Cousins and Other Things

The Funschoolers have just had the wonderful honor of hosting my brother and his delightful family who were visiting us for the very first time from the UK. Bro has been living there ever since he left home (Malaysia) to study and I must admit I (and I think kiddo too, Anglophiles and Cadbury lovers that we are) envy him the opportunity. :) Kiddo had a great time entertaining and being entertained by his three British cousins. And I had a lovely moment or two to catch up with bro and my beautiful sister-in-law.

While they were here, we watched the delightful Epic and ate lots and lots and lots and shopped together too.

Their visit also gave us the opportunity to tour some cities around the Bay Area that we haven't been to in a while, namely, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Gilroy, Monterey (we finally took the 17 Mile Drive!), Carmel and Big Sur.

The kids, sans the littlest, worked on some rocketry together and went kayaking all by themselves!

Don't they look like pros? :) I love this snapshot. I was quite worried by the time this photo was taken...it wasn't easy for me watching them moving further and further away from the shore, especially over a wide and deep (gulp!) body of water. Thankfully, all was well. Sure hope they built memories to last a lifetime!

We miss them so much. I think Adrian misses them a ton too. While they were here, he received hugs and belly rubs galore as well as very thorough petting and loving cuddles from brother's littlest one. I would miss something like that too, wouldn't you? You can see him drowning his sorrow in sleep, all mournful (but obviously comfy) on his new Molly Mutt bed! (hee hee).

Speaking of cousins, we were extremely happy to welcome my newborn niece (my sister's firstborn) in May. Yup, it was definitely a time to celebrate family! :)
 
On the learning front, kiddo and I are having a terrific time digging deeper into J.R.R. Tolkien's works through Mythgard Institute's Beyond Middle Earth summer class. If he continues to enjoy it, I hope to use other audit-friendly Mythgard options in the future.

Can't believe I have a rising 6th grader on my hands. Learning with the boy as always, continues to be an amazing, eye-opening journey for me.

Wishing you a happy summer dear reader!