House Guests

 Squee!!! 

The Sunshine clan had our first house guests this weekend! My brother Squirrel, and his 8 year old son--my favorite human--Patrick, came to stay with us. It was wonderful. There was laughing and joy, and it was much nicer than the last time I saw him which is when our father had passed away.  

Squirrel, who is as unaccustomed to small-town life as I am/was marveled at the lack of strip malls, side walks and noted a distinct lack of litter and panhandlers here in East Texas. Patrick was intrigued that he had to go to two states (Arkansas and Texas) to get to my house. The airport is in Arkansas, which is 8 miles away. 

We tried to spend the afternoon at Bringle Lake, which is about 5 miles from my house, but apparently most of Texarkana had the same idea and parking was not to be had. We compromised and I slowed down and Squirrel got out and walked around the parking lot for a quick moment so that he can say he "explored" the area. 

There were two downsides to their visit. First, they had to leave too soon. I would have been thrilled to have them stay the entire week. The other downside was that we don't really have guest accommodations. Patrick crashed on a spare mattress in the dining room (which holds Buckaroo's desk and a recliner chair). Squirrel crashed on the recliner chair. We offered them our bedroom, but Squirrel insisted on this arrangement instead. And as much as they probably would have enjoyed staying longer too, I'm sure they will appreciate sleeping in their own bed this coming week.