Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuunnn...

My sister, Carly, tells the story like this: "I call to tell Amber that I'm coming to visit with the 2 kids the next day, and 2 minutes later... an earthquake hits! Watch out!" Ha ha ha.

I personally think the earth was as excited as I was by the surprise visit, and just couldn't contain itself. :)

We had an absolute blast during their stay. So fun to get to know, really KNOW, 2 year old Londyn and baby boy Britton and have some good times with the sis.

Some of the highlights:

*Londyn meeting the meerkats.




*Britton's smiles.

*Being called Aunt Um (or maybe more Ahm...wish you could hear her say it) all week.

*A very long car ride from Baltimore in rush hour traffic, with mommy following behind us in another car, and Londyn starving and tired. Doesn't sound like a highlight? It was. The distracting conversations were priceless. The best: teaching Londyn about panda bears eating bamboo, and hearing her repeat it the rest of her stay. "Pandas eat bamboof!" "Mama...pandas eat bamboof!" "Uncle Bye Bye...pandas eat bamboof."

*Watching Londyn wait and wait and wait for her Uncle Bri Bri to get home from work. When the lock would turn, she'd gasp. When the door would open, she'd run and give him a hug, and exclaim, "Mama...Aunt Um...He's here! He's here!" You should've seen Brian's smile.

*Of course the excitement over Brian returning home was only amplified by a ga-jillion after he got in the pool with her one evening. Cutest...thing...ever. And she was fearless, getting thrown in the air like a dolphin "that goes whoosh". Her and Uncle Bri Bri were best little friends from that moment on. If she was having a 2 year old moment when no one could do anything for her, including make her dinner, Uncle Bri Bri was allowed to make her mac and cheese. If she wanted a movie put in, Uncle Bri Bri could always pick the right one. Adorable.

*Getting into the city just early enough (and I mean barely early enough...running to the museum...) for a free planetarium show featuring the Sesame Street characters. Elmo caused awe and wonder.

*Watching Londyn make friends at Fort Ward (and everywhere we went really...), and leaving cute little Henry with a big, unexpected smooch. On the mouth!

*Watching Londyn's excitement over the dolphin show at the National Aquarium. We had to go up to Baltimore to pick up a car, so we decided to spend the day with the fishies. Her excitement over the jumps was contagious.

*Surviving a hurricane. Nothing but rain, really. :)

*Asking Londyn every time we got in the car if she needed help getting in her seat, fully knowing the answer, but just wanting to hear her say, "I got it...I got it."

*Aunt Um and Loo dance-a-thons. Her favorite song: The second on this playlist. My favorite part: Her singing along to "I love you, I love you, I love you" and adding an "Aunt Um" on the end. Then there was the moment she first heard the "Hey Mamas" in the background, giggled, and ran to the bathroom door where Carly was in the shower, knocking and saying, "Hey Mama!"

*Experiencing a 2 year old with IMPECCABLE manners. You can't do anything, big or small, for that girl without her saying, "Dank you Aunt Um!" and getting crazy excited. The best was the last night they were in town. Her dad joined us, and so we told Londyn we were going to blow up another big girl bed just for her. Part way through pumping, we heard her excitedly say, "Dank you MUCH Aunt Um! Dank you MUCH Bye Bye!"

*And last, but not least, fun fun adult time during the few hours when both kiddos were asleep. Clue, trivia, Boggle, watching Carly scarf Milky Ways, and laughing our heads off over everything from vocabulary to nothing at all. Good good times.

Come back Cookleberry. Come back Loo Loo. Come back Brittanica! We miss and love you!