Full House

When Mike and I moved into our new home, it was full of possibilities. The square footage alone allowed us to dream big. We could have a sizable barbecue on the deck, an office that was just an office, a garden full of fresh veggies, a second bedroom with a queen size bed - our options seemed limitless in the face of our old, cramped condo.

The thing that excited me most though was the possibility of having guests. We could have had guests at our old place, and we did. In fact, there was one weekend that we had 5 adults and 6 kids in the condo. That was a stretch.  At the new place however, it is not as much of a stretch.

This past weekend we hosted Mike's sister, brother-in-law and their family, which includes these four kids:

And these two dogs:

Meet Mario (right) and Luigi (left)

Mike and I didn't really plan a lot of activities for their visit, aside from on Sunday attending church and brunch afterward. Our lack of plans were probably a good thing. We all had plenty of fun running around in the sun in our very own backyard.

Taylor totally enjoyed all having company as well. He had dogs to play with and kids to rub his belly. He was so exhausted when they left that he collapsed on the couch for hours. That was an added bonus for Mike and I.

It was really fun to have the house so full and to do the typical Easter things like church, brunch and egg dying. We even had a egg hunt on Sunday night.

Mike busted out his guitar and taught the kids a few tunes.

Mike's oldest niece lost a tooth!

Mike also perfected the sport of niece and nephew tossing. He's quite good.

By far my favorite part of the weekend though was planting our hamburger tree. On Saturday, Mike barbecued a ton of hot dogs and hamburgers. As we were sitting down to eat, one of the boys (Gabe, 4-years-old) handed me some sesame seeds from his hamburger bun. He told me that we should plant them and grow a hamburger tree. I thought that was a fine idea, so after dinner we went out to the garage and grabbed a shovel. The kids helped me find the best spot in the garden and even dig the hole.

As they were leaving on Monday morning, Gabe reminded me that I needed to let him know as soon as the hamburger tree started growing. In about a week, I am going to send this photo to Gabe and the rest of the kids. I really, really wish I could be there to see the look on their faces.

 

It's not my best Photoshop job, but I think it's good enough to impress a 4-year-old. You think?