wally world: revisited

On New Year's Day, we visited my older brother, Wally - his wife, Donna - and their three boys Wally, William and Wyatt.  I've written about them before, here.

Last year for Christmas, Santa brought my twin nephews their own ATVs.



How St. Nick was able to fit these in his sleigh, I do not know. But the girls have told me that in addition to a pony, they now want two of these...



In between playing video games on my nephews' new Xbox...



And playing with superhero toys that we've never seen before...



The children were outside racing all around the farm while I tried to practice deep breathing and not pass out because this sticker? THIS STICKER WAS PRESENT.



Actually, it's not really accurate that all the children were outside racing these all around.



While William did take a lap on the ATV, he quickly retreated inside because 1) It was freezing cold outside and 2) There was an Xbox inside and his parents are Scrooges when it comes to allowing their children to play unrestricted video games, so he has to seize the opportunities whenever they are present.





Henry never did come outside because there were brand new superheroes inside and whether he prefers superheroes or oxygen more is a toss up.



Because the girls can read, and were fully cognizant of the inherent danger associated with riding these ATVs, they were very cautious.





My 8-year old nephew, Wally, is my brother Wally's mini-me and is a fearless pro when it comes to anything mechanical.

So after he zoomed my 13-year old nephew, Michael, around on his father's "big" ATV until Michael had the hang of it, they drove around together helping the girls whenever they would stall.







On one of their laps, the girls caught sight of a bunny and that was the end of the ATVs.



This is "Socks."

In addition to ponies ... and ATVs ... the girls would also like a bunny.  Because bunnies are something that our family MUST own - if Aunt Janet and Uncle Wally are any indication. 

Charlie, meanwhile, would like a 36-inch Husqvarna chainsaw like my brother's.



And also, a Bobcat.



With snowblower, wood chipper, wood splitter, and jackhammer attachments.



Once we were thoroughly chilled to the bone, we retreated inside and were entertained by the new helicopter that Santa brought to my brother nephews for Christmas, and was flown all around the kitchen and wound up crash landing in the leftover Chinese duck sauce.







Entertainment abounds at Uncle Wally and Aunt Donna's where everybody has fun.



Everybody, including our vertically challenged Louie who thoroughly enjoyed chasing his black labrador retriever dog cousins, Sparky and Cocoa.



And likely wished that he was a foot taller so that he, like Sparky, could comfortably rest his head on the dinner table ...



And conveniently clear off any spills.