up ALL of our things and squished into the car. 
            We had briefly chatted with my mom about coming, but with all the switching around of schedules, we weren't sure if we would make it, so I don't think she was expecting us at all.
It worked out SO perfectly, because my dad had gotten home from work just minutes before we arrived. We showed up and knocked on the door with a box of SUPER yummy donuts from the donut mill (may I say, SO much better than  timmies).
    
    He was SHOCKED....he had no idea we were coming, and was super happy to see all of us, especially the kiddos. It was a great surprise:)
We spent the evening hanging out with them while the kids played with their uncles...and we also started on the ripping out of carpet and baseboards, and getting rid of furniture and clutter in the room. 
     The room we did was my parents master bedroom which is huge!! We did just their walk-in closet a few months ago, and that took hours on its own...so we knew we were in for the long haul. 
The next morning the kids had the day off school (another plus to out visiting that day), although my little sister who also lives in town, and my mom and dad, we're all at school/work all day. 
My hubby started on the floor, and I took all the kids (my 3 siblings and my 2) shopping. We had a really great time shopping around the mall and eating some yummy food at the food court afterwards. They have a great food-court....my fave part of the trip, ha ha. 
We drove back into town to let Roo sleep...and spent the rest of the evening visiting. 
I have to brag about my hubby a little here...he is SO smart, and so talented, and such a hard worker. He installed the flooring all by himself, even though it was super tricky, he's such a stud, ha ha. 
Wednesday was kind of an interesting day...as it definitely had its ups and downs. It was my dads birthday, so as per tradition we got to eat super yummy crepes with strawberries and whipping cream for breakfast. 
   We snuck(is that a word?:) into his classroom at lunch time and filled it with balloons, and nice sayings on his whiteboard, like: "how old do you think Mr. T is?" Then had his students and us write down silly answers like....1,042, I don't know, when dinosaurs roamed the earth? ? 27? ha ha...it was awesome. 


                      He found us mid-balloon-blowing, but it was still worth it!!


We went out for dinner with the whole gang for pizza, and then finished off the day with a yummy icecream cake!! 
(my mom's home-made specialty)


The only down-side was some issues we had with my younger brother....but they worked themselves out pretty seamlessly...it was kind of a miracle actually...I think I'll post all about that later. 
But YAY for miracles, and cake and awesome family trips. 
    We were saying goodbye and my little brother asked A if he liked this trip better or his trip to hawaii: "Of course this one!! It was WAY better than hawaii"....then he proceeded to cry for the next half-hour drive because he missed his uncles so much....it was pretty sweet. 
     All in all we had a super great trip, and I'm glad we could re-arrange things to make it work...I hope we can visit again soon:) <3 you guys!!