Little Guests

We had a lovely surprise in August: My sister and her 3 cuties came to visit! She gets the Brave Traveling Mom Award for her incredible heroism and valiant stewardship over her children, as they attempted to catch approximately 916 different flights on standby. Whole days were spent in airports, diapers failed to function at important times, and no children were harmed in the entire ordeal. She is a trooper. And we got to reap the benefits!

The kids had a great time splashing around, conspiring, bonding, and goofing off.

And we finally got to meet our newest cousin/niece from this branch of the family, the adorable and incredibly, sweetly compliant little Molly! Being the smallest fish in the pond, Molly was promptly offered to Jimmy the Shark.

Backyard water park. No sharks.



Tough guy.

I love how Jett had his thumb intentionally hooked in his shorts for this picture, to increase the coolness of his posture. He even explained it to me, "Look, I'm standing like this," he said.


All 4 of the big kids slept lined up like sardines in the girls' room. Incredibly, really incredibly, they went to bed at a reasonable time almost every night. Since they were there for Ava's first week of school, that was kind of a necessity. Have I mentioned that school starts at 7:35? A.M.! If you're aware of our sleep schedules, you will know that this has been a challenge to our entire family.

Kelly and the kids were able to join us for Ava's first-day-of-school feast. I asked her what special meal she'd like for dinner on the first day, and she requested the following: sweet potato pancakes with syrup, bacon, scrambled eggs, orange juice, and mint chocolate chip brownies. Mmm...I think that was an excellent meal plan.