Having Trevor’s family thousands of miles away is lousy.  Period.  But if there is one bright spot it is that when we do get to see them, we really get to see them.  We are blessed right now to have Trevor’s brother Adrian staying with us for ten whole days, and it has been an absolute joy.

The last time Uncle Adrian was here was a little over three years ago when we “only” had four children.  I wasn’t sure how well he’d deal with our new level of crazy, but he has taken it in his stride.

On Tuesday we celebrated Uncle Adrian’s birthday in style with a trip to the McDonald’s near Trevor’s work so he could meet us for lunch.  Smiles all around.

On New Year’s Eve we celebrated British New Year (at 7 PM) by breaking Christmas crackers and watching the London fireworks on the Internet – a genius way to allow kids to participate in the festivities while still going to bed at a reasonable hour!

Friday saw us spending a rather chilly day at the zoo, where Uncle Adrian, who has visited us countless times before, claims he had never been before!

 Bea has hardly left his side in the week that he’s been here so far (and indeed has made dents on the tops of his shoes from walking around on his feet so much  – sorry, Adrian!).  She lamented to him on Friday: “I wish you were at the library.”

“Why?” he asked her, a bit puzzled.

“Because then I could have you for three weeks and then take you back and have you again three weeks later.”

Love.

When we first arrived home from the airport last week, Coraline eyed Uncle Adrian suspiciously from her seat in the van.  I was 7 months pregnant with her last time he was here, so she is the longest-time family member not to have met him.  I reassured Adrian that it wouldn’t take her more than five minutes to warm up, but it didn’t take nearly that long:  the moment he got inside and sat down she asked to sit on his lap, a bit of real estate she has defended fiercely ever since.

We’re thankful to have a few more days left of his visit, but it is certainly going by much too quickly!