They're Gone

Insert sad face here! :( Grant, Melissa, and Colton left us today and headed up towards Maine to continue their New England vacation. We were so happy that they were able to spend as much time with us as they did, and that the kids got in lots of quality cousin-bonding time. Hopefully, it won't be too long before we're in California again (fingers crossed for the week of Thanksgiving, but we'll see!). It was really nice to see some family again!

Anyhow... they hit the road shortly after lunch, timing it so that Colton would take his afternoon nap in the car. Once they were gone, Nikos actually asked if he could paint! It's been a while since we've done any art, and I thought it sounded like a great idea. So I set up the easel and kid table on the back deck. That way, one kid could paint while the other one worked on a collage or drew with colored pencils. Maya loved working on her collage of leaves, and impressed me with her efficient (and vastly improved from last time) glue stick abilities. Nikos preferred painting his dinosaur scene, but also dazzled me with his little colored-pencil rendition of all the Yo Gabba Gabba characters. Really, I need to take a picture of it. I knew EXACTLY what it was when he was finished!

At any rate, these kids love art, and I, for one, enjoyed sitting on the deck and doodling with colored pencils, too! So relaxing!

And that was essentially our day! They played on the swings for a bit after that, and then it was nearly time for me to start preparing dinner. Not a bad day, but certainly a lot quieter without my brother and his family around! They can come back anytime!