Finally, after a long quarantine and Kristen bringing a new baby, Elliott, into the world, the aunties were vaccinated and could visit Rosalee and family in North Carolina! I went a couple days early to ease the kiddos into a full house. The highlight was taking Rosalee to her first swim lesson!
Rosalee with Tia Kelly
Family action shot post-swim
Rosalee kept asking, "Is your friend Brittany coming?" Brittany and I hadn't seen her since she was 19 months, on our San Diego trip in early 2020 and Amanda hadn't seen her since our last visit to NC when she was only five months.
The aunties are here!
Mornings at the Brookshire residence would start with reading. Rosalee would run down the stairs calling, "Aunties!" and come jump in bed to read Elephant & Piggie books (these are truly wonderful for adults and young readers alike). If we were really lucky, Elliott would join us, too.
My happy place
C'mon.
After breakfasts of french toast or farmer's market pastries or some other yummy thing topped with fresh strawberries, it was of course playtime.
Playtime with Elliott mostly involved cooing at his cuteness
These two are perfectly paired for a partner yoga pose!
Lizard on a rock
Anything can be a toy
Tummy time
Extreme tummy time
Playing the "Poop Game" Auntie Amanda gifted,
where you match the animal with their poop
Hide and go seek was another crowd favorite. Rosalee would hide under the bed covers every single time with us pretending to look for her inside drawers and under shoes. She'd get so excited to watch us searching for her that she'd throw back the covers and giggle in anticipation. The aunties had to keep upping the ante on their hiding spots, though, and she loved searching as much as she did "hiding".
Sometimes we all want to be a baby again!
Brittany going full court jester
Most days, once we'd get our act together, we'd head to a park. We might go to the local neighborhood park...
The queen and her royal subjects
Big girl sunglasses
The whole crew strolling
...or sometimes we'd drive to the big "green" or "orange" parks.
The aunties in all their refinement
We did a lot of this:
...and this:
And then it was home for lunch and nap and snack times. Then we'd play some more, often watch an episode of Rescue Riders, and get ready for dinner!
Snack time, looking just like her Grammy
This is how Elliott looks at Amanda,
like she's a T-bone steak
This, whatever it was, was a very popular activity
Playing Farmer's Market
The right way to hammock
On our last afternoon together, Daniel busted out the giant dinosaur fountain! Non-stop squeals.
Just a girl and her dinosaur
One night we Zoomed with the other aunties in CA, Pree and Ari, and Rosalee was gobsmacked by Auntie Ari's backyard setup. She kept talking about how she wanted to go play at her house.
It was such lovely weather, we'd often eat outside. A couple nights we ordered in (pizza and tacos) and other nights we'd cook. Barbecuing burgers was a particularly fun night!
Ruby on the prowl
Becca sent us Levain cookies, Amanda's favorite!
One night we braved dinner out - their first with both kids post-quarantine! - at a favorite local Indian restaurant called Vimala's.
Flashback to the last time we were at Vimala's together in 2018
Bath time was always a fun affair. If Rosalee invited you to bath time or bedtime stories, it was like getting picked first in gym.
After the kids went to bed, we'd chat, listen to the birds (even an owl!), play games, and a couple nights Daniel got the fire pit going. One night we gathered for Kristen's favorite, Scattergories, and another we played five rounds of 20 Questions around the fire pit. I think I won for hardest/most random with "man hole cover". Still, Daniel guessed it!
Still playing Scattergories together, 16 years later
An ongoing joke over the weekend was making fun of Amanda for having referred to herself very formally in a birthday video she sent Rosalee as "Aunt Amanda" even though they call her "Auntie Manda". This turned into us calling her "Auntie Amahnda" with the Queen's accent and saying things like "Auntie Amahnda insists upon [fill in hoity-toity quirk here]."
Rosalee, sharp as she is, caught on. One day she turned to Amanda and said, "Auntie Manda, sometimes we call you [she dropped her voice an octave and put on a British accent] Auntie Amaaaahnda." We were dying laughing at how spot-on she understood the joke!
Y'all get it. After well over a year apart, and such a tough year at that, this was incredibly special time together. Every snuggle, every belly laugh was paired with immense gratitude. What a beautiful long weekend we had!
And finally, a few Rosalee quotes:
Referring to a woman with ripped jeans: "Why are her pants broken?"
In response to asking if she wants to do a certain activity: "Of course!"
Pointing directly at Brittany: "I spy a big...neck neck!" (It's important to note that Rosalee calls necklaces "neck necks," but still.)
And I'll leave you with our favorite, Rosalee's complete non-sequitur:
