A visit from my brother

My brother came out to help us with the house and for a long over due visit. It was great to have him here so he could picture our new place and also our life in Slovenia. At the time, I knew I was tired. The house had been put on hold while we focused on ending the school year well with the kids and Josh especially focused on upcoming summer camps.
It was so encouraging and invigorating to have him around. Since Josh and I got married I haven't spent more than a couple of days with my brother. He's living in Costa Rica now and I'm over here. We've both got kids and full lives and we just never seem to overlap quite right.

We drove to Venice one day and it is maybe one of my all time favorite trips! This is a shot of Matt at the place where we had lunch next to one of the canals.

Then, as we put our money in the folder to pay for our meal and were about to walk away we wondered, "How much was that bottle of sparkling water?" I opened the folder to check the bill just as a breeze came by and picked up the 50 euro and blew them into the canal! AHH!

We laughed and I screamed! But my brother called out to a guy in a water taxi on his way with a fare, "Buddy, can you help us out?" We got 40 back and chalked the 10 that sank to the bottom to a memorable experience!
All these years and there is no one who knows me quite like he does. He knew all the encouraging things to say. It's so easy to be me when I'm with him. He gets me.

I loved watching him love my kids. Gosh, they couldn't get enough of him! Kendra and Luka just hung on him. Not really able to say how much it meant to be around him again.