My brother, D1, his wife, J, and their two boys, B and S, are on their way to our house!

Mom and Dad (T and F) will be joining us as well, to get some time with their grandkids, so my house will be full to the brim this weekend.  We’ll be having fun going to parks and I think T and F have plans to take the boys to things like museums and the hotel pool (no room at the inn – my parents have to stay at a hotel this time).

The house has been toddler-proofed…  Lower shelves have had breakables removed, and I took the large Live Laugh Love box I made that usually has board games, and filled it with stuffed animals (including a dragon!) and a puzzle.   T&F will be bringing toys from their house as well.

What do do about food?  Well, I’m going all out (kind of) with dinner tonight – homemade pasta with Bolognese sauce.  They’ll also be getting my signature (ha) green beans dish and some bread with oil.

The Bolognese sauce has become a favorite of MM’s and mine.  Once again, it’s a little intensive on the front end – I like to make sure all the veggies, including the tomatoes, are chopped fairly fine, and about the same size as each other.  It cooks for a long time as well – over 3 hours.  This time, it’s going to be cooking for quite a bit longer than that.

The result is six servings of goodness.  When paired with six servings of pasta (I like the wider version, to catch all the large bits), it’s just the right amount.  It’s not sauce-y in the traditional sense.  It’s a thick ragu, mostly meat and veggies, and very little liquid.

I can’t wait to share it with my guests!

What are you up to this weekend?