Howell Grandparents Visit Pt. 1

On August 20th my parents visited us from Utah. We were so excited to have them come and play in our neck of the woods. They arrived very late in the evening so I had time to do stupid stuff like make cruise ship animals to welcome them. Here is an "elephant". Looks a little like a long nosed dog, but whatever. They got the idea.

How cute are they?

We didn't waste a minute of our time together. We started out the next day by visiting Potter Park Zoo. Eleanor hasn't been back since her birthday in March. It was a much more fun activity for her now that she is six months older.

The gang looking at the barnyard animals.

This might be one of my all time favorite pictures ever. The lion was in high form too, roaring up a storm for everyone to hear. It made Eleanor flinch each time. Cutie.

My dad and Eleanor with the giant giraffe sculpture.

Up close.

Eleanor loved spending time with my folks. She isn't used to that much attention at home, poor thing. My parents really dote on her. Here she is getting her nails done.

Nail polish doesn't taste so good.

Until you let it dry, then it's good eats.Grandpa and E had a special routine where she would run into their room and jump on the bed (a souped up air mattress). My dad would then "chase" her down and throw her on the pillows over and over. Sadly, once they left, she found we weren't exactly Johnny-on-the-spot with her game. Poor E.

One day when Clayton was in school, we drove up to Holland to visit Lake Michigan at Tunnel Beach. It has the most spectacular overlook, as seen here.

Eleanor has always loved the water. The Howells are a water bunch, so it was fun for my parents to enjoy this with her.

I think she loved playing in the sand with Grandpa almost as much as splashing in the waves.

He even built her a hot tub to enjoy. It was the best of both worlds. She spent the better part of our day in there.

Hi sparkles.

She also really, really liked the gulls that wander around. If only we had brought our french fries.

Walking back through the tunnel.

Capping off a great day by having your personal slave spoon feed you Haagen dazs.

My dad was enjoying his ice cream and Eleanor just went and got her
little chair and set up camp next to him.

Man, she has his number.

Note the backwards pajamas? We have a little undressing problem at night, so everything goes on backwards. Otherwise she wakes us up around 3 am because she is shivering in a corner of her crib after she's thrown all her blankets out. It's the most adorable and pathetic scene. A naked, shivering baby all tucked into the corner with her bum in the air. It broke our hearts, so obviously we needed to take steps to prevent it. Isn't it funny the things that become routines once you have a kid?
Part Two of Howell week will be coming up soon. I thought my computer had broken, it was broken for a few days, but I think I have it fixed. (Your welcome Adam! One phone call you don't have to man.) So I slowed down in my blogging goal, but I will try to keep going.