Special Times with Grandmother C.

Grandmother C. came to visit us for a few days.  The kids talked about it for weeks before she came.  I had to finally put up a calendar so they could countdown the days until she arrived.

She saw Nicholas perform in two shows of Willy Wonka Jr at the ACT theatre.  Stuart gave her a tour of the theatre so she got to see back stage and the green room.  She saw the costumes and Nicholas getting his makeup on.  She even got to see the actors warm up routine.

Grandmother bought a star for Rachel to leave for Willy Wonka on the actor's Star Board.  She wrote "Awesome job Wonka" but wouldn't sign her name.

Grandmother took Rachel to the American Girl store so they could have a special lunch with her Bitty Baby doll.  Before lunch, they looked around the store.  Rachel picked up tons of little cards that you are supposed to hand to an employee so they can go get the item for you from the back of the store.  Rachel just collected them.  She has quite a wish list for the American Girl store.

They had a nice lunch together and Bitty Baby even got her own special chair to let her sit at the table with them.

The waitress actually brought out a drink and plate for Bitty Baby!  This is such a cute idea and it is just so much fun for little girls.

They serve real food in the bistro too.

Rachel even got a special ice cream dessert in celebration of her upcoming birthday.

Then Grandmother let Rachel pick out a "big kid" doll and a few accessories.  Rachel is so happy.  Thank you Grandmother!

After a busy morning at American Girl and the theatre, we took Grandmother to one of our favorite restaurants - Babe's Chicken!  Yes, we don't need places that serve wine or hor d'oeuvres.  Just bring us some iced tea, a big plate of fried chicken, and lots of homemade biscuits and we are a happy bunch!

We headed back to the car but stopped in a candy shop first then let the kids play on this ride-on horse.  Rachel let her doll ride too and she giggled like crazy as she got bounced back and forth on the ride.

The next day we had some down time at the house.  Grandmother played Monopoly Jr.

The last few days have been busy around here which means tired kids.  We left the house in the late afternoon with plans to get dinner in Roanoke then head to archery.  Rachel fell asleep in the car before we got there.

We let Grandmother learn what REAL barbeque tastes like.  We love Hard Eight BBQ and tried their Roanoke location for the first time.  The food was absolutely delicious, as always.

Stuart commented on their door which has an "Exit" sign above it and a "No Exit" sign on it.  I think someone had a bit too much sauce before they put those signs up.

Thanks for coming to visit Grandmother!  We miss you already.