Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

My mom left early Thursday morning and we're all so sad!  Having her here for a week was the best kick-off to summer ever.  Granny loves to go-go-go and makes everything more fun.  :)  For her last evening in town, we took a little trip down to my favorite place on earth -- the bike trail -- where Ethan ran a practice 5K with his cross country team and the other kids played in the river.  It was randomly kind of chilly on Wednesday, so I'm not sure what the appeal of wading in the river was, but it made the trip palatable for Grace, so que sera sera!  Right??  Hahaha.

 {Finishing strong.  22:56}

After the racing and playing were over, we ended our evening at the Candy Store before heading home to get the little ones ready for bed.  Some of the kids' favorite memories from the last week with Granny were:

• Going to the movies -- my mom took Alex and Jane to see Captain Underpants one of the first days she was here, and then later took all 5 older ones to see the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid earlier this week.  {In case anyone is wondering, she said Captain Underpants was pretty good and not to waste our money on renting Wimpy Kid when it came out.  Hahaha.}

• Lots and LOTS of pool time -- Granny is much more accommodating than I am, and took the big kids to the pool almost every day she was here.  

• So many treats and fun runs to the Kroger or Meijer or Walgreens -- go-go-go is the name of her game. ;)  

• Helping with the behind-the-scenes production work on Jane and Ethan's YouTube channel -- my mom was nice enough to humor Ethan and run around gathering all the supplies needed for the week's worth of videos.  

 Tissue Paper Flower Pots

• Obviously that outdoor movie night from last Friday!  :)

• Watching movies on Granny's laptop -- Jane and Alex loved curling up in my mom's "room" (aka the TV room) watching fun stuff on her computer.

• And of course, just hanging out.  :)  I think the kids are starting to realize that I get my "fun-mom-ness" from MY mom.  Hahahaha.  

Parting really is such sweet sorrow, and I wish we lived closer so we could get together more often.  Thankfully, I'm lucky enough that I'll get to see her again in just a few short weeks, along with all of my siblings!!!!  My youngest brother, Jacob, gets back from his mission on June 27th and all 7 Hansen siblings will be converging upon New Orleans early in July to have a mini-reunion.  That will just have to tide us over until the next time we can ALL get together for a full-on family reunion!