Coolth is a word: The Martins are coming!

My years of nagging finally paid off and Jeremy's brother, Martin, made the long haul from the UK over to see us. Well, he mostly came to see the Pooky: and it was a vacation filled with avuncular and niece-ly love, that's for sure. The Martin-Tegwyn mutual admiration society has spectacularly committed members! But Jeremy and I loved seeing him too. He spent a few days with us at the beginning of his three week trip, during which time we went to Tahoe. We stayed in a cute cabin with a King-size bed (which is notable simply because I realized that it was probably the only time in this calendar year that Jeremy could sleep comfortably without having to do the cliff-hanger sleep-style which is necessitated by the cornucopia of pillows I now require to sleep). The days brought fun too, such as sampling the local fare, chasing flyaway umbrellas (it really was quite windy), and walking on the 'beach':

Jeremy and his brother shared a room for nearly 20 years growing up, and they quickly rekindled their late-night chatting habits. In the morning, however, it was time for table-tennis lessons for Teg...

...followed by a gorgeous walk along an alpine stream...

... where there's a spot where you can view the stream from the fish's perspective underground (note Teg's opened palms as she kept on asking if she could "hold" the fish, please; and also the "secret" picture of Martin)...

Martin then left for his great south-western adventure (3400 miles, 6 states, 12 days), and Teg and I did more of the Mommy-and-me thing at home to pass the time:

But Uncle Martin returned and the fun came with him! We went to the bounce house:

... did a lot of shopping, played at the park, and sang silly songs (no photos of those). And on the last afternoon, we visited Old Sacramento, which felt nostalgic and whimsical and thus earned itself a sepia photo shoot. The afternoon contained a fragment of all the good things in the visit: eating...