Aunt Sue makes a concerted effort to visit us regularly. Though her visits are short, they are always highly anticipated and well appreciated. This time, I picked her up at the airport a little after noon on Friday, and we drove to meet up with Katie for a hike.
We had a little trouble finding the same trailhead as Katie, and by the time we finally met up, we'd been in the car for quite a long time and really needed a bathroom break. Of course, this trailhead had no restrooms. Yikes!
On the upside, since this particular trail winds through the city, we were hopeful we might come upon a facility with restrooms at some point. So off we went! All three of my boys watered rocks along our route. The benefit of being a boy.
Graham and Dallin kept themselves occupied collecting sticks. Every time we got close to the stream they would toss in their sticks and start over. With the boys constantly stopping to pick up sticks, and Nellie and Jordyn walking on their own, we weren't the quickest hikers.
Aubree led the bigger kids in a snail versus slug counting competition. In the end, the snails won easily, 23 to 12.
Finally we came to a trail marker that said, "YMCA, 0.2 miles." Hurrah!
Unfortunately, that was the longest .2 miles EVER (on our way back we used our phones and discovered ".2" was really ".6"), but we all made it. Phew! After potting everyone, we stayed for a short snack break, then turned around and headed back to the vans. Nellie was pretty well done by this point and spent most of the return trip on my back.
The kids were eager to get back to the vans because they knew Sue had brought them all special bags full of treasures (assorted beanie babies and miscellaneous items she no longer wants).
Sue spent Friday evening talking and playing with us. We taught her the game "10 Days in the Americas" and it was especially fun because she had visited almost all of the countries on the game board and could tell us all about them.
Nellie quickly decided Sue was great fun because Sue would flip and fly her. At one point Sue commented, "This one's going to be a tumbler!"
On Saturday we went to Bryce's last soccer game, played more games, talked and laughed, and went out the the traditional Mod pizza dinner.
Bryce graduated from a "mini" to a "mod" pizza and was still one of the first to finish. I didn't think Thane was quite ready for the upgrade, but I was wrong. He polished off his pizza in minutes and then sat around hoping for leftovers. As a side note, Thane ordered half of his pizza with a pesto sauce. As he ate, he proclaimed, "It smells like art class!" Turns out his art teachers older boys always come home from school during art and make themselves toast with pesto sauce.
Nellie proved to be a solid eater as well.
As always, it was a treat to have Sue with us for the weekend. I especially enjoyed the time I had to talk to her and learn more about her family and our family history. Family relationships aren't always pretty, and sometimes are downright rotten, but they are so important. I'm grateful for Sue's efforts to build relationships with us.
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