visitors from the east: part ii (electric boogaloo)*

It's already been a few weeks since the visit, but Kenny did get to spend some quality time back in August with his Grammy Shirley and cousin Sara, in from Boston. Since our camera had recently committed seppuku, we had to rely on Grammy Shirley, who is "old-school," and still uses a camera that shoots on actual [gasp!] film. This means that I won't have any pictures to share until she gets those developed, sends them to me, and I can scan a few in. Before you go accusing GS of being too far behind the times, I'm proud to say that she recently traded in her clunker of a PC and upgraded to a shiny new MacBook. Huzzah.

Kenny had fun playing with his cousin, but was a bit weirded out when she decided one morning to hop into his pack n' play with him. While Sara was trying to be engaging and helpful, Kenny wanted to know what the big girl was doing all up in his crib (so to speak). He had this fantastically quizzical look on his mug, as if to ask, "Um, can I help you? Perhaps you have mistaken this for a two-seater, when the federally approved occupation level has been set at one? Of course, since you're here, why don't you be a love and pass me that plastic racecar so I can chew on it."

Sara did prove to be quite popular with Ms. Sadie, however, and requested that the furball sleep with her on the futon in the downstairs office. Sadie, never one to pass up the opportunity to hop onto a bed, obliged, but not before I warned Sara that the dog was a total and complete bed hog.

In addition to several suburban outings, we took everyone to the kid's museum and much playing was enjoyed by all. On the homefront, Sara led us in many rousing bouts of charades and teamed up with her Uncle Evenkeel to beat GS and Aunt Overboard in a game or two of Scene It.

Sara even offered to play me in NHL Monopoly, which her mom and dad had given me as a gift a few years back, since, "I know that Aunt Mary-Jo won't play you." This, of course, is true. Overboard, who loves to play games, will never play me in just about any board game. I'd like to think this is because she never wins, but really it goes back to her litmus test of: Can this be played by a large group of campers?

To her credit, Overboard recently caved in to a Scrabble request and, although she keeps getting shellacked [insert maniacal laughter here], she has at least been willing to step up and play. Again, I say, "Huzzah."


*Yes, I realize I have used this joke on many occasions now. No, I will not stop using it, as it's still funny each and every time.