aunt lala's visit...

we have so looked forward to lauren flying in for a few days. she booked her flight before christmas so it would be easier to say goodbye then knowing we'd be seeing her soon! that girl LOVES her nephews! she didn't get in until 8:40 sunday night. we let the boys stay up so they could go to the airport with us. that was our first time at joplin airport. it was TINY! it didn't even feel like an airport. nonetheless, we were super thankful that it served its purpose and delivered our girl. around 11, the boys were finally wound down enough to go to bed. they each took a turn sleeping in the extra twin bed in her room while she was here. they thought that was the greatest!

monday morning could not get here fast enough for these guys. they've been looking forward to another trip to chuck e. cheese with lala for some time now. we were nervous that it would be super crowded being MLK day, but for an hour, it was just us and 2 other families. 

 

attempt at a group shot. 

we got in on the fun, too!

she's still got it!

 

 the ticket eater was their favorite "game"!

the fruits of our labor...rocket launchers and candy.  

our chuck e. cheese is in the mall so we decided on a food court lunch. we then killed a couple of hours shopping. i got to pick out a birthday gift from lauren. she suggested legging yoga pants. i call them my "i-look-like-i-just-came-from-an-intense-workout-at-the-gym-but-really-i-was-to-lazy-to-get-dressed-this-morning" pants! she also gave me this great scarf. 

after resttime, we headed to mcalister's for a birthday dinner. lauren couldn't believe i chose that, but it sounded best. we browsed target and hobby lobby before heading home. 

 
aunt lala had promised the boys a movie night complete with a pallet and popcorn!

tuesday morning, i ran knox to the doctor. on sunday he woke up with a pimple on his bottom. it only got worse throughout the day and he started running fever. it didn't get any better monday and he was cranky. sure enough, it was some kind of cellulitis. he put him on a strong antibiotic. it's already looking better.

while we were at the doctor, lauren and the boys baked a cake for my birthday!

my dad drove in at lunchtime and we met him at cheddar's for a birthday lunch. unfortunately, there were many tears shed by my boys during our supposed to be pleasant lunch! thanks, dad, for the birthday moolah and lunch! we loved getting to spend a few hours with you!

of course, gdad brought silly string! did you know it only takes about 5 minutes to go through 6 cans of silly string?!

lauren flew out at 3:40 so my dad dropped her at the airport on his way out of town. we so enjoyed getting to see them both! lauren, thank you so much for taking the time and money to come see us! it did my soul good to spend a couple of days with you. we're already looking forward to the next time we get to see you! thanks for being such a great aunt to the boys. we miss you bunches and love you lots!!