Visitors

Last week we were very happy to welcome some visitors to our little home: MJ's Aunt Maripat and Uncle John, and their daughter Shannon.  Maripat and Shannon have visited several times in the past, so we were very excited to see them again (CC was still frequently talking about their last visit).  This was John's first visit, however, and we were eager to introduce the children to him.

This group shot didn't turn out nearly as bad as we all
thought it would, considering how much screaming and
writhing Little Man and Sweet Pea were doing!

(CC was initially a little confused when we told her that Uncle John was coming to visit.  She thought we meant my brother, her Uncle Jon.  But once he arrived, she differentiated by calling him "Different Uncle John" or "Super tall Uncle John.")

While Maripat, John and Shannon were here, we also brought MJ's Uncle Brien down for a few days so we could all be together.  As always, we had a great time with him.  Brien is a gentle soul who is easy to spend time with and always makes us laugh (however inadvertently).

The weather was pretty nice for February, so we spent lots of time outdoors.  Our visitors were good sports about playground time!

Maripat even took a rock-climbing lesson from CC: "No, not put your foot there. Put it here."

Shannon and Maripat both entertained CC by playing our new piano, and it was nice to have music floating through the house throughout their visit.  Brien claimed to have never played a piano before, so CC and Shannon showed him how:

We celebrated Maripat's birthday while Brien was here, and I whipped up some of the most pathetic, small, and dense cupcakes imaginable for the occasion.  Fortunately, the kids didn't seem to mind (and Rory didn't eat them all this time!). 

  
As always, there was lots of book reading.  The kids took full advantage of having so many admirers eager to read to them!

A rare shot of me, thanks to Shannon, who thought to grab the camera while I read to the twins:

We experimented with how to configure the kids' foam chairs for optimal fun.  Shown here is "The Train," a very popular option.  Sweet Pea (whose legs you can see flying over the pink chair) is proving to be a very adept climber.

CC was treated to a first: a double french braid, woven simultaneously by Maripat and Shannon.  She looked beautiful! 

I think Maripat, John and Shannon enjoyed being mobbed by three little energy-sucking monsters -- or at least they did a good job of faking it.  For my part, I enjoyed having three extra adult sets of hands to help around here!  They helped cook dinner, entertain the kids, straighten up, and they even treated MJ and I to a night off so we could go on a date.  I was truly spoiled for the duration of their visit.  We are so blessed to have such loving family members!