A Visit From Calvin!

oMy favorite brother had a business trip in Saint Louis!!!

And lucky us, he was able to work out a little trip to our neck of the woods before heading home!

We were all a little giddy awaiting his arrival.
Calvin! Here! Joy!

He arrived with gifts for the whole crew... Star Wars fuzzy/soundy guys, and a fun new game: Scrabble Flash, for Corey and I:

He had been alone (sad!) in Saint Louis for a few days so he was happy to have a home cooked meal and be around people who knew and loved him. I made THIS salad (subbed chickpeas for the chicken and added a pint of grape tomatoes... yummm!) and Calvin wasted no time starting in to tease and entertain the boys (and maybe his little sister too).
He did a bit with the corn holders that I think Alaster especially appreciated.
I look ridiculous in this picture because I am trying to get Calvin to be serious and smile for real.
Do you like his "nice," pose for the camera?
So very sincere...

How about the top middle face in this next one... :)

I love this collage. Can you tell what Jack thought of his Uncle Cal?
Answer: Uncle Calvin is pretty much the funnest, coolest, guy ever.

Jack has such a strong sense of self that we never really see him seeking the approval of others (in a good way!). But I tell you what... there was a whole lot of trying to impress Calvin. And yes, those are chopsticks you see in his hand. Because what could be more impressive than eating your meal with chopsticks of course?!?

The boys were dying to show Calvin their bikes so we went on a walk around our community and and a nearby walking park after dinner:

Back at home Aly showed off his Wii skills and convinced Cal to join in on the fun!
They looked really cute in the 2 legged race:

Cal brought some snacks that reminded me of our brown bag lunches growing up. He shared his goodies with us as we played a few more games before the boys bedtime:

It was fun and only a little bit embarrassing to have Calvin around for our bedtime routine.

And after the boys were in bed Calvin and I had some good quality sibling bonding time!
(Corey was at work)

I love to talk to my brother! He is funny, insightful, and just pretty darn awesome.

I felt a little like a teenager again hanging out late at night with my bro.
If only we had recliners and Conan O'Brien had been on! At least we had some good snacks!

In the morning we had breakfast and Jacked showed Calvin his Spanish word book and Spanish counting skills. Cal served in Honduras so he was very helpful as Jack tried to pronounce words from the book:

After breakfast we set out unsuccessfully to the library. Apparently they open later on the weekend. Darn it! I was really excited to show him our little Tolono Library. It's so cute!

The trip wasn't a total waste. The drive there is very pretty, and we found a fresh strawberry stand. Yumm!

After the failed library attempt we headed to Walmart so Cal could get a little somethin' for Ed and Cindy. In addition to the goodies for E and C he bought the boys basketballs ("If your dad isn't going to teach you about this then your Uncle has to step in .") and showed them how fast grocery carts can zoom down the isles!

Can you see Truman's very-wide-open-eye in that picture? I think he really was enjoying himself until we came to the baby isle and Cal accidentally caught him off guard. Woops! Sorry baby!

I had some necessaries to take care of at the church so the boys got to try out their new basketballs. Jack had tons of fun and Alaster was super grumpy.

Calvin is such a good and patient Uncle! By the end he was able to get Alaster to try his cool experiment (little ball on top of big one... drop from stage) and bounce the balls a little.

While I made lunch Jack and Cal drew pictures for Ada then all 3 boys headed to our community hoops for more basketball. They came home hot, sweaty and ready for lunch!

It was delish! Recipe HERE. We substituted edamame for chicken but kept everything else the same. The dressing HERE is to-die-for! And by lunch time it was finally time for Corey to wake up. Hooray!

Next on the docket was a trip to lovely Meadowbrook Park. We took the walking trail that surrounds the nature preserve and is lined with local art pieces. Pretty fun! It was the perfect picture opportunity:

During the walk we spied 3 beautiful deer:

And found evidence of busy beavers:

Eventually we made our way back to the playground area where we practiced walking/sat in the shade to play with grass:

And were brave to play with unknown girls on the tire swing:

And tossed a football around:

Last but not least was a ride of terror - courtesy of mom - on the tire swing with just boys.
It was pretty hilarious if you want to know the truth. We were all laughing so hard and frankly, after Alaster's behavior that day, I didn't feel too bad for making him scream.
(He laughed about it after... no permanent damage done!)

It's just a shame we didn't get a picture of his 'I'm going to die!' face:

Back at the homestead we all needed a little break. The weather was H-O-T and we needed some ice water to revive us. Calvin worked on his church calling... preparing agendas and whatnot... and I worked on mine... making dinner for the missionaries.

We didn't stick around and eat with them though. Instead we took him to our favorite local pizza place: Monacles! I can't believe I forgot the camera. What was I thinking?!?!

I am not sure at what point I got these picture of them with Calvin in the car. We let them ride in his sweet rental. Alaster is still talking about how fast he drove.

After dinner we swung by E and C's so Calvin could hand deliver his ice cream gift and Justin Bieber card. I loved taking Calvin there! It meant a lot to me!

After an extremely fun-filled day we took 3 tired little boys home and immediately deposited them in bed.

We adults didn't have much more energy than they so we took it ultra-easy watching shows, listening to music, and talking.

I did find it within myself to make a late night redeeming batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Calvin won't ever let me forget about the hard, flat ones I used to make when I was 11. Seriously! He was teasing me about it yet again and so I had to prove to him once and for all that I am now quite perfectly capable of making delicious ones!
And let's face it... even if he hadn't teased me I probably would have made them anyway. :) But I was grateful for the excuse!

And then... just like that... Calvin was gone :(

Okay that's not totally true. He slept one more night in our living room... ate a quick breakfast... and took some name-sake pictures with Truman... but it was all so quick!

Our goodbye wasn't terribly emotional, but as I watched him walk to the car my chest got tight I couldn't help but tear up.
I love my brother so, so much. We all do!
It was such a blast to have him with us for even just a day and a half, and I was so seriously sad to see him go.

Thank you so much Brother for coming. And thank you for being so cute, fun, generous, patient and kind with the boys. They couldn't have had a better time with you! And thank you to Whitney for letting him! It was a sacrifice I know (which the text messages from home proved!) and we appreciated it so much!

I can't wait for the day that we get to see ALL of you again!