What a pleasure it is to know that your family is coming to visit, that you will have a houseful of love and fun!  Of course it takes some planning to be ready for an additional group of people and when it's more than just a couple, the menu is critical (as is bed space!) 

We laid out a menu for lunch and dinner for the entire time the family was going to be home.  It helped with grocery shopping prior to their arrival.  We tried to follow the menu while they were here, it worked somewhat.  Of course there were adjustments, moving one meal to another day, adding some ideas and expanding the choices. 

Two of our family members are vegetarians which could be a problem for some, but around here it seemed to work pretty well, just a couple different purchases at the store and we were pretty well set.

Then there was the bed space, where to put everyone.  The only addition we had to make was to purchase an air bed.  Although I wouldn't recommend one for your permenent sleeping arrangement, they work very well for guests who need a bed and you are plumb out of them!  We got the queen size which enabled  us to use the queen sheets, works well.

Then it's time to lay out a rough schedule of things to do.  In our case it's a trip to Adventureland.  You can read more about it on IowaBeautiful.com, and a whole lot of other places to visit in Iowa and other states.  We certainly checked them out and laid out our plans with information we got from this site!

Now we are ready, the kids will be home, the laughter, shopping, playing and eating is soon to begin…we can hardly wait!