Shortly after we returned from our Utah vacation we had some visitors. Grandma and Grandpa Monroe came to visit us for a week! We had a lot of fun with them. The only problem was that the weather here was unbelievably hot - I'm talking over a hundred with a huge helping of humidity. It was unbearable to be outside so we tried to be creative.
Grandma and Grandpa know how much the boys (mostly Tanner) love legos so they brought the boys a batman lego set to put together. Grandma was a good sport. She sat down with the boys and helped them put the set together. I know the boys loved putting it together with her! The boys also got to play games with grandma and listen to her read books.
According to tradition, we all went to Steak and Shake with Grandpa. It's grandpa's favorite restaurant. He has to go there sometime during his stay. In fact, now when grandpa comes for a visit the boys start talking about going to Steak and Shake! We like to see Grandpa's face light up when we go there!!
We all got tired of being inside the house, so we started looking for somewhere to go. When I mentioned Santa Claus Grandma and Grandpa got excited. No, I don't mean that guy in the red suit, I mean the place - Santa Claus, Indiana. Yes, such a place actually exists. Grandma and Grandpa love everything Christmas so it was the perfect outing. I had never actually been there so I didn't know what it was like. We looked online and found out that there is a little museum, a Christmas store, a Candy Castle and a famous post office. It is also the home of Holiday World Theme Park (where Tanner went on his 5th Grade Field Trip). We didn't have time to go to Holiday World, but we had time to check out the other things.
Santa Claus is kind of out there by itself. It is a really small town. Most of what I listed is all that is there. It is small, but they make up for it in spirit. The town is all about Santa. Upon entering you are met by several statues of Santa, as well as many signs bearing his name. I am sure it is a very fun place to go in December.
We started off at the Santa Claus Museum. It is a cute little museum. It tells the history of the town and of Holiday World. The kids completed a treasure hunt game that took them around the museum. At the end they got a sticker for a prize - a Christmas one of course! It is amazing how wonderful a sticker can be when it is labeled as a "prize"!
Next we ventured next door to the Christmas Store. Grandma was in heaven! It was a really cool store. They had everything Christmas - you could even take your picture with Santa! Grandma found some really nice ornaments to put on her Christmas tree this year.
Then we drove up the street to the Candy Castle. We were a little disappointed to find that it was really just a glorified store. We didn't spend very long there. We did get a couple of candy canes to snack on though.
Before we left to go back home we stopped at the St. Nick Restaurant. We were wondering what kind of meal we would get since the place looked a little old inside. We were delighted with our meal. The portions were really large, the service was great and the food was very good. It was a great place to stop.
The rest of Grandma and Grandpa's visit was pretty low key. We hung out, went shopping, and ate out. One of my favorite parts of hanging out was when Austin discovered Grandma and Grandpa's shoes. Austin loves shoes as you may have seen in a previous post, so when he saw new shoes lying around he had to check them out. He was really cute with Grandpa's shoes. First he had to get them off of Grandpa's feet, then he tried to get them back on. When that didn't work he resorted to putting them on his own feet and walking around! We all had a good laugh.
Grandma and Grandpa like to shop at the nearby antique shops when they come to visit. This trip I found a new antique shop to check out. The shop is located inside an old mall. They still use the building for shops, but they also use it for medical offices. It's a little weird. We had fun looking through the stores. The boys had fun looking at all the old toys, while Grandma and Grandpa checked out all of the other stuff. Grandma was able to find a couple of treasures to take home. On our way out we stopped at the food court where Grandma and Grandpa treated everyone to a cookie. While we were eating the cookies the boys spotted the ride on toys you put quarters in to bring to life. Since the boys had done such a good job in the store we let them play on the toys for a couple of minutes - they were in heaven! It was just the right thing to get their wiggles out before getting back into the car.
I am really happy Grandma and Grandpa were able to come visit us. I am so glad my boys have the chance to get to know their grandparents. When I was little I didn't get to see my grandparents very much. I always wished I could see them more. What a blessing it is to have two sets of grandparents that make the effort and have the means to come visit us so often. We love it!!
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