Grandpa Don Visits from MN ~ tammyfantasyland

25 March 2014

Grandpa Don Visits from MN

This past weekend my Dad flew in for a visit from Minnesota. The kids (and us too) loved having him around.

Joey started out calling him "Grattadon! Grattadon!" but eventually got the hang of it. He'll do that, say something over and over and over again until he gets it right. Smart cookie that one. He'd say "Hey Grandpa Don?" and then have nothing to say when my Dad would ask "What Joey?" haha!

We didn't do anything majorly exciting, but just hung out. And ate A LOT. He's always so good about helping us with projects around the house (like picking out the proper extension attachments for our shop vac so my husband can go nuts on the ladybugs) and other things.

On Saturday we invited my Aunt Mary Jane to come down (my dad's sister). She lives up about an hour outside of Columbus. I was so busy throwing food together and talking, that I forgot to take any photos! It was so nice to see her though. She lost her husband in November and I've been thinking about her every day.

I was surprised, but proud, that my kids warmed right up to Grandpa Don. Even though they don't see him more than a couple times a year, they remember him and love on him.

I hate that this is so blurry. Operator error.

We celebrated his birthday early with his favorite cake: Chocolate with mint frosting. My mom always used to bake him this cake when I was growing up and since she passed away I don't think he's had it. I was determined to get it right and kept sending him texts with questions like "Is there mint in the batter, the frosting, or both?" and "How green should the frosting be?" I so wished my mom was still with us so I could ask her these things (along with a million other things on a daily basis, of course.) I baked 2 practice cakes before baking the real deal. It turned out great -- and I can't really brag because it was box cake and tub frosting and some Creme de Menthe flavoring, so...nearly impossible to screw THAT up, right?