A Visit From "The Juice," Ethan & Eric

We had a fast and furious weekend with my brother Scott(known as Uncle Apple Juice from his visit out here 5 years ago!) and my nephews Ethan(9) and Eric(6). It was a real treat to have them come all the way out to Florida from the Left Coast! My brother is a natural jokester-wish I'd realized that as a kid and not fought against it! (in this tradition he renamed himself "The Juice" on this trip) His oldest son Ethan is a typical 4th grade boy. Eric, his second son has a dynamo smile but is more serious and needs his private space! Eric and Lizzy, who are only 8 months apart seem to get along really well! It has been fun to see them play together through the years, as hit and miss as it has been. Ethan and Sarah are only 8 months apart and have always had a good time playing, but now they are getting older and Ethan and Daniel have more in common as BOYS, but Sarah makes sure she gets her time with her closest cousin! The kids all connected well in front of the closet door mirrors singing "Billy Joe McGuffrey" and "Boys in the Sink" from Veggietales. I don't know how it all went down, but I do know that Lizzy was the "producer." Wish I hadn't been busy doing something else, it sounded interesting!

On Friday we hung out together at the house and let the kids play. We whipped up some frozen pizzas and enjoyed the kids catching up with eac

h other. Saturday had been set aside for a trip north to Orlando. Since we have year passes to Sea World and Eric LOVES LOVES LOVES roller coasters, we decided to go up during their visit out. We spent 7 hours on Saturday meeting Shamu, feeding sharks and rays, admiring dolphins, manatees, penguins and gators. Eric wasn't tall enough for the Manta or Kraken, but he was able to go on Atlantis with Scott and Marc. My kids are not so brave!. It was a chilly 54 degrees in northern Florida. We just aren't used to that! It was relieving to have lunch and be inside for a while! The kids had a great time pal-ing around together and enjoying the fun of

an amusement park.

Sunday we took them to our church which my brother

felt greatly refreshed by. We enjoyed lunch out at our favorite sports grill Duffy's and quiet time back at the homestead.

Monday we were good parents and took the kids to our pediatric dentist where a Kid Safe DNA swab was offered. I hadn't had my youngest 3 done before so I had to take the opportunity. Scott went ahead and had his 2 kids swabbed as well. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel so they could all remember it fondly when they listen to the Tim Hawkins skit about "the barrel." We finished the day off with a trip to the beach where the kids tried to dig a slide out of the sand.

The boys all headed home Tuesday after a quick trip to the park down the street. My brother constantly takes his boys to the park and he went tw

ice to mine. I wonder what his attraction is to park-going. We were raised by the same parents, lived out in the woods, went to the same college. . . he he. He is just a good dad when it comes to keeping kids entertained, I think!

So our visit was awesome and way overdue. I am so thankful that my brother whom I love took the time and money to come out and visit us-it had been 3 years since he has been here. My favorite part was our two hours of talk each way as we drove up and back to Orlando. We were able to cover so many topics and catch up on so many things. We live very different lives on two opposite sides of America, but what we do have in common is our Lord Jesus Christ, our love of family, and our red hair!