Long awaited guests

Dear Readers,

today's story is a special one, because it will show you the new house I got for my Löffel family. I always wanted Cedar Terrace for them, but it was so expensive (60€) all the time. But finally I found a cheaper one on ebay and immediately bought it :D.

But long story, short. Enjoy today's story!

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Anton Löffel was up early on this Saturday. It was a special day: Today his grandparents would arrive in Marigold Creek and would stay for half a year! During the other half of the year they lived in Sugarbush Valley, where his uncle and aunt lived. Because of the big distance the grandparents had made the decision to split their home into two. They wanted to see their grandchildren growing up and also had the chance to enjoy their daughters Teri and Flora and their husbands.

Anton saw that his youngest sister Rose was up too, so he walked to her bed.
"Good morning, Rose!"
"Morning!", she mumbled and reached out her little arms.
Her brother carefully took her on his arms and carried her downstairs into the bathroom. 

His parents were sitting in the kitchen, enjoying a cup of coffee.

"Oh, you're already awake!", Flora looked into the bathroom, "Good morning, my sweethearts!"
"Morning, mum!", Anton smiled, "Did grandpa and grandpa called already? When will they arrive?"

"Unfortunately they didn't call yet, but I'm sure they just want to surprise us. They started yesterday evening."
Anton was a bit disappointed, he had hoped that his mum would say "In 5 minutes they'll be here", but he just had to be patient. For sure they would come soon. "Ok.", he said, "I will go to dad and ask if he wants to watch the "Series with the mouse" with me. 
"I'm sure he will- he always had a soft spot for that series.", Flora giggled.

Of course Hans said "Yes" to his son and the two "men" took a seat on their sofa and switched on the TV. Soon you could hear the famous jingle in the living room.

While Luna still was sleeping in her cosy bed, Flora placed her youngest daughter into the bathtube. 

Rose loved her Saturday baths and soon she played with her favourite bath toy.

After her bath, little Rose helped her mum preparing a salad.

An hour later suddenly the doorbell rung and Luna immediately startled. She jumped out of her bed.

"They're here!", she yelled, "They're here!"

As soon as she could, Luna ran downstairs, past her family and opened the door.

"Grandpa! Grandma!", she was so excited.
"They're here!", she yelled again.

Then the little girl jumped to her grandparents and hugged them tightly.

"Aww, my little sunshine!", Caleb glanced all over his face, "My, how, you've grown!"
"Just a tiny bit!", Luna laughed.

The family greeted each other with lots of hugs and kisses.
"Ah, my dear, you and Hans must come outside with us!", Caleb said to his daughter with a mysterious grin on his face, "You need to help us with our luggage."

"Of course, dad.", Flora waved her husband, "Hans, we need to help my parents with their suitcases."
"Oh yes. For sure the taxi is still waiting!", fastly he walked to his wife.

But as soon as they walked outside they saw that there was no taxi... But a brandnew red car.
"Oh my, you have bought yourself a car!? Fantastic!", Hans said.

"No.", Caleb grinned even more, "We bought a car... But not for us. It's for you!"
"What...? Oh my...", Flora was shocked, so was her husband.
"But... Why?"
"You deserve it!", Valerie answered with a soft voice.

"Oh mum... dad! Thank you so much!", Flora hugged her mum tightly, while her husband thanked his father-in-law.
"But now, you have to take a closer look!", Caleb showed the car to Hans, "It is a fantastic car. It has so many functions, it is eco-friendly, but also really fast. It has 140rp!"
"Oh wow!", Hans looked at their new car, "But, Caleb. It must have been very expensive! I'm not sure if we can accept that gift..."
"Schsch.", Caleb said, "It is our gift for you. And now we should make a test drive."

"Okay.", Hans laughed, "That test drive is a good argument!"
Excited the men entered the car, Luna, Anton and Rose followed them.

Valerie and Flora decided to stay at home and prepare the rest of the planned lunch.

It was wonderful to have her mum back. Flora enjoyed the cooking with her mum. As a child she and her sister Terri were taught about cooking by their mum.

Flora still remembered all those lessons.
"How is Terri and Frasier? I talked with Terri last week, she said that Freya was very sad, when you moved to Marigold Creek."
"Oh yes...", Valerie sighed, "She was heartbroken. And it was not easy to leave them behind."
"I know.", Flora agreed, "It is so hard to leave the family behind."

Her mother smiled, "Yes, but it is the best solution. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to spend enough time with both parts of the family.

In harmony they finished the lunch.
Flora baked some muffins.

 "Mum, grandma, we're back!", Luna appeared in the kitchen, "Our car is gooooorgeous! We had so much fun and dad decided, that you should come and have a test drive too."
"Of course, my dear, but we should have lunch first. Grandma and I just finished it."
"Hmh...", Valerie said, "What about having a picnic? We can also enjoy our lunch outside - and then you can also drive with your new car."
"Oh yes, a picnic! Please mum!"
Without hesitating, Flora agreed. Like the rest of her family, she loved having picnic in the country side.

As soon as said, the lunch was packed into boxes and the Löffel family drove near to the pretty pond, Marigold Creek had.

"Ahh, the lunch looks delicious!", Caleb lauded.
He handed a beer to his son-in-law, "You have to taste that one - I detected it last week in the Redwood's supermarket."
"Thanks. Is that the famous herbal beer?"
"Yep!"
"Nice!"

While the men were chatting about the famous herbal beer, the women started the picnic. 

Soon the men joined them and for a while you couldn't hear anything, but the pleased sounds of chewing.

After enjoying the lunch, the children explored the pond, while Flora talked with her parents about their journey and her sister.

Little Rose watched a bird - her father took good care, that she wouldn't fall into the water.

And while Luna detected a big orange frog, sitting on a lily pad...

...her brother sneaked up with a bulrush.

When Luna felt the tickling between her ears, she fastly turned around.
"Anton!", she yelled, "Stop that!"
"I didn't do anything!", Anton said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes, "Of course you did. I can see the tip of that grass thing!"
"Oops.", her brother laughed, before he fastly jumped away - not that his sister might

"Mum, grandma, grandpa?", Luna began a while later, "Can we all play hide and seek together? Daddy already said yes!" 
Amused the three adults agreed.
Soon it was settled that Anton would be first to look for the family members. So he closed his eyes and started to count loudly: "One, two, three, four..."

As soon as he started counting, the Löffels started spreading in all directions... 

... just Rose paused. Irritated she watched her family running away from her.

Grandpa Caleb and Luna hid themselves in a big bush...

... her mother climbed up in a tree, which made Valerie really nervous. She told her daugther to come down, but Flora insisted on staying there. She said it was the best hide-out and that her son would never find her there.

Meanwhile Hans sneaked to their new car and crawled into the cargo bay.

Rose finally recognised that she had to find a hide-out too. Excited she ran to the picnic blanket... and jumped into the empty pot. That would be a great hide-out she thought... Also the pot still smelled delicious.

When Anton stopped counting, he immediatly knew, where to look first: in the new car.

So just a few seconds later he had detected his grandma and his dad.
"Got you!"
"That was fast!", Valerie said surprised.

Anton, who was very motivated after his first success, looked for the rest of his family.

When he found his grandpa and Luna, the two of them fell with shock out of the bush.

Just two family members were left then: Rose and Flora.
Irritated Anton scanned the landscape with his eyes... But there was neither his mum nor his little sister. 

After looking behind the bushes, tree stumps and under the car, the pot from the picnic caught Antons attention. Could that be...?

He lifted the lid and... indeed... there was his youngest sister Rose, who screamed in surprise when her brother found her.
Anton laughed, "Oh my, that was a fantastic hide-out! I almost didn't find you... But... Where's mum?"
"You must take another look!", Caleb said with a grin, "Your mum always finds the best hide-outs. I remember that I searched her for hours, when she was a child."
"Ok...", Anton scratched his head, "I mean... She can't have disappeared..."
Again Anton checked the surroundings... Nothing...
"Hmh... Ok... I give up!", he sighed loudly, "Mum? Please show yourself, you totally got me!"

Suddenly he heard a snicker.
"Mum?"
"I'm up here!", Flora giggled, "Here on the tree!"
Anton's eyes grow bigger, when he detected his mother sitting in the crown, "But... How did you...? WOW..."
"I told you, she's good.", Caleb whinked at his grandson.

After the Löffel's returned home, Caleb and Valerie accompanied their grandchildren to their room. While the grandma played "kitchen" with Rose, grandpa played with Anton's and Luna's new electronic toy train. He had a lot or laughters about the speed of the toy.

After playtime was over and it was time to go into bed, Caleb read a story to his grandchildren, who listened to him intently.

When the story ended, Valerie softly gave them a goodnight kiss, before she and her husband left the room.

They smiled at each other - it was good to be back in Marigold Creek. Six months of adventures and joy were waiting for them.
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Thank you so much for reading and many hugs for all the wonderful comments you're always leaving for me! :)

Yours Kyra