A Visit from M & M

  my mom and mark came to visit over labor day weekend and it was so much fun seeing them, showing them our city and getting some much needed help with our house.  we kept busy the whole weekend and i think they left a little worn out. hopefully we didn't scare them away for good. now for the pictures.

 we started with dinner at flat branch and then hit cosmo park on our way home. the girls loved showing off their favorite park. (the above slide shoots the girls off the end so madison is bracing herself in preparation :)

 racing down their favorite slides.

and climbing back up, over and over again.

we ventured over to the farmers market 2 minutes from our house...

 and picked up some groceries for a delicious dinner that night - fresh, homemade pasta, sauteed squash, zuccini, and onions with garden tomatoes, swiss cheese and herbs, artisan bread, and mini pies for dessert.

i would cook like that more often if all the fresh, homegrown ingredients didn't cost as much as eating at a nice restaurant.  it makes me excited to have a garden next year.

 on sat, mark helped dan with the 2-man post hole digger as they prepped for our new fence. more on that in a minute. i hated watching them use it and was glad they came out injury free.

i found these chairs on clearance at ace and they were perfect for the girls to watch all the action from.

 a trip to columbia wouldn't be complete without a carousel ride in the mall.

 shelter garden was beautiful and we actually couldn't have asked for better weather all weekend.  apparently september is a much better time to visit than july. sorry lindsay, we are learning!

tuckered out from church. (the girls love these dresses so much that i hide them after i do laundry.  otherwise, they ask to wear them every single day.  maybe it's because they're from g&g skinner?)

dan and mark dug all the holes and cemented the posts on saturday so they could put the actual fence up on monday.  they spent hours and hours on it and dan spent at least that much time on it before mark even came into town.  mark had some great tips and was such a good resource.  the fence looks professionally installed and it turned out very nice.  (finished pictures to come with the house reveal later.)

madison got an owie from 'working so hard'.  grace was concerned for her.

more of the fence.

madison gave me a demonstration of what mark and dan were doing.

we also hiked the devil's ice box trail and again enjoyed the beautiful weather.

we got so much accomplished and fit in so many things.  it was wonderful to have m&m come visit and we can't wait until they come back with the whole family for thanksgiving!