A Family Visit

This is long overdue, but it's here none the less. Back in March we had several visitors from outerspace Memphis come to see us! Mom, Anna, Emily and Mimi all came out to visit for several days. They got here on Friday night, the 11th and stayed through Wednesday, the 16th. I was so excited that they were coming, that I spent weeks preparing, cleaning and getting things ready for them so that everything would be perfect for their arrival! After picking them up at the airport and stopping by In N Out, we got home and I finally got to show them where we live! It's really strange to talk about a place and it be so normal for you, but for your family to have never seen it, so it was nice for them to finally see our new home! We had such a good time while they were here. The first morning that they were here, Arden was wearing his Big Brother shirt. After much talk about his shirt (and no notice of what it actually said) we got to share the news of Baby Lott #2! It was exciting to get to tell them in person this time!
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Throughout the week we had planned several fun things for us to do so that they would feel like they were getting a "California" experience. The first day we went to Santa Monica Pier and walked around and went through the aquarium. Another day we went to Malibu to hang out on the beach. Another day we went to the Ronald Reagan Library and had a picnic dinner at a park here in Simi. We, of course, made a trip to Trader Joe's for their beloved "Two Buck Chuck" wine. We ate out at several of our favorite restaurants around here. We went "hiking" aka rock climbing on a trail that William had been dying to do. We just hung around the house and napped and watched movies and visited. We got strawberries from the strawberry man. We ate and drank wine (well they did) pretty much nonstop and just enjoyed being together. Overall it was such a fun time and we all cried when they were gone. Arden is obsessed with "Memmy" (Emily) and did not let her leave his sight the whole time they were here. He asked for her for days and days after they were gone and was so sad that she had gone back home. In other words, we can't wait until they come back!
Anyway, here is their visit in pictures:

At Santa Monica Pier after eating our "delicious" lunch!

Is it any wonder why Emmy is Arden's favorite? She acts just like him!

Riding the carousel at the pier

An exciting visit to the aquarium

Pooped.

At the top of the trail we were running....little did we know that William left the keys in one car for the other car that we were running toward. We ended up having to turn around and go back halfway through the run, but it was still fun!

Thumbs up to a fun run!

I think I can, I think I can...

The "trail"

Doing a little horseback riding with Ronald Reagan....why is this horse not going anywhere?!

On the beach in Malibu

Pretty much sums up how we felt after each outing...