first visit from my brother

it's been awhile since we've seen my brother and his love, erica.
they came to visit us in texas when the boys were a mere six months old.
i blogged about it :: here.

to hear they were coming to visit us over the boys birthday weekend :: pretty much made my whole year complete!
it only took about 20 minutes for the boys to warm up.
and a couple of hours for everyone to figure out what level of play and interaction the boys were at.
after that, it was game on.
ledger took to uncle matt :: i've always said that ledger was uncle matt's mini-me {minus the red hair}.
and holden :: sweet little holden had a special little smile he saved just for auntie erica.
he was smitten with her.

grammie was in town for the long weekend too.
we missed grampie dearly and mentioned daily how we wished he were with us.

matt and erica are travelers.
world travelers.
but they had never been up this way.
they wanted to see some of the cleve.
and frankly, so did we.

they got to the house late afternoon on wednesday the 25th.
we just played outside with the boys and enjoyed the nice weather :: the forecast for the rest of the week was not looking good.
the big boys put together the john deer tractor after the little boys went to bed.

both tractors and some balloons were waiting for them the morning of their birthday.
the john deer was the favorite {thanks again, nana & pa}!
they played nicely together for a short time.
but after breakfast :: it got put in the garage.
i couldn't take the fighting any longer.
{you can tell from the pictures who hogged it}

the day was cold and rainy.
but we didn't let that stop us from getting out.
we showed them huntington beach.

and then went across the street to the nature center.

mom, matt and erica checked out a museum during nap time.

i made white bean chicken chili for dinner.

matt and erica put together the play house that evening.

we sat outside and watched a gorgeous sunset.

and called it an early night.

friday morning we ate a quick breakfast and headed downtown.

to the westside market.

we thought it was a local farmers market.

we were discouraged to find out the fruit was not local but imported from all over.

totally bummed out.

but we bought some veggies for dinner.

i got some pretty flowers for the party.

and then discovered there was another part to the market.

as soon as we stepped foot into the place we knew we had found the jackpot and quickly forgot the disappointment from the other wing of the market.

this place was a foodies heaven.

it is full of fresh meats of every kind. fresh cheeses. fresh fish. fresh EVERYTHING.

in a huge. old. beautiful. building.

we all could have spent hours upon hours in there.

we had impressed matt and erica.

goal accomplished.

and for any future visitors.

consider yourself warned.

we WILL be showing off our westside market to you.

since we were in downtown. and it was lunch time. and we had beer drinkers with us.

we decided to check out the great lakes brewery.

another success.

we shared a sampler of their beers.

ate some awesome food.

all while the little boys were perfect angels.

the boys were amazing all morning long.

we all had such an awesome time exploring downtown cleveland.

friday night we were treated to an awesome meal that matt and erica whipped up.
and then we kicked it into party set up mode.
mom, matt and erica helped out a ton.
they had some big shoes to fill from last year.
they rocked it out for me.
so thankful!

saturday arrived :: the big party day.
again, couldn't have done it without my helpers.
i'll blog separately on the party.
but here's a picture for y'all until then.

we took matt and erica out to another local brewery that evening.
i came home and went to sleep.
the other three went to a neighbors house to play poker.
great end to a fun filled day celebrating my two little two year olds.
so incredibly thankful for them.
and for my family who took the time to come visit and celebrate them as well.
it was a perfect day!

sunday was going to be an awesome day, weather wise.
we spent the morning outside.
and decided to take in an indians game for the first time.
it was during nap time. it was a beautiful day. why not!
they were hosting the angels.
true story :: torri hunter plays for the angels. he banks at the bank i used to work at in texas {his house and family is in texas}. he's the only professional baseball player i know.
i immediately wanted to go to the game since torii was playing.
it's always more fun to watch a game when you know someone playing. right?!
we all enjoyed ourselves.
so glad we went.
one more thing to check off the list.

monday morning came all.too.soon.
it was time to say good bye to auntie erica and uncle matt.
we had the best time with them.
the hardest part is not knowing when we will see them again.
i love my big brother with all my heart.
i am so incredibly proud of him.
i enjoyed getting to know erica more.
and watching them with my kids was priceless.

they say they enjoyed their time.
i hope our chaotic life with two - two year olds wasn't too overwhelming.
they say it wasn't.
matt told me :: i had a beautiful home. with a beautiful family. and what seemed to be a beautiful life.
he also told me i was doing a great job.
there's nothing i love hearing more.
and to hear that from someone who i look up too means the world to me.
i'm glad he's proud of me also.