Some people we love came to visit

Christmas this year was a little different without my parents.

There were no Brandy Alexanders on Christmas Eve, mainly.

It was special to get to start our own traditions with our own family, but I was in a little bit of Merri & Jerry withdrawal.  Luckily, they came to visit on the 27th.

Addison pretty much welcomed them at the door with her new Pretty, pretty princess game.

Poppy was even down to play.

This girl took the crown though.

 There was a lot of snuggle time with Nana (especially between the hours of 6 and 8am when she let me sleep in!)  That was a true gift.  Oh crap, I'm getting teary eyed just looking at this picture because they left a few hours ago.  

 Let me take a second to talk about how much I love my parents.

There is something amazing about seeing your own parents love on your children, while loving on you at the same time.  

I am at a stage in life where I'm fortunate to be in this "middle place".

A place where I can love, & cuddle with my own kids, feel like I've finally grown up and am officially in the trenches of adulthood, no longer "playing house", but can still be enveloped in a hug by my mom and be transported to any year of my childhood where that hug always made everything feel better.

I don't get those hugs as often anymore, living so far away.

That's what makes saying goodbye so hard.

But I do get the gift of having coffee together in the morning, running errands, taking the kids to the park, making dinner together, and enjoying a glass of wine with some of my favorite people....for several days in a row.  

It is such a gift, to both me and my kids.

Speaking of that glass of wine.

I think we may be well on our way to perfecting the art of wine tasting with kids in tow.

Some of the key ingredients include snacks, toys & sippy cups.

 What?

 I love that less than an hour from where we live, there is this.

 and these two had fun!  

 We stopped at a favorite little winery in Temecula, Hart Winery before heading to lunch at Wilson Creek.

Oh, and go ahead and add Iphone to that list of tools that makes this kind of outing possible.

 Then we made the best discovery ever.

A winery with a playground.

 Yes, it's amazing.  Wilson Creek just got moved up to the top spot.

  Kids played, Grandparents relaxed after lunch, and I began planning our next trip out here.