papa's visit

During the three months that Mom was in Denver with Kimberly, Dad was traveling back and forth from Denver to California.  He asked me if it would be weird for him to come to Dallas without Mom.  I told him that we'd miss Mom, but that it wouldn't be weird at all.  So, he flew out here for two weeks, and we loved having him around.  He flew in late one night, so the kids didn't see him until the next morning, but they had lots of loves and hugs for him!

Although we missed having my Mom here, I think my Dad really enjoyed having so much one-on-one time with my kids.  They were constantly snuggling up to Papa for story time or to play a game.  Brooke even wanted him to put her to bed the first few nights!  We enjoyed taking him to our favorite places (parks, Iggy's, etc.), and making memories together.

Sunday pics, of course, haha.

We drove through Prairie Lights, which is something I really wanted to take him to.  It was on a Monday night, so the place was empty.  We walked through the Lighted Forest section, and the kids were able to go on multiple carnival rides.

One day we headed to the Flight Museum at Dallas Love Field, which was a genius idea on my part, haha.  My Dad has loved planes and flying for as long as I can remember, so when I saw this museum near the airport, I knew we needed to go!  It's a rather small museum, but perfect for my kids and since Dad's legs can't handle walking long distances. 

The museum was completely empty, which made the whole experience so enjoyable.  I didn't have to stress about losing my kids, and we could take our time to see all the exhibits. Our favorites were the pieces from Apollo 7, the "Flying Pancake" (Vought V-173), and the kid's play area.

I loved seeing my Dad in his element :)  He also spent a lot of his free time watching videos and reading online manuals about gliders and small personal aircraft while he was at our house.

We planned on heading to meet Santa at the Bass Pro Shop on a Friday, but after seeing that he wouldn't be there till late afternoon, I reached out to a friend who had advertised extra tickets for a show at Casa Mañana.  She still had three seats, which was so perfect since Colby would sit on my lap anyway.  The tickets were so cheap (she had a hook-up through her homeschool coop), and the show was amazing!  Colby hardly moved a muscle during the whole show (Santa Clause: The Musical).

We waited till Monday for the Bass Pro Shop, but that will be in it's own post because I took a thousand pictures.

We managed to go on one boat ride, which was beautiful!  The water was freezing, but that didn't stop Kevin and I from jumping in with the wetsuit, gloves, and booties.  My Dad had fun watching the kids (and Kevin) in their element as well :)  

I was so grateful for Dad's visit, and was glad that the kids had time to really bond with him as well.  Brooke was a little grumpy with him by the end, which was embarrassing, but I guess a 4 year old can only handle company for so long?  It really was a nice visit, and it was really helpful to have him here.  On several occasions, he stayed home with the kids while I needed to go run an errand or get Brooke from school while Colby was napping. He also stepped up his game and was helpful with getting dinner ready, or doing the dishes, or helping me pack Brooke's lunch.  AND he fixed a few of my leaking faucets, so that was an added bonus, haha.  Love you lots, Dad. Come back soon!