Welcome, Sarah.  My sister Amye popped out #3 a couple of weeks ago and between that and the eldest niece’s birthday, our not-quite-monthly trip down to Richmond took place last weekend.  Sarah is a little young to hold my interest — they’re much more entertaining once they learn how to talk — but Abigail and Samantha are endlessly amusing.

Christina and I made it down just in time to catch the latter half of each of their soccer games.  There is a dramatic difference in their approach to the game: Abigail is a non-stop motor, devoted to the game, and a true athlete in training.  Samantha has a much more lackadaisical interest in the game and is much more focused on being subbed out so she can get more juice boxes and snacks.  After they came off the field, Abigail was more interested in playing laser tag and basketball while her sister kept cornering people so that she could play “pretend”.  Samantha does a great kitten impression and seems to find no limit to the scenarios she can dream up.

There was one more birthday for which I was asked to visit Richmond for and that was my own.  Living up to his reputation, my uncle Steve showed up at Texas de Brazil ready to embarass me.  Texas de Brazil is not exactly a “low brow” restaurant and I’m sure the wait staff appreciated stepping over the inflatable walker extolling my new age and numerous infirmities.  It was good for a laugh, though.  I did snag a copy of Spore as a present so I’ll probably be writing about that in the near future… that is, as soon as I have a free bit of time to play it.