Happy 80th Great Grandpa!

This past weekend we took the bean to Ottawa to celebrate Grandpa's 80th Birthday. Erica, Cathie, Doug and I drove up on Thursday with Georgia and Taylor. Erica and I stayed at Andy & Cindy's and the boys drove up together on Friday. I wish I had thought to take a picture of Erica and I loading up the car. Travelling with 2 babies is no small feat, the car was packed full of baby stuff, we had so much that Cathie and Doug had to pack half of it in their car too! Thank goodness for grandparents that understand the need for a whole lot of stuff!

Andy and Cindy were gracious hosts, it was fun to spend time with them and get to know them a little better. Here is a few things that I learned:

1) Andy has been hiding his inner Martha for way to long - he makes cookies to die for!

2) Dryfus loves to play with my ankles, for such a large dog it is somewhat surprising that he managed to surprise me every time

3) Andy had turned Christmas lights into an art form. He changes them for every season (Trevor could learn a lot from Andy in this department, Trevor prefers to put them up, leave half of the bulbs empty and take them down in the summer after I have complained for 6 months....)

4) Andy and Cindy keep a very neat and tidy home - they could compete with my mother (the queen of Windex) for cleanliness

5) their TV plays the same things as our TV (baby Einstein and sports)

On Saturday we went to Arnprior to celebrate Grandpa's birthday. It was heartwarming to see all of the siblings working so hard to make the day extra special for their Dad. Over the years I have spent a great deal of time with this side of the family and I always look forward to each visit back. I have never been anywhere where I am made to feel so at home, so quickly. They always remember birthdays, anniversaries and would bend over backwards to help any of us. They are each unique but yet so similar in many ways, I truly am grateful to call each of them family.

Seeing Grandpa come into his party was one of my favourite moments of the day. He looked so happy to be there and so proud of all of his grandbabies and grandkids.

My favourite picture was the one of Georgia sleeping in her stroller. She wanted to stay awake the whole time at the party, but after making laps with stroller I finally got her to sleep!