Weekend with Egan

As I said previously, my long lost cousin Egan came to stay with us!
We had a leisurely day on Saturday, with visiting friends and going for a snowy walk in the forest with Bentley and Egan. Then yesterday, Rhodri was in the Hell of the Ashdown cycling race which is 67 miles long! We went to the area near the Heffalump Trap (i.e. Kidds Hill) to cheer on the cyclists as they neared the top of this long hill

Walking with Egan near the Heffalump Trap

Rhodri passing us near the top of Kidds Hill

 After Rhodri passed us, we went back home to pick up Ava and then we headed to the seashore at Brighton. We found about 8 or 9 starfish that had been stranded on the beach by the high tide so we put them back into the sea.

Tryfan and a starfish

 The kids threw rocks into the sea for a really long time and got their shoes wet. Tryfan nearly got his whole body wet because he was lying down on the rocks daring a wave to come up to him. That was a close call - little daredevil!

Throwing rocks

Egan teaching Tryfs how to catch a seagull

We walked up to the pier and went into all the arcades spending our pennies and a few pounds. There are a bunch of machines that have coins, sweets, and other prizes that are teetering on the edge ready to fall into the collection bins. The kids stumbled upon a few jackpots that had enough sweets to go around. Good times.

Then we came home to warm up by the fire and have a traditional Sunday dinner after our weekly skype call back to Santa Barbara.

It was really great having Egan visit. I've always felt a special connection with him because I spent a handful of summers babysitting him and his younger brother Wheeler out in the backcountry of Nevada when i was a teenager. He has turned into a really neat person and it was great to be able to spend time hanging out with him.