A Long Lost Uncle Comes To Visit

My Uncle Craig, whom I have not seen for 13 years at least, came to visit on his way to Seattle!

We had such a fun time!

  

The kids absolutely adored playing with him!

 He was only in town for a day so we made sure to make some memories!

We headed on the train to the zoo!

 The train ride was a success and there was even a firetruck outside the zoo for Aaron's viewing pleasure! 

 Pretty much all the animals were out this time!

We didn't go down the monkey tunnel which is probably for the best. I have a feeling Craig would have tried to play on the kids' toys at the end...

 At the petting zoo portion, Aaron and I touched snakes, Aaron and Audrey rode wooden horses, and the three of us petted the goats!

 Yeah, that's a polar bear in the water!

 

 Aaron wanted Craig to come play in the tunnel with him, so he tried...

 Even the lions were majestically prowling around!

 

 I think this was Craig's favorite part of the whole trip - watching Aaron's odd stunts...

He decided Aaron is training for American Ninja Warrior.

 We were all about having a "race"  - and the race was pretty much continuous through the whole zoo.

 On the train ride home, Audrey was so excited. She even wanted to do pull-ups on the bar, haha!

Craig left for lunch with my brother and then came back. I was upstairs and came down to find this... Apparently, when he first came in the door, Audrey gave him her infamous scowl. But 30 seconds later, grabbed her blanket and crawled in his lap (having had no nap, she was ready to snuggle). 

She decided he was her best buddy.

 At dinner, Audrey refused to sit in her own chair, even though we placed it right beside Craig... It wasn't good enough. She had to sit in his lap.

 This morning, we took Craig to Portland to catch his ride to Seattle. When the kids realized what was happening, they became very upset. Audrey wouldn't even look at Craig for an extended period of time. But he fervently promised them that he'd come back to visit again soon and so they gave him hugs and waved good-bye.

We miss you and expect you to keep good on that promise! See you soon!