It's Always Fun When Gigi Comes

I have loved David's grandmother - Gigi - from the first time I met her. She has always made me feel welcome and loved. She has always been attentive of me, David and our kids - never missing a birthday or a special occasion. When we lived in Texas, I loved going to her house for Thanksgiving and tasting her southern cooking. She is my epitome of a "Southern Belle," so beautiful and gracious.   

I didn't realize how much time had passed since we last saw her until my kids started asking what she looked like. She came to visit us back in 2011. The kids were just 1 and 3 years old. She also came to visit us in Utah and we visited her in Texas, but the kids were so young they don't remember it. 

We were all so excited to have her come visit us this week. On Tuesday, she and David came to eat lunch with the kids at school and afterwards David checked the kids out early to go to Edventure Children's Museum. I was substitute teaching Baylie's class so I had to stay at school! 

Thursday we kept the kids home from school and went to the zoo. We have the best zoo.

The birds were HUNGRY!

So were the giraffes.

And so were the goats.

The koala was cute.

Baylie took a rest on the train...

while everyone else enjoyed the ride  

Ostriches.

Cardinal.

Some people were more excited than others. It was freezing!

With Gigi at the elephant habitat.

Meerkats on watch.

Chinchilla.

Gorilla feeding time.

Kangaroos in the sun.

I love the snakes. These are some of my favorites.

I also love the tree frogs. They look like toys.

Hermit crab.

Lionfish.

The sea turtle is so fun to watch. I could seriously watch him for hours..

This turtle is made of garbage.

The otters were putting on a show. They even teased the gorillas who are in the neighboring exhibit, but I didn't get a picture of that.

Baylie and Jalen attempted the rock wall, but didn't get far. Their hands were too cold.

Racing back to the tram.

Flowers in the botanical garden.

"Just my size!"

After the zoo, we went to Blaze Pizza. So delicious! You get to build your own pizza for one prize and then they cook it in a wood burning oven. It was so much like the pizzas in Italy.

They also had really cool soda and lemonade flavors. Baylie had sausage and pineapple while Jalen had pepperoni.

My pizza (ham and salami with artichokes and spinach).

Gigi had a veggie pizza.

David had a pesto sauce with Italian meatballs and olives. (His had great flavor, but I couldn't have handled more than one piece of it.)

We were sorry to have her go home today. The visit was too short. We definitely won't let so much time go by before the next one.