Definitions

lame: when your brother and sister-in-law are in town for the day and you neglect to get a picture.

not lame: when your brother and sister-in-law are in town for the day!

That's right, Matthew and Honor were in Philly house hunting the past few days and had some free time today, so they came down for a quick visit. I last saw Matthew at my father's retirement last May, and Honor two years ago. Since them, we've had a child and Honor has done The Plan and looks fabulous. In fact, she is the one who inspired Kristin and I to do The Plan.

We met up for dinner at Sweetwater. They hadn't eat all day so we ordered root beer and appetizers, then our meals. The waiter-boy was an interesting character, but he had a good sense of humor, so I can't complain. For dessert we polished off a chocolate waffle and a bread pudding. I love bread pudding. Oh, I love bread pudding.

We were seated next to the bar area, within view of two TVs that were showing the Kentucky Derby. Neither Kristin nor I had watched one before. Fortunately for us, watching the Derby is an old family tradition in Honor's family, one in which she has now included Matt. They talked us through the set up: owners, trainers, jockeys; the traditions: singing Kentucky Home, parade of horses, pomp, circumstance; and strategy when it comes to the running of the race. We even got a few shots of the Queen. The race itself was quite short, but infinitely more exciting than it would have been without the insight from Honor and Matt.

Afterwards we came back to our house, sat around chatting, had a drop-in from David/Bonnie/Michael, watched video of houses they are considering, and played Killer Rabbits. The game was a hit, and they definitely want us to introduce it to their kids. I believe Honor won one game and Matthew the other. They left us around 10pm for the two-and-a-half-hour drive back north.

We look forward to many more such weekends once they move to Philadelphia, especially for the chance Clara will have to get to know and play with her Branch 1 cousins.