Visiting Gruncle and Aunt Suzie

Ally and I got back last night from 5 days in Arizona visiting my mom's brother, my Uncle Phil (aka Gruncle) and his wife, my Aunt Suzie. They live in Flagstaff and we had a wonderful trip and visit with them. This will be the first of a couple posts from our trip - I took a lot of pictures and we did lots of fun things that I want to record. My favorite part of the trip was how Ally became friendly with them as she got to know them. When we got back last night she told Becky "Gruncle is silly". That is true and she had lots of fun.
We went to the library and picked out some books to read. It was a great thing to do and I got books that I thought Ally would like, but we don't have at our house so they would be different. Aunt Suzie and Gruncle would read the books to Ally each night. This first night (above) Ally would not get close to Gruncle - she sat in a different chair several feet away.

Then the 2nd day she would stand next to them as they read books.

3rd night she asked Gruncle to sit on the couch with us.

4th day she allowed them to push her stroller - a big step!

Walking alongside Aunt Suzie to look for the fish in the pond. (the pond is actually the water trap in the golf course!)

Finally our last night there Ally shared a chair with Aunt Suzie!

And sat with Gruncle on the couch without me!

It made my heart swell. I love Ally so very much and one of my greatest joys as her mom is to share her with people that I love and that love me (and her too). It is something I just never thought about before becoming a mom and maybe all parents feel that way, but for me its the best thing.

The silly trio!

Thank-you Aunt Suzie and Uncle Phil. Ally and I had a wonderful time with you and really appreciate your hospitality and generosity.