Uncle Greg!

Because I'm a blog stalker reader and love to peruse Facebook, I noticed today is 'National Sibling Day.'  Who knew?!  The crazy thing is that I actually got to spend part of this special day with my brother!  I have four brothers, one of whom happened to be making his way to Texas to live with one of my stepsisters while he goes to culinary school.  (Yes, I also have two stepsisters.  I'm not kidding when I say I need to dedicate an entire post to a detailed family tree.)

Last week when Mom left I couldn't be too very sad because I knew Greg's visit was only a couple of days away.  Mom left Saturday, Greg got here Monday for dinner.  I fretted over what to cook, where to take him to eat, which night to take him, what kind of coffee I had, and all of the usual things I worry about.  The worrying was totally pointless for two reasons.  One, Greg is the easiest-going person ever, and was excited to see his nieces and nephew, not about what was for dinner.  The other reason is that Robert got sick with some random stomach funk (throwing up, fever, you know...the fun stuff) meaning we couldn't go out Monday night, and had to cancel the babysitter we'd gotten for Tuesday night so we could take Greg downtown.

Instead, Greg made handmade marshmallows with the girls,

built a fort with MC (complete with a microwave! I laughed so hard when I saw Greg with a beer in one hand and a pink microwave!  Yes, the fort had been disassembled by picture-taking time, but the micro was still close by, and it begged to be in the pic...),

played with American Girl dolls with MC,

took pictures of Robert (apparently Robert has a side job that I don't know about because he constantly on the phone, and it's always very serious),

all while letting me play with different lenses from his camera!  (I'll spare you the pictures of our kitchen cabinets and Tank that I took on eighteen different settings each.)

Having Greg here was so much fun!  I hate that Robert got sick, but I'm happy we got to stay home and just visit.  And don't worry, I did manage to take Greg on a quick trip to Steel City Pops in Homewood.  Divine.

For the next couple of nights Greg will be in New Orleans, then will make the final drive of his long trek and end up in San Antonio!  I'm so proud of him for knowing that he wants to go to culinary school, even though he has a degree in mechanical engineering.  He tried it, didn't love it, so now Greg is going to do something he has always had a passion for...cooking!  (And hopefully he'll meet a sweet southern girl, but I didn't say that.)

Thanks so much, Greg, for including us on your trip down South.  I love watching you play with my chickies, love eating your yummy cooking, and love that you're my sibling!! :)