Uncle Mark visits and Ethan takes him on an Aardvark hunt

“We’re going on an Aardvark hunt, we’re going to catch a big one” and the two fearless adventurers, protected by their firefighter hats and carrying shopping baskets and snakes, set off through the house to find the fearsome Aardvarks that lurked in the back halls. Nephew Ethan, along with his sidekick Uncle Mark, stormed the house so all could get a good night sleep.

My brother Mark continued the second leg of his U.S. tour (he did most of the US in July and August) to visit the northwest for two weeks. He stopped in to visit us for five days before heading north to Canada earlier this afternoon. It was good to see him since it had been about nine months, and we were excited for him to meet Autumn.

Our time was split between getting out around town and relaxing at home enjoying the kids or watching a movie. It was unfortunate, though not terribly unexpected, that it rained the entire time while the high temps hovered around 49 degrees.

On the first evening Mark and I hit the town after the kids went to bed. Mark enjoys a good off menu mixed drink, especially if it has rum, and wanted to try a few places in Seattle. I was all for it since I don’t hit the town anymore unless he comes to visit. We first hit the Belltown area where we visited Rob Roy and Bathtub Gin. We then headed downtown to try Vessel, but they were closed. We ended the night at the Zig Zag Cafe near Pike’s Place where the Murray, voted 2010 best bartender in the country, works. It was a great evening with my brother.

The next evening, all the family went to Pikes Place. We strolled the market as it closed and stopped by a seafood restaurant for fish and chips.The clam chowder was excellent!

We spent the next few days mostly inside as the rain poured. We got a chance to go bowling at a nearby skate & bowling alley. It had been years since any of us had bowled. This was Ethan’s first time and did well. We couldn’t get a lane with bumpers so every bowl he did ended up in the gutter. Laura and I tried to help him but weren’t very successful. He kind of lost interest after that.

After the kids and Laura went to bed, Mark and I would hang out in the front room and talk, play on our computers, and watch movies. We don’t change much. I did that a lot with him back when I was still living in California and I’d drive over to his house. We look forward to visiting him and the rest of my family at Christmas in San Jose.