Almost 12 year-old niece Midori arrived last week from Vancouver and has just finished one of two sessions of hanging out with us. She travelled on her own as an unaccompanied minor (UM…) and apparently the flight attendants treated her like a four-year old. Quite the ritual collecting her at the airport: I had to show ID and sign papers AND get the keys to her handcuffs. Uncle Bail Bondsman! (okay, okay, there were no cuffs, but Air Canada may want to look into the idea…)

Midori eating grapes. Twelve at a time.

Much fun is ensuing, but I’d expected more on the soccer front (she’s a big sports enthusiast) and less on the watching The Simpsons front. We did get a lot of beach volleyball going at the cottage.

Jon seems a little stunned by the whirlwind…there’s not as much contact between the two as I expected. He’s got his LeapPad addiction (more on that later), so he’s not working on his socialization. Oh well, maybe when she reappears tomorrow, things will get interesting.

She and I intend to hit Canada’s Wonderland on Monday, using the helpful advice from Reid.

More as I think about it.