Nathan's Visit

Eric's twin brother Nathan came to visit last week.  He had been working in Chicago for a few days, and was able to come stay with us for a few days for the long weekend.  It was so nice to see him!  We always love having Nathan around.

Emma wrote this in the room where Nathan would be staying.

We watched some movies together, and Emma wanted (and I think perhaps succeeded) to play every Lego game she has with Nathan.  He probably thinks that's all we own and all we do!  Emma has at least 12 different Lego games, so it really is a lot!  Emma also wanted to play Nathan some chess.  And of course, not wanting to be left out, Eric also played some Chess with Nathan.  This might be my very favorite thing to watch the two of them do.  You've heard of sibling rivalry?  Well, these two are the best at it.  No, they don't smack talk a lot, or get mean or aggressive (or upset when they lose), but they are so similar that their very attempts to out-strategize the other plant a permanent smile on my face.  They played twice, each winning once, and decided in the interest of brotherly love to leave it at that.  A tie.  =)

We went out to Lake Geneva for some lunch at the Sprecher restaurant there and to wander around the shops and by the lake.  It was a perfect day for it!  With so much rain lately it was fabulous to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.  Lunch was delicious, and we came across some very interesting items in some of the stores.  Emma's favorite was this hat.  It's made of sheep's wool.  It was awesome!

The lake was beautiful.  Eric being Eric, he just had to dip his feet in the water.  Eric's never met a river or stream or pond or lake or any body of water that he didn't want to walk around in.  Regardless of how cold it might be (I mean the water's temperature, not the temperature outside.  He doesn't seek out this activity in the middle of winter... usually.).  As we finally found a bench to relax on and enjoy the view, Emma was still a ball of energy, and kept walking back and forth along the edge of the sidewalk, or just running around in a circle on the grass.  Yup, my kid is weird.  Cute.  But weird.  And, because I was bored, you get the lake pictures slightly antiqued.

On Saturday Eric, Nathan and Emma all went to see the new Star Trek movie together.  We had seen it the previous week (and I liked it), so I opted out this time.  Then that evening we enjoyed a BBQ with some wonderful friends.

On Monday morning Eric and Nathan went out for breakfast, while I stayed home with Emma, who wasn't awake yet.  When she got up and found out where they were, you should have seen the look on her face!  She was NOT pleased.  I, however, thought it was hilarious.  Yeah, I'm not what you'd call a "good" mom.

Emma was very sad to see Nathan go.  She loved spending time with him and having someone else she could relentlessly tease and show-off for.  We hope he'll be back soon!