grandma and grandpa came for a visit!

grandpa bart and grandma janie drove all the way from idaho to spend the 12th-23rd with us! that first day they got here was a doozy with lots of after school activities, but they jumped right in and went from piano to football, to dinner and then to book club. so glad they were able to take the time to be with us! we have missed them so much since they went home on monday.

we did a really poor job of taking pictures with gma and gpa actually in them, but here are a few.

it goes without saying that bart and chris did a ton of golfing during chis' week off of work! jack even got in on the action for a few rounds and owen played with grandpa in the front yard while he was practicing his chipping.

we also went on many walks while the older kids were at school and the men weren't golfing. we saw this beaut one of the mornings, eek!

jack had two games while they were here, which was so nice for jack. he loves to show off :) his team, the knights, won a game and lost a game. but jack played his heart out and was even able to score a touchdown during the game they won!

we kept the kids home from school on wednesday so we could all go on a hiking adventure at devil's den! when we went for labor day we knew we needed to take grandpa and grandma when they were in town. the weather could not have been better! we hiked the same trails we did last time and then had a picnic at the park before exploring a big dam where the kids climbed, skipped rocks, and threw rocks in the river till their hearts couldn't handle any more.

owen had a copy of the map and led the way. in fact, when anyone tried to go ahead of him there was a whole lotta screaming!

oh charlie!

we turned a corner and there he was, doing... whatever this is...

not sure if he was doing some sort of indian dance of gratitude to mother earth, if he had a sudden stomach ache, or if he had ants in his pants, but man did we laugh hard!

and just to prove that he can be slightly normal: 

this was right before ellie had a major freak out over a bee. you'd think that she had a horribly traumatic experience with bees once by the way she reacts when one is close by, but nope, just an irrational fear of beestings! they were swarming around our picnic table later in the afternoon at lunchtime and she ended up eating in the car.

walking across a big log 6 feet above a dried riverbed

 we were excited to show grandpa and grandma the rock towers!

jack, ellie, and charlie spent a good amount of time building their own towers to leave for the next hikers to enjoy.

jack the jokester!

owen is alwaaaaays throwing rocks, especially if there is a puddle or pond to throw them into

and sometimes he even wants to be held by mama

on top of the dam

always throwing rocks!

i guess all boys like to throw rocks, since daddy couldn't resist making a big splash :)