"Uncle" Comes to Town!

As an add-on to my most recent post about treasured family visits, I wanted to write about our recent visit from Uncle Jared!  My brother Jared (currently living in TX) graced us with his presence over the weekend of October 7th and we had a blast.  Joe picked Jared up from the airport on Friday after work and brought him home.  Evelyn and I went and picked up some gluten free pizzas to celebrate his arrival.

All week long I had been talking to Evelyn about Jared's impending arrival and teaching her to say "uncle."  She really didn't care to repeat the word and I just figured she wasn't ready to learn a new word, so I dropped the lessons!  On Friday, on our way home from picking up pizza, I was talking to Evelyn about Jared and said, "Uncle Jared is coming to visit you."  She just stared back at me in her car seat mirror and smiled; she seemed very aware of his coming to visit.  When we pulled in, Jared and Joe were waiting to greet us.  I pulled Evelyn from her seat (she jumped into my arms, as she often does) and took her to the sidewalk to meet Jared and Joe.  She took one look at Jared and said, "Uncle!" like she had known the word all along; she uttered it perfectly!  So... for the rest of the weekend, Jared was not referred to as Jared, but only as, "Uncle."  Evelyn is blessed to have 3 other uncles (Jay, Matt and Jim), but for now, "Uncle" is the catch-all term... someday she'll learn their names!

The weekend was really nice, low-key and fun.  We took Jared mini-golfing (Evelyn's first time) and Joe took Jared to play real golf later on Saturday afternoon.  On Sunday we went to Mass and went out for a nice family breakfast (Evelyn did great; she even used big-kid crayons and colored on her restaurant coloring sheet).  The afternoon was relaxing and in the evening Jared treated us all to a fabulous dinner out (Thanks, Jared)!  Evelyn did well at dinner too!  She colored (again with big-kid crayons) and ordered off the kid's menu... that was a first!  Overall, it was a wonderful weekend, filled with happy memories and lots of laughter.  Thanks for coming to visit, Jared.  We all miss you, "Uncle!"

E's shirt (from Jared) says: "If you think I'm cute, you should see my uncle!"

Joe and "Uncle" having too much fun mini golfing!

The hiking pack was PERFECT for mini golf with Evelyn!

Jared, me and Evelyn

Putting with Daddy... on the 18th hole

They didn't have mini golf clubs in Evelyn's size

So darling!  

Leave it to "Uncle" to get Evelyn riled up before bed!

Looking cooler than cool for Uncle Jared!