A visit to relatives

So my dad was going to Aunt Jean's house for a visit, and he wanted company in the car so he brought me along. I was half dreading it, but apparently the Aunties have mellowed some in recent years. Here's dad and his sisters:

And of course half the fun of bringing me along was that he got to bring his grandkids to show them off. Lunch was on the stove and they were trying to decide whether to wait for uncle Evan or just eat without him. This involved a lot of comparisons about how Aunt Jean's great grandkids can't wait for a meal and get really cranky, and how well behaved my kids were being. Finally Uncle Evan got home so Aunt Mary went to get a high chair while Aunt Jean set the table, and as soon as Eloise saw the highchair go to the dining room she started asking "eat? eat?" (Yeah guys, the baby totally needs a fancy placemat. Wouldn't want to be raising a heathen.)

After lunch the girls were being wild so Grandpa took them out to the yard to run off some steam. Aunt Jean owns the little tikes pick-up truck, because that is way superior to the cozy coupe. Eloise liked that you can put the tailgate down and pile more kids in the back.

Then grandpa decided Eloise's hands were too cold so he made her come inside and watch Fina play through the window.

The "best" part of visiting relatives is totally being forced to look at a bunch of pictures of distant cousins you will probably never meet. Eloise dutifully looked through the pictures of aunt Mary's grandkids. (I did too, even though I'd seen them already on facebook.)

And at the end, Aunt Mary brought a little dog and her suitcase out of the bedroom to load into her car. Fina was impressed and petted and petted the creepy little thing.