Uncle Ryan comes to town

Ryan Amys doesn’t get to Asheville very often. But when he does, it’s a guaranteed good time. Yep. We very much wish that we could see Chris’s brother more than we do, but we are so proud of him and all he is accomplishing in Montana. He’s all grows up! And he’s a awesome teacher and all around amazing person. And he’s the only person in the whole wide world that can make my husband laugh so hard he has to take a knee and wipe tears from his eyes. Ah... Brothers. It’s pretty fantastic.

And guess who was the most excited for Uncle Ryan to get here?

Yeah. The Princess was pretty pumped to get her Godfather here. In fact, both her and I concocted a clever water-balloon welcome, of which she practiced her plan-of-attack with Chris for two days. Hey Uncle Ryan! It’s so nice to see you... KERSPLAT! Water balloon to the ankles! But apparently Target sells the strongest water balloons in the world, as most of our artillery ended up smacking him on the toe and then bouncing across the cul de sac. Geez! But she moved past it pretty quickly and became stuck to him like glue.

Luke, on the other hand, was a wee bit weary of the strange man in our house, and for the first 24 hours he would only look at Ryan with his peripherals while simultaneously giving Chris and I looks that said, GUYS! Seriously! Who’s that guy? Why’s he still here? 

But then we let Ryan in on the surefire way to get our son to like him:  Go at him with a high five. You see, Luke is a high five junkie, and will always slap your palm if you show it to him. Well... Unless he’s really peeved at you. When there’s a high five denial from the big guy, it’s a warning for you to take cover from the impending storm of plastic and wooden toys that will be aimed at your head. So. After a whole evening and next morning, Ryan’s high five was finally accepted by Luke the following afternoon, and all was right in the world.

And let me just say that Ryan Amys is the WORLDS BEST HOUSEGUEST. Best ever. In the whole world. Because he mows the lawn, plays with the kids, takes the dog out AND cooks you a steak dinner. And he lets me boss him around like a big sister. And he helps me monitor and swim with both kids at the pool. It was like a vacation!

And one day, because he and Taylor were thick as thieves, he offered to take her to a movie. It was a date!

I’ve never seen a grown man so nervous about getting the seatbelt so tight on a car seat. Precious cargo.

They went and saw Madagascar 3 in 3D. And apparently Ryan fed the Princess Skittles the entire time, and when he tried to talk she would stick her finger to her lips and say, SHHHH! Uncle Why-an! No tawking.

It was a great visit. And we were lucky to have Chris’s parents come into town for the last half of his stay. But that’s whole other post...