Just a couple weeks ago, my brother Ian returned from his 2-year mission to Accra, Ghana. Within 24 hours of being home, he was in a car beginning a three-week long road trip to visit siblings scattered across the country.
Ian and our youngest brother, Daniel, drove 15 straight hours to come visit us here in Washington. The next morning, I woke them up early and convinced them to get back in a car for an additional 2 hour drive to visit Royal City. We needed to pick Aubree up from Farm School, but I also wanted them to experience one of my favorite places.
I loved the opportunity to spend time traveling with my little brothers. I left home for college when they were just 3 and 5, so it's neat to get to know them now on an adult level. (As an aside... when they were here, it was like I flashed back 15+ years, because I kept calling Bryce and Thane, "Ian and Daniel!")
Our first activity once we reached Royal was a tour of the Dairy. As always, the kids loved seeing the baby cows. I always like hearing about the behind-the-scenes stuff.
We spent the afternoon at the infamous pond. Ian, who hadn't been swimming in over 2 years, wasted no time swinging from the very tip top of the rope swing tower. Daniel wasn't far behind him.
Bryce and Thane were immediately attracted to the kayaks. Uncle Ian generously helped push them around the pond for a long while.
Eventually, though, Bryce decided he wanted to try on his own. In typical, determined Bryce fashion, he soon learned to be fairly proficient in paddling himself and Thane around the pond (Thane was an excellent passenger!).
When the little boys tired of the kayak, they moved on to the paddle boats. I stood watching in awe from the shore, feeling like Bryce was maturing right before my eyes. In the middle of the pond they attempted to grab an errant pool noodle. When they couldn't reach it, Bryce jumped out, put the noodle on the boat, then proceeded to push the boat to the shore, without ever asking for help. Not an easy feat for a five-year old.
while Daniel, Bryce, and Thane skipped rocks (okay, Daniel skipped rocks, B and T just threw rocks... a favorite pastime).
Graham enjoyed the sunshine, but was upset I made him wear a hat and wouldn't let him eat the rocks and dirt.
When we got home we spent hours (days even) sorting through a box of blueberries (pulling off stems and weeding out spoiled berries) that Ashlee generously gave us. Once that task was finished, we combined the blueberries with peaches and made jam and cobbler. Yummy!
Daniel wanted to visit Seattle on Saturday, but once we learned it was "HempFest" (and since marijuana is now legal in Washington), I was hesitant to take my kids. After spending lots of time in Accra, Ian said he's done with big cities, so Daniel was stymied.
I hope they had a good time visiting with us, because we sure loved having them.
1 comment:
In big families it is like two families. I totally second your delight in becoming acquainted with "the little kids" only to find out they are fantastic adults. What a fun time!
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