We loved having them!

Our daughter Ashley has lived in Tajikistan with her husband Brandon and their six kids for the last four years.  They'll be transferring to Uzbekistan this summer, but because of a medical occurrence, she and the kids came early to the States, arriving at our place in late March.
So, our previously calm and ordered household became a joyously loud and chaotic place.  The kids found all sorts of ways to keep busy, some we had never thought of.

Look, I don't get it either, but Edwin and Joseph thought it was cool to hide in the recycling bin.  Future dumpster divers, I guess.

The boys helped their grandfather take down an old failing dogwood tree.  What could be more fun that a chainsaw?

William, now about fifteen months, helped with projects and finally decided to walk.

 Grandpa's drying kite became a tent.

Ashley hit Costco, Walmart and Sam's Club, and bought the items for the 'consumables' shipment to Uzbekistan.  The moving guys packaged it all for shipment, under the watchful eyes of the kids.

A couple of birthdays came along, necessitating the licking of beaters.

The neighbors were getting rid of some slides from their backyard, so we tacked them on to 'Monkey Palace,' the old play fort beside the house.  Add a hose, and the slides got really fast!

The cousins came up from Jacksonville, NC, and everyone had a riotous time at the local playground.

While Ashley and Brandon took a much-needed break to Charleston one week, Paula and I cooked up various activities, including a field trip to a historic farm maintained by the city.  The goats were the coolest thing, and they appreciated the leaves they couldn't reach by themselves.

 

When everyone was distracted for a moment by the livestock, William saw his chance for escape, and took it.

After a panicked minute, his blonde scalp was spotted underneath the steps of a tenant house, and Grandma breathed a big sigh of relief.
Joe and Edwin found a tractor, which luckily had been disabled and so could be pretended upon.

The visitor center had costumes.  Joseph became a North Carolina farm kid,

and Big Bill took on the mantle of a pig.

Krispy Kreme happened to be on the way home, and the kids watched the nice lady pull a dozen hot glazed donuts right off the assembly line. They were quickly dispatched. 

On another morning, we visited a historic mill on another trip, which had been restored after a hurricane.

That visitor center had more costumes,

as well as the cross-section of a really big tree.

The walk around the mill pond had cool telescopes, as well as poison ivy and horse flies.  They needed the full experience, no?

Another local park has a kid train which begged to be ridden.

We hope that the memory of the fish in our backyard is short, 

as they were most likely seriously traumatized during the visit.  And the frogs may never come out of hiding.  

The farmers' market was great.  Grandma ended up giving in on strawberries, peaches and other goodies.

We qualified for the Old People discounted membership this year at our good old Northbrook pool, and we abused that privilege by buying and using a bunch of visitor passes, to the delight of the gang.

They all left for Washington DC, where Brandon underwent training prior to their leaving for Tashkent, Uzbekistan after the 4th of July.

We enjoyed the Sherwoods' visit, though it reminded us why young people have kids, and why old people shouldn't.  

We hope that your grandkids are as much fun.

Dave & Paula

Family Reunion Time!

As you are aware, our family is literally spread from one side of the globe to the other, from the northwest United States to Central Asia.  With Ashley's family in town between State Department postings, we decided to try and get all of them together, something that hadn't happened for several years.  We almost made it, though at the last moment, Laura and Ben in Portland had to bow out for work.
Mike and Adrienne got here first from Provo, Utah, where Mike works at an ad agency, and she is finishing a Masters in Exercise Science.

Sam and Emily arrived from Seattle, where he is a Boeing engineer, and she works for an international remittance company.   Brynn and Chad came up from the coast, where he is a dentist and she manages The Gang.

Paula wisely programmed a picnic at the pool, where we paid to get the great-big group in under the guise of a "birthday party."  C'mon, with that many people, someone had to have had a birthday, right?

By the way, in fairness to Adrienne in the right foreground, she's about 26 weeks along in their first pregnancy.  Everyone had a great time performing feats of daring-do on the diving board,

and splashing around the pool.

How much better can it get - playing with your cousins and having access to unlimited Doritos?

The parents bought the baby-sitting services of a young woman in the neighborhood who apparently needed the cash more than she has good sense, and gathered at a local restaurant for a great meal.  Then, sure that the kids were asleep, they headed back home and laughed a lot playing some card game.

On Sunday night and Monday, folks started heading back to their real lives.  We were sad to see them go, but glad for the time spent together.  

We love our family, every one of them.  We hope yours is full of such good people.

Dave & Paula