Grandpa and Grandma Come to Visit!

Last week we were so lucky to have Tom's parents come visit for the weekend. We had a blast with them and it was so nice to be with family again. We hadn't seen the Reese family for 8 months which is the longest we've ever gone without seeing them. Ainsley was so excited. She talked about it for weeks ahead. We didn't tell her when they were coming because we wanted it to be a surprise for her. They had rented a car and drove to our apartment. When they knocked on the door, it was like she knew it was them and she said, "That's my grandma." I tried to play it cool and told her I didn't know who it was. When I opened the door, she was shocked and then became really shy. She didn't understand what was going on and she buried her head in my shoulder. She is so used to seeing them on a webcam and I think it was confusing to see them in person. It took her about an hour for her to warm up to them, but once she did...we couldn't separate her. She became Grandpa's little buddy and always wanted to hold his hand everywhere we went. She wanted to have grandma rock her and read her stories and sit with her all the time. It was really cute to see her bond with her grandparents even though we hadn't seen them in so long.

While we waited for Tom to get home from work, the grandparents showered Ainsley with presents. The biggest surprise was a set of four Princess"glass slippers." Ainsley always puts these type of dress up shoes on at her preschool class and she has been asking for them for her birthday for months. She was so excited to open them and wore them every chance she got. She even had to wear them in the car while we drove around. She was also really excited about a pair of pink gloves from Aunt Susie and wore these gloves everywhere the entire weekend including to the restaurants and stores. She is so lucky to have such wonderful family who spoil her!The day they arrived happened to be Grandpa Reese's birthday so we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant not far from our house called Antonio's. Ainsley sat between her grandparents and talked to them nonstop during dinner. Afterward we came back to our house to have icecream cake and open presents.
The next day we took them to Ann Arbor to see the University of Michigan campus. Then we had lunch at our favorite deli, Zingerman's for some amazing sandwiches. It was rainy so we headed home but stopped by Costco to get some treats. That night Tom and I were able to go on a date while the grandparents babysat Ainsley. It was so nice to have a night to ourselves and Ainsley loved spending the night watching movies and playing with her grandparents.
On Saturday morning, we headed to downtown Detroit. We drove in parts of the city that Tom and I hadn't even seen and it was a little eye opening to see the decay some parts of the city. We saw tons of boarded up, abandoned, and burned buildings. But we never felt we were unsafe. But we also saw the nicer parts including the Detroit River, Comerica Park, Ford Field, Cobo Center, Renaissance Center, etc. We found the Motown Museum where the birthplace Motown Records was. But we didn't go inside. Afterward we drove around trying to find an authentic Detroit Style pizza parlor, we couldn't find one and ended up in Mexicantown where we had some delicious Mexican food. It was the best Mexican food we've had since leaving the West.

We saw this sign while we were waiting outside the Motown Musuem....and thought it was a funny and creative name for a church:)

After lunch, we headed to the Ford Complex to go on the Ford Rouge Factory tour. The Rouge Factory is the major Ford plant where most of their vehicles are made. It was opened by Henry Ford in 1928. We were able to walk the observation deck and see workers assembling Ford F-150 trucks. It was amazing to see every step of the assembly process as well as how many people it takes to put together a vehicle! We learned that it takes about 4 1/2 hours to assemble one truck and about 1,000 people work at the factory during one ten hour shift. We were there right before closing time, and they had assembled 635 trucks so far. We all walked out of the factory having a newfound appreciation for every bolt, knob, electrical component, and aspect of our vehicles and all the many hands that it took to put it together.

We weren't able to take pictures inside the factory, but this is what they were building

On Sunday, Tom's parents were able to accompany us to church. Then we had dinner together, skyped with Annie and Sue back in Utah, and headed to bed. On Monday, we helped them get packed, ran some errands, and went to that authentic Detroit Style Pizza Parlor we had tried to find earlier. Tom and I hadn't heard of it before, but Rob had and so we were determined to find somewhere to eat it. We learned a Detroit style pizza is a square pizza but what makes it unique is that the sauce is drizzled on top of the cheese and toppings rather than on the bottom. It was really good. After lunch we had to say goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma Reese. We were really sad to see them go. It was so wonderful to be surrounded by family again. Thank you so much for coming to visit! You are welcome anytime. We loved having you here!