a-fam visits from jersey

I'm not sure how we got so lucky, but my brother, D and his family all drove down from Jersey to visit us! Oh my goodness it was simply wonderful. These people are so fabulous, and it felt so relaxing and yet energizing to be with them. You don't find those kind of friendships just anywhere, and it's even better when it's family. :)

 We debated on and off for a week about going camping with them, since the only time it worked with Ry's schedule was when it was scheduled to rain. But we finally decided to just face it and take the plunge, and I'm so glad we did! We had a great time with them, and enjoyed the evening without a single raindrop. But good thing the men are gear-junkies as we like to call them, because if it weren't for the great-quality tents we had, or the sweet canopy over the picnic table with the side wind panels we would have been soaked to the bone. It poured all night long! 

The idyllic, misty walk through the woods.

The realistic, rainy walk in the woods. See me in the background?
I'm still searching for that idyllic moment. It never came. :)

The next morning it drizzled a lot, but was generally just overcast. We decided to take the kids on a good walk/hike within the camp grounds, and figured even if it did start raining that we would be under tree cover and it wouldn't be that bad. Well, we were wrong! We all got drenched, and the hike didn't last that long before we were all ready to call it quits. With the kids tucked nice and dry into our cars watching a show, us adults packed up camp in the rain. Of course by the time we were done the rain had stopped, and we could have pushed through one more night, but we chose to go home. Good call! 

Oh man that little M-boy is a heart-breaker!

The next day we visited Plaza Fiesta, which is a mall with a huge indoor playplace. Us adults climbed through the entire thing with our kids, and we all had a blast. We even enjoyed some delicious Ecuadorian and Cuban food - Yum! 

Later that night we even got to go on a double date, without kids! A sweet girl from church watched all of our kids, and it was undoubtedly funny to watch how all of us were overly concerned for her (are you sure you're willing to watch four kids ages four and under? And not just any kids, but these kids?). But of course, the kids were great and we had a fantastic time with just us adults. Wow, it felt good! How beautiful of a world would it be if we could do this more often?! Maybe someday ...

Ryan had to go back to work a couple more days while they were here, but we still found others ways to play - including visiting the Y pool twice while L-man had his swim lessons. 

I also was excited to hear that Dave was able (and even willing) to help me with some major weed-clearing in our backyard. There's this circle patch around a pine tree that had just become completely overgrown - and with his help we completely cleared it, laid down new pine needles (it's the typical ground cover here down in the south), trim back the holly trees, weed the front flower beds, and plant some new hostas behind our deck. Wowsers! When can you guys come back?! I am so grateful that our family loves to work together, because you definitely get a lot accomplished when you have multiple people (more accurately when you have D!). Thank you thank you thank you!!

Kids Discovery Place

Brown brother from another mother. (Scott - that's for you!)

We also enjoyed playing at the playground, visiting Kids Discovery Place, rough housing, watching a show or two together, and eating yummy dinners. Everything is better with family. 

We love these people and are so grateful they came to visit!!