Uncle John's in the house

My uncle John is in town for a few days for his high school reunion, so on Thursday night we ditched the parent orientation at the kid's school and went out to uncle Mike and aunt Sharon's for a cookout. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of everyone, but it was a full house to say the least and we all had a great time. I just wish that we could have stayed longer, but 5 kids may as well be 50 kids when they are tired and the space is limited. They were getting rowdy and uncle Mike was egging it on. Surprising, I know! All I wanted to do was get a picture of the kids with uncle John, but Titus was having none of it! Ooh, he was making me so mad! We couldn't get the kids to uncle John to take a good picture, so uncle Mike had them all sit down together with the idea that uncle John would come to them and we could get a decent picture. It's amazing how quickly Titus' temperament can change. He's more like a woman than a 2 year old...The mood changed, but we never did get a good picture.
Auntie Ruthie (and uncle Dave) were there.Josh and Kelly...it's always nice to see them, but never seems to be enough time to sit and chat long enough! Jack, Laurel and Jackson James were there for a while. James looks so much like Jack!!! Of course my parents were there. The kids thought it was so funny to sneak up behind people with this plastic hair (uncle Mike's) and put it on their head. Doesn't mom look great?!? She's a natural. Josh got the idea to get a rope and make a swing while we were here. It was a whole lot of fun, especially when John Paul, Josh and Jack got going. One would grab the excess rope from below the swing and take the passenger for a crazy ride while the rider would try and get the rope back for himself so he could whip the pusher. Sounds confusing and childish...it was great! Boys will be boys! I even took a spin on the swing and oh how it took me back to when the Heavners lived next door to us and we had a tire swing on a tree between our two houses. It is so much crazy fun getting together with the Heavners and though only half the Heavner kids were there, I realize how much I miss getting together with them all.This is Titus in uncle Mike's hat. He took it off of this penguin "statue" named Lyle that uncle Mike and aunt Sharon have had for years and years. His nose (is it a beak???) just sits in the hole, so everyone takes it out to play with it. Titus was no exception. I wonder if Lyle's poke has ever been a "light saver" before. If you listen carefully, you can hear his sound effects.
I don't know why I have so many pictures of Ty-Ty, but I do.

Here he is behind bars. How apropos for the little guy.

Eventually we did start to get way too out of control, but then again, it was after 9pm and we go to bed between 7:30 and 8:00. We had a fantastic time together and the kids had a blast as always and I can't wait until we get to do it again!