Russo Grandparents Come to Visit!

I'm sitting on our balcony eating lunch, while Mike is running errands and Finn is napping and I'm pretending that my parents aren't on a flight back to the United States. 😢😢😢

I had been counting down the days to my parents visit ever since Finn was born.  Scratch that, ever since they booked the tickets. As excited as I was, I know they were infinitely more excited to meet their first grandchild.

We're all excited to see Nana and Grandpa!

We greeted them at the airport Sunday morning and headed back to our apartment to drop off their bags before heading to a breakfast food festival.  We find that the best thing for guests coming straight from the East Coast to do is to get out and do something for a few hours to beat the jet lag.  It was delicious!! I got a breakfast burrito that I devoured in seconds and Mike had biscuits and gravy that he said might be the best he's ever had.  After breakfast, we came back and everyone napped a little bit and we ended the night with a little barbecue which was delicious.

Nana giving Finn a bottle in preparation for our big outing to the breakfast market

The rest of the week was pretty laid back.  My parents' goal for this trip was mainly to help out and that they did! By this point, Mike and I are pretty capable and have kind of figured out a routine, but it was SO nice to have extra hands to help out.  I had people making me dinner every night.  I got to take a shower that didn't end when Finn started crying. I got to nap anytime I wanted. And maybe most exciting was that Mike and I got to go out just the two of us.  It was everything I dreamed of and more.

It's amazing how much time you can spend just watching a little guy hang out on a play mat or sleep in a swing.  We FaceTimed with both of my brothers and when they asked what we did, we didn't have many answers except "watch Finn" or "take Finn for a walk."  Luckily, my parents had already been to Berlin last fall, so they didn't need to do a lot of sight seeing.  The main attraction was definitely Finnegan. 

My dad has been learning to play the violin, so he couldn't resist bringing his violin to play a few lullabies for Finny.

We did run a few errands, like taking Finn to get his passport picture taken! Cutest passport picture ever!  While I'm sure it doesn't feel like they did that much, it's so nice to have someone to push the stroller, soothe a crying baby, and just do all of the other stuff (clean the kitchen, cook dinner, take out the trash, etc) that is hard when you have a six week old.

Getting your passport picture is exhausting

Finn celebrated his six week birthday with Nana and Grandpa and ever since then has been sleeping for longer amounts of time.  We've even had a few four hour stretches.  Fingers crossed the trend continues!

We did venture out for dinner a few nights.  Pizza on Friday nights is the norm, so we had pizza at the Italian restaurant at the end of the block.  It was the perfect night to sit outside!

And we spent Sunday afternoon doing a (very hot) boat tour on the Spree.  It was a great way to see the city from a different perspective and learn a few new facts.  Finn slept through his first boat tour, but I would expect nothing less.

We ended the week with burgers on the grill at home.  My parents were able to get in some last minute Finnegan snuggles, which was high priority.

Finn cracks me up in this one.  He looks like a little muscle man.

"Hey Nana! Don't leave! I love you!"

We headed to the airport this morning and bid a tearful goodbye.  It's never easy to say goodbye, but I think this time was extra hard. So tonight, as I finish the bottle of wine my mom and I cracked open last night and eye the ice cream my dad bought, I just keep reminding myself we have less than ten weeks left until our next reunion.  

Finn says "Wait! Where did Nana and Grandpa go? I like them!"