Grandparents' Day

Enjoying a Saudi Arabian dinner

May 1 marked Grandparent's Day at school for Anna.  Grandma and Grandpa were kind enough to make the drive from Ohio for the big day.  In addition to Grandparents' Day, they got to enjoy an assortment of Anna activities on a beautiful May weekend.

Grandma and Grandpa arrived on Thursday afternoon in time to enjoy Anna's piano recital on Thursday night.  Anna played two pieces and performed in between the next door neighbor boys.  The best part of the recital, from Anna's perspective, was the chance to get ice cream after it was over.

Friday marked Grandparents' day at school.  Mom dropped Grandma and Grandpa off at school with Anna in the carpool line.  They enjoyed several demonstration in Anna's class on all of the things they are working on and the technology available, attended mass with the kids, enjoyed a grandparent breakfast afterward, and concluded with the "spring fling" concert performance.  As always, Grandpa made friends with several others grandparents at the event.  A good time was had by all!

There is always a dining adventure for the grandparents each trip, and this was no exception.  This time Anna and company decided to take them to a new Saudi Arabian restaurant in town.  All was going well with the delicious food and Arabian music until the after dinner coffee arrived.  Saudi coffee is not for the weak.  There are reports that Grandma may have needed a heart procedure the following week after drinking it.

Grandpa had big plans on Saturday to help Joe in the yard, including planting some bushes.  Grandpa runs on a slightly different schedule than Joe (he was ready to go at 6 AM), so instead he opted to help Theresa monitor the 5K race through the neighborhood.  Grandpa and Theresa called out times for folks and offered encouraging words.  Meanwhile, Grandma and Joe were able to enjoy their coffee (this was all rather symbolic).

Spring in the backyard

The rest of the afternoon, Joe and Grandpa worked in the yard until it was time for Anna's soccer game later in the afternoon.  Anna's team played at an alternate location, which ended up being a full size field.  They also were missing players, thus had no subs.  The end result was some very tired girls.  Anna, ever strategic, volunteered to be goalie for the first half of the game, thus limiting her running.  Saturday night, one of Theresa's grad school friends was visiting from Armenia and joined the family for dinner.  She treated everyone to some beautiful piano music and lots of funny stories.

Sunday it was time to return to Ohio, but not before going out for breakfast.  Joe and Theresa spared no expense for breakfast and took the grandparents to the most popular restaurant in town:  the Vienna Inn.  While the name sounds quaint, it is quite a dive of a place with good food. The furniture is old and beat-up but no one seems to care.  Anna was quite taken aback by this place and announced, "I'm really having an issue with my chair because it is torn."  She did not see why this was funny.  Drinks were self service and when you went to pay, it was based on the honor system (Grandpa was quite impressed).  It was definitely memorable.

A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for making the trip out.  A fun weekend was had by all!