Visitors from Texas
Before it was back-to-school season, Grama & Grampa came to visit and enjoy our Henderson bar & resort. When they arrived on Wednesday evening, we headed right to dinner at Claim Jumper. (No food on airplanes means that Grampa is hungry when he gets here!) It’s so fun that we can do that on a whim now that Noah is eating table food. After dinner, we headed to the house and then had cocktail hour, at Ava’s request.
We spent part of each of the next four days in the pool. Ava woke up asking to go every morning and usually went once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Such a little fish! Of course, we were all too happy to oblige since swimming made it seem like we were all on vacation in a fantastic rental house.
On Saturday morning, we loaded up the van and headed north to Mt. Charleston with plans to hike to Mary Jane Falls. Matt and I had attempted the hike one other time but, since we were idiots and thought we could push a stroller up the side of a mountain, we didn’t finish. This time, with better gear and rock solid determination, we made it to the top (after a 1.5 hour climb!).
This being a desert, you never know what you’re going to get when you climb a mountain to see a waterfall. But, Mary Jane Falls did not disappoint.
Ava loved to touch the cold, cold water and climb over the wet rocks at the bottom. And, in spite of a massive elevation change and having to help carry a three year old up the side of a mountain, even Grama & Grampa were still happy to be there. 
The way back down was much easier, but we were all tired and hungry. For some of us, the rumbling in our tummies made it particularly difficult to keep putting one foot in front of the other…you can decide for yourself who those folks might have been.
We treated ourselves to a picnic lunch at a day camp site and then made the drive back home. You’d have thought we’d be worn out after all of that, but we still had plenty of energy for a swim that evening!
Along with the swimming and the hiking, we also had plenty of time to just play around the house. We spent lots of time helping Noah walk with the walker and playing on the floor of the playroom. Noah even got to open some early birthday presents! Grama made him his own set of Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls and also brought a birthday outfit. The outfit was Matt’s on his first birthday and fit Noah perfectly!
We tried to get a nice photo of Noah, Matt & Ava all with their dolls made by Grama (Matt’s were from when he was a kid), but this is the best we could do.
When we let the kids loose, things got a little calmer, of course.
Isn’t it nice how he knows how to sit still for a picture?
On the last evening of the visit, Matt made us fajitas for dinner. So yummy! Ava got to help Grama with the tortillas. Not sure that it’s the most efficient way to cook, but I don’t think anyone had any objections.
Thanks for a great visit, Grama & Grampa! You’re welcome at Henderson Bar & Resort any time!