Christmas with Visitors

Oh yes, we were looking forward to it. 

Helen and William drove the 600+ miles on Tuesday December 21. James and I were very happy that the weather was favorable which makes that long drive a little easier. They arrived in the evening in good time. 

Wednesday - Plenty to talk about, see and do. The weather was again very nice. I asked William whether he wanted to earn some pocket money. Ms Julie wanted to hire him to tidy up her garden. Well, yes. So the two of us got busy to cut all the old daisy flower stems etc etc. I really need to buy some better clippers. He kept telling us that he wants to donate the money to charity. He is concerned that the ocean needs cleaning up. Ms Julie was happy.

Of course the first thing when he arrived was the question "when do I see my cousins?"

Sarah had to work so we contacted the Nanny and arranged to pick up "the cousins" after lunch and went to Bryan Park. James and I had just recently visited there and had decided that the boys would love it. I had written about it in THIS BLOG.

Next to the parking was this heep of dirt and the youngsters were on it before you knew it.

Helen and I both took photos and we shared with each other. At this point I don't even know which one is from whom. We quickly discovered though it is not easy to get 4 to cooperate at the same time. So we took many and deleted most later.

Throwing little stones from the above bridge was fun but this wall a few yards further was even more fun.

Ha-ha, a VIDEO of that activity!      (0:40 min.)

A big rock is always a challenge of 'who will be on it first'. Helen and I took photos from different directions.

Oh oh, Helen was caught by the cousins looking at her phone 'whether there might be a geocache in this park'. William of course knows about it but Caleb really wanted to know. What is a geocache? We went on the search. We had to!

We found the place and all sorts of things like a chain imbedded in a tree and a pumpkin but with all the clues no cache. But ... Auntie found info about another one close by.

(This was so pretty. Had to take the picture!)

Especially Owen was so excited because the clue was 'it is in a gnome hiding place'. Yeah! Found it!

But what is better when Santa serves you hot chocolate or hot mulled cider? (we were lucky the Farmer's Market happened to be there)

When it was time to bring the cousins home Helen also had an early Christmas present for them. Wow, that was a success. They were constructing and changing and creating and just having a good time.

And ... William had been invited to stay the night. Happy boys all around. Sarah had to work the next day but Wade was off and volunteered. He is a fun-uncle.