7 Quick Takes: The Brother Edition

Another brother of mine came to visit us for a few days!

Man, how many brothers does she have??

1.

Sean! Sean has many titles here:
          2nd brother of the summer
          4th youngest brother of mine
          5th in birth order
          10th grader in a few weeks
          One of the coolest dudes I know.

Sean and I go way back. Duh, obviously... I have one very special memory of Sean and I when he was very young. He was about 5 and I was in college. Time escapes me these days... Anyway, it was Christmas Morning - at well before dawn (ugh...) - and the wild animals that lived in the house with us at the time my brothers were very much awake and ready to tear stuff open. Well, no way. I yanked them all, except William (who was still a baby...around 1 or so), into my room with their pillows and blankets. Sean climbed into my bed and snuggled up and was drifting in and out of sleep every few minutes.

After a bit I notice he was messing with my engagement ring. See, Jason and I had just gotten engaged the day before, which was Christmas Eve morning. I asked him if he liked it and what he thought. He told me that it looked like a star and it was shiny. But, then he said very quickly (and with a face that looks like ones of Alex's, my 3 year old) that he did not like it. When I asked him why, he told me that he didn't want me to move away today. Aw, such a little guy... I explained that I wasn't leaving today or tomorrow or anything. I still had college to finish and, besides, it was Christmas! He smiled and gave me a hug then fell asleep for a little bit more before we all went downstairs to continue the festivities.

Fast forward to this past week -

2.

Legos!

It's always awesome having uncles come to the house! They always want to play with Legos!

3.  

On Tuesday, we explored the Southern Museum of Flight with Sean. Super fun! They all loved it!

The little guys especially loved being "pilots" for about a half hour!

4. 

Zoo day! Now, you know we had to throw that into the mix of things to see and do.

From the top, going clockwise:  Sean going into the "cave" to find the otters / Lunch time overlooking the elephants /  Sweet sleeping baby /  Mr. Giraffe / The sweetest brothers ever

Ok, I'm going to play the "lame big sister who is a mom now" card and say that this is my favorite picture from our day at the zoo. Sean is the sweetest. He showed them how to put their quarters in and get the fish food out. Sure, it might not look like anything. And, yes...they now how to do that already. But, it's just the whole picture of it all. They think that their uncles are, like, the coolest people ever. They talk about them for weeks and weeks until we see them again - whether it is one or all of my brother, or if it is Jason's brother. Uncles rock in their book! And moments like these that I get to capture are my favorites. It's the smallest things that turn out to be some of the best memories later on.

5. 

Getting an early start at NJROTC!

 
Now, I hope Sean won't kill me after posting this. But...I just had to do it. After this quick lesson in doing pushups and crunches, these little guys actually have been trying to do it randomly during the day - since he went back home. No joke. I've caught them saying things like, "No, Sean said like this. Because that's what he does with the soldiers." Haha! I don't even remember if we told them what NJROTC was, but yep. They've got it! Such cuties!

6. 

Game nights!!

We broke out Sequence and, of course, Settlers of Catan. We did play Mexican Train Dominoes, too. But that was a bust. Playing with 2 people just doesn't work. Don't do it. You are better off playing Go Fish! Haha!

7.

Coffee mug obsession

We met up with Mom at our favorite Cracker Barrel (our halfway point) to take Sean back home. Mom told me about some coffee mugs that she thought were pretty cool. Well, when she showed me and I saw this one...I just had to have it. That golf tee game (what is that thing called anyway?) has always been super cool. I know...I'm a nerd. Whatever. It is cool. Cracker Barrel is cool. It is so cool that I insisted on having a Cracker Barrel rocking chair to rock my babies in. I have always wanted one of those. Always. And, now, I have another fond memory from childhood on a mug that holds one of my favorite beverages. Awesome. Thanks, Mom, for the great mug!!