Our guests.

"Wow! He sure has big pants."

- Josh Brown

I wish I could say our house is so darn exciting that every year our Austin friends make a mad dash northbound on I- 35E (that was for you MatthewJones) to spend the week living life with us. However, I am quite certain it is this guy with a big hat, wide shoulders and skinny ankles that bring them running.

It is tradition to go to the fair on cheap Tuesday with MatthewJones, Ava, Will, and (making his first fair-appearance), Henry. It was so fun now that the big kids get into playing the games and can ride just about any ride by themselves. Here they are at the ever safe and appropriate for kids of all ages, "throw the sharp-edged dart at the balloon" game. Happily, they each popped a balloon and each received a high-quality stuffed animal.

Matt and Josh loved the bumper cars. Actually, I think they loved just sitting in the bumper cars and getting pushed around by the bigger kids, but I think it was worth it from the smiles on their faces as they were exiting the ride.

Josh INSISTED on going down the super tall and steep slide ride. I am TERRIFIED of this thing. So, my kind friend, Joy, offered to go in my place. Well, Josh would have NONE of that and looked at me with this pathetic face and said, "But, I want Mommy to go with me. " Ugh! So, I went, because I love him. Hence the picture. As I suspected, it was terrifying. I think I squeezed Josh so hard I could have broken his ribs. And I was not squeezing for his benefit, strictly for mine. At the bottom, I said, " That was so scary!!!" Josh looked and me and said, "What was scary, Mommy?" as if he hadn't just done the same ride as me. What????

Lucky for us, Josh had a rescheduled soccer game while our guests were in town. Katie and Maggie were there to cheer on the Rattlers. Josh had quite the fan club at the game. I am so happy my little man has such great friends. I worried Josh may be a little shy and suffer from performance anxiety with all the cheerleaders on the side-lines. Thankfully, Josh had donned his awesome wristband that has super powers to make him run and kick like David Beckham, so he was good. He kept touching the wrist band for extra "powers." It was pretty funny.

On Wednesday, I decided Josh didn't need to practice his ABCs and 123s and instead needed to play in the pumpkin patch with MatthewJones. I asked Josh that morning, "Josh, would you rather go to school today or go to the Arboretum with MatthewJones." He looked at me like I had just given him the option of eating a chocolate cupcake or broccoli for dinner.
Ahh, DUH MOM!!!

Needless to say, we accompanied our guests to the Arboretum for a beautiful morning enjoying pumpkins and flowers.

Since MatthewJones and Josh were first heard at 5:07 AM talking about the color the sheets they were sleeping on, they were a little tired by 10am. So, naturally, they tried to take a nap laying on the pumpkins. Totally normal behavior. Totally. "BUT, WAIT!!! What is this? Water-spewing Frog sculptures???" Never mind, we're not tired any more!!!"Like their daddies, MatthewJones and Josh are two peas in a pod. I love MatthewJones because he comes from two of my favorite friends, but I also love him because he is so darn sweet. For example, here he is reading my son a good night story. MatthewJones is extremely intelligent and can pick up any book and read it from cover to cover, even if he has never seen it before. One of my favorite memories of the Jones' visit will be of Josh and MatthewJones cuddled on the bed reading books together. Or, MatthewJones reading the books and Josh listening intently to him and then saying to me, "Wow. MatthewJones knows his words real good."
Josh was really sad to say good-bye to MatthewJones, but luckily Ava was sticking around for a while and we got to play one afternoon. Erin and I took Katie, Josh, and Ava for a nice little ride around downtown on a trolley. The were so cute holding hands and waiting for the trolley. Josh is one lucky man. I can't decide if, in this picture, Katie is eyeing Josh with affection or eyeing Ava with a threatening,

"Hey, Red... keep your paws off my man" look.

I guess we'll never know.

Thanks for coming to visit, friends! It was a great week!