Grammie and JoePa Came to Town...

Woohooo...we are so glad they came to visit and we miss them already!

Jason left last Sunday for an entire week and Riley and I stayed pretty busy but we sure did miss him! Last Monday I hosted Bible study so I could just put Riley to bed...I was telling them how tempted I was to put Riley in bed with me while Jason was gone...just to keep me company! We also discussed how EVERYTHING has to happen when our husbands are gone...just the life of a military wife..hehe! Well later that night I decided to turn the heater on...with much reluctance because it was only the second time for us to turn it on and thoughts of a fire or carbon monoxide went through my mind but I decided to remain grounded and allow us not to freeze and I went to bed...at 1 am I hear the beaping of a smoke detector and nearly had a heart attack...once I came to I realized it was not the alarm going off but the annoying beap letting me know that a battery was low...and it happened to be the one in Riley's room...are you kidding me? She didn't wake up and I decided 1 am was not the time to pull out the ladder to fix the stupid thing (our ceilings are super high so a simple chair wouldn't do) so I put Riley in my bed and closed as many doors to drown out the beeping...and I didn't get much sleep because Riley flip flops ALL night long...so in one night I ended up with something going wrong and Riley in my bed...I think that was a good lesson that I'm not ready to have her sleep with me because I simply can't sleep with the constant movement...I fixed the smoke detector the next morning and all is well...just a little excitement for the Purcell girls!

The rest of the week went rather smoothly and we were looking forward to a visit from Grammie and JoePa! They came in Thursday evening to Oakland and we decided to have dinner in Berkeley and check it out!

We ate at a great Italian restaurant after walking around College Ave and checking out all of our options...it was fantastic...we had pizza and pasta! Afterwards we went for ice cream to a place one of my friend's recommended and it was so great...the line was out the door and down the street but apparently even that was way shorter than normal!

They make all their ice cream homemade every day and hang these signs with the flavors they have...if you look close I bet you can guess what flavor this girl got...Pumpkin Dulce de Leche Swirl...OMG!

Riley enjoyed hers too...after we got a seperate bowl and spoon for her...our first glimpse of Miss Independent as we affectionately referred to her this past weekend...more stories to come on that!

Once we got home it was way past Riley's bedtime but she had so many new tricks to show Grammie and JoePa and she had a great audience so we let her play for a bit...at some point she managed to get ahold of all of my mom's jewelry and go to town...that's my girl!
It might seem that she stuck her finger in an electrical outlet with the appearance of her hair...that's just the remnants of a day of piggy tails...it's so funny!

On Friday I worked in the morning and after Riley's nap we headed out to have some fun! I'm not to sure what was going on with Riley but once my parents arrived she was so clingy with me...like I've never seen before...and she wouldn't do anything unless I was in her eyesight...I honestly couldn't even escape to shower without a full blown fit...I've never felt more loved but it was also very frustrating and sort of put a kink in our plans...but we all survived!

We headed to downtown Vacaville to have some lunch...

Riley put on a great display of independence and this was primarily what we saw during lunch...

First we had to get her a seperate bowl and spoon just like us to eat some soup, then we had to get a coffee cup so she could drink just like us...this was a learning lesson for her mama! The days of creating a meal just for Riley are over...she wants what I have and she wants to eat it the same way I eat it...I'm learning!

She did enjoy scarfing down on a pumpkin scone...

After lunch we decided to head to a park that was within walking distance to dispel some energy and Riley was so good and had a blast playing with Grammie and JoePa!

Riley went down the slide...

and Grammie went down the slide too!

After the park we headed to the Nut Tree Park for more playtime!

They have all kinds of festive displays up and here is something you will find only in California..."Go Green Georgene"...the scarecrow!

Riley rode the carousel with JoePa...

and the train with Grammie!

Check out her grin as she waved to me and JoePa as they passed by...I just love this girl to pieces!

After she rode all the rides we decided to walk around and shop a bit and Riley did one of the funniest things! We went into Old Navy and my mom wanted an aluminum water bottle so we picked one up and let Riley carry it all through the store...she immediately started blowing on it and we couldn't figure out what she was doing...it was hilarious to watch though! My dad finally clued in and realized that she was pretending it was a bottle of bubbles...she would take the top and dip it in, and then she would take the BIGGEST breath and blow so hard and with such passion...but no bubble ever came out! That didn't stop her, thought, because she kept up this act for over an hour...so cute!

Riley went down pretty early because she had worn herself out being so independent and having millions of temper tantrums...the rough life of a 2 year old!

I celebrated surviving the day with a glass of wine with my mom! We had bought groceries to make tacos for dinner but none of us were that hungry so we just had wine and a bowl of cereal...you can now refer to me as the Hostess with the Mostest...ha!

On Saturday we headed to another pumpkin patch and it was so much fun!

Here's the girls...

and here's Riley looking out on the horizon to make sure the pumpkins were worth the visit!

And let me tell you...they were!

They had a huge pumpkin patch...the real kind where they are still on the vines! This patch is also home of the largest corn maze according to the Guinness Book of World Records but with our recent storm the corn maze was flattened...how sad!

Check out how huge some of these pumpkins were...and yes they are real!

Riley checks out some weird looking pumpkins!

After checking out all the pumpkins we loaded her up in a wagon and off we went...or not...it was only about two steps before she said "out...out...out"

She was ready to put on her walking feet and check everything out on her own...you know that independence!

And just so I can remember all of her cuteness, she is wearing a necklace that Grammie made a long time ago but thought Riley would enjoy wearing...she loves it...it has Noah, an ark, and all the animals on it! So not only did she sport her necklace the entire time she also had a small tube of chapstick tucked safely in the belt loop of her pants...a girl just can't go without her chapstick!

After we walked around and saw all of the pumpkins we headed to the corn bath...I had never heard of this but it was SO MUCH FUN! It's basically a huge pool of corn that you can walk around and play in!

Riley was not sure about it at first...

It didn't take her long to fall in love though!

We buried each other's legs...

and walked all around in the corn!

I love my little girl!

I have found several random corn kernels since we got home!

Riley had fun riding the rocking horses...

And then it was time to climb on bales of hay with JoePa...

"I am Queen of the world!"

After the pumpkin patch we headed home for lunch and a nap...Riley ended up playing with her babies in her bed, sleeping just long enough for me and Grammie to get to the grocery store, and she took off all of her clothes at some point in there...JoePa went to get her and she was just in her diaper!

We prepared a feast since Jason was getting home that evening and he had worked VERY hard all week, slept little, and ate primarily MRE's so I knew he would appreciate a good homecooke meal...tri-tip, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, etc.

While we got everything ready Riley played outside with JoePa...she pulled flowers so they could wear them in their hair...

So cute!

She also played in the dog's water bowl...at one point we caught her about to try and drink out of it just like the dogs...yuck!

We were so happy to have Jason home and we enjoyed our great meal with my parents and our good friends...it was a great night!

Unfortunately this morning we had to take Grammie and JoePa back to the airport...it was just too short of a trip but we're so glad they came!

On our way home we went back to Berkeley...this time with Jason...and walked around and ate a Greek brunch at this great local joint...it was a lot of fun!

This is the car of choice in Berkeley...we drove our hybrid vehicle just to sort of fit in...haha!

We are so glad to have Daddy home!