The Grandparents are coming! The Grandparents are coming!

We got ready Friday. That included putting up curtains.

Carrie did the hard part.

Including balancing. I was the spotter and passed up hardware and tools as needed.

Grandma and Grandpa didn't know about Loki yet. Carrie forbade me from posting anything that might give away her surprise.

The plan was simple: Carrie would meet her parents at the barn in Powhatan. There they'd load up and jog back to our place. That gave us some time to clean up in the morning, too.

Which I used part of to take Shane to TKD.

He didn't want to go, but he didn't want to clean either.

I figured some fun and energy release would help morale and cleaning productivity.

It was go time when we got home. Carrie wanted to wow her parents.

I think we came off as much neater than we really are!

There's not enough time and energy in the day to always be this neat. I'd rather be sane and happy.

Shane got to unwind with a short TV break while I did the finishing touches. He'd already been briefed to "not spill the beans."

Grandma and Grandma arrived with Carrie around 1:40 PM.

Shane knew Samwise was coming home, but he didn't know about Madison. Maddie is the pony Carrie selected to be Shane's.

I undid the butt bars. Carrie unloaded and then she walked Sam in while Grandma and Shane walked Maddie.

All the horses made it into their stalls safe and accounted for. There were some stress poops, but hopefully everyone adjusts to the new norm quickly.

Kyle came in and Grandma gushed about the property to him.

Grandpa roamed along the perimeter. He took pictures like myself.

Shane was enthused about Maddie, but we'll see if that holds when it comes to horse chores. Carrie's looking forward to riding with him.

Shane's attention span can be limited at times. He became enamored with the gravel dust once he was done patting Maddie.

Samwise isn't sure about the stall life. He's been a pasture fixture his whole life. We don't plan to keep them stalled for long each day. Meals only.

Shane's soccer game was coming up, but before we went Grandma wanted some help gardening.

Grandpa helped, too!

Carrie brought out a certain puppy while they were hard at work! They were surprised, but not as much as I thought they'd be!

Grandma's a grizzled gardener and barn veteran. Dogs come with the territory!

Loki was thrilled to be outside with everyone. He was tired of being on his own inside!

We all went inside after gardening and Grandma and Grandpa got to check out the Murphy bed.

Loki checked out the lanyard on my keychain. He's a puppy, so he likes to bite everything!

Kyle came inside to check in. Grandma and Grandpa actually brought a pack of Yuenglings for the work crew as a thank you (Carrie gave them drumstick cones last week, so I don't know who was more popular!).

Shane and I rushed off to his soccer game.

It was delayed so we were early! I was relieved!

I took a picture of some of the construction on the hillside, because I remember "how it used to be."

Flashback: November 2015. The same hill or at least close to it.

Shane was a lot shorter then. He was the little guy in the hat.

Back to the present: Shane's larger and smarter, but every bit as loud and dramatic as he's ever been.

Shane noticed Aiden from one of his old teams on the opposing side. Aiden gave Shane a big hug and the boys asked for a play date after the game was over.

Grandpa showed up and we cheered on Shane and the Forest Green Machine. Unfortunately, they lost 4-1.

Shane decided he wanted to get a better vantage point when he was subbed out at the end. He might have gotten away with it if not for yelling out "Look at me" equivalents.

Shane, Grandpa, and I went by Lelo's Pizza to pick up dinner for everyone on the way home. I called ahead to save us time. I made Shane pose for a quick picture with the construction for our church.

We rejoined the ladies at the farmstead. Both horses were out and grazing. Everything is really dry, because we haven't had rain for weeks. We're loaded up on hay, but hopefully that will change.

It was a busy kickoff to the weekend! Grandma and Grandpa left after dinner and everyone was wiped save Shane. We stuck him on some electronics and called it a day. Shane was surprised by Maddie. Gma and Gpa were surprised by Loki. Carrie and I were surprised we got the house clean and everything accomplished we did.