A Visit from Luke's Only Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins....

Since Marc is an only child and I only have one sibling, Luke only has one uncle (my brother), one aunt (my brother's wife), and two cousins (their kids). Last night (Wednesday), the four of them came to visit.

We ultimately had one purpose....to play Joel and Amber (uncle and aunt) in this game....



I don't know if we should admit it or not, but we are all Seinfeld buffs. Between Joel, Amber, Marc, and me, we can usually come up with a quote from an episode for many situations in our lives.

But, we'll get to that in a bit.

We started out with Marc grilling bratwursts for supper. We also had my baked beans, potato chips, grapes, and of course, Oriental Salad -- a family favorite. Then, for dessert, I had made a very GOOD chocolate cake that just happened to be Duncan Hines. Since it was soooo nice outside, we ate on the deck.

Luke's cousins, Grace and Natalie, were mostly interested in running around on the deck and on the patio. Fortunately, no accidents....no trips to the ER. You see, we have a good-sized deck, but right below the deck is a brick patio. It makes me fairly nervous ANY time we have kids over. Also, since we now have Luke, I'm even more nervous.

Here's a photo of Natalie running. Natalie's two years old, and she has LOTS of energy.



And, here's a photo of Grace doing the same thing. Grace just turned four years old this past Sunday. It may seem like these photos are of nothing but running, but they CLEARLY illustrate what went on during supper. It's amazing how long kids can run -- the endurance they have.



During this time, since Luke is not yet running, he ate his supper nicely with us. I know, I know -- I better enjoy this time, before he's running all over the place.



Then, after eating, he was content playing with dead leaves on the deck. A few times, he, of course, tried to eat them.



His cousins do like to talk with him, though. A year ago, when Luke was first born, Grace referred to him as "Cousin Loop." We all laughed pretty hard because it was so cute. She doesn't say that now, but we all still bring it up. Luke will probably be "Cousin Loop" for awhile.



We hadn't yet given Grace her birthday present yet, so she to to open her present from Uncle Marc, Aunt Sarah, and Cousin Loop.



Grace LOVES dresses and the color pink. I found this very cute, fall dress at Carter's recently. It's actually courderoy, so she'll be able to wear it on a warm, fall day.



And, just for fun, Amber presented Marc with a gift -- a Hillary Nutcracker. It's a nutcracker. You actually crack nuts with Hillary's thighs. It's pretty funny! Amber's been known to find Marc some pretty good gifts like that -- all in fun.



At that point, we decided to get the three kids in the strollers and walk a bit to the park nearby our home.



All three kids had to swing....look closely at this photo. Luke, on the left, is smiling. That smile didn't last too long, for some reason. Normally, he LOVES to swing at the park. But, for some reason, he decided to be a "cranky pants" that evening.





After swinging, Grace and Natalie went to the slides. Even though Luke was basically screaming at this point, I did snap a few photos before taking him home.

First, here are Grace and Natalie going down the slides.



And, Marc joined in on the fun. Marc chose to go down the "bumpy" slide. I think his face says it all.



At that point, I was tired of holding a crying child, so I went on home with Luke. Shortly thereafter, everybody else joined me there.

Luke went to bed, and then, Joel, Amber, Marc, and I began playing the Seinfeld DVD game. We played the girls against the guys. We actually managed to play three rounds, and unfortunately, the guys did beat us 2 games to 1 game. Perhaps next time, Amber?????

The two cousins did GREAT while waiting for us to play our game. By the end of the evening, they were very tired. It was time for them to go home, and Luke was LONG ASLEEP by that time.

Thanks Joel, Amber, Grace, and Natalie for coming over. Thanks, Amber, for making the obligatory Oriental Salad.