A Gaggle of Boyce's Converge on Woodland Park

We had a wonderful visit from my parents in March.
And the day before they arrived, I had an out-of-the-blue Facebook conversation with my Wenatchee uncle.
My Canadian cousin, who I've seen 3 or 4 times in my life, was in town and they were doing the zoo.
Did I want to come?
I let him know my parents were on their way, too.
And he let me know that my Seattle aunt might also join in on the fun.
Of course I had to say yes.
The zoo and family... why not?

So the next day we packed every one and a lot of stuff into the car.
(I am always amazed at how much I need to take everywhere now.)
And we drove to Woodland Park.
My Uncle Del, of Wenatchee, was already there.
As were my Aunt Paula, Cousin Kendra, her daughters, and a couple of my uncle's nieces.

Charlie instantly fell in love with his second cousin, Ella.
It is really too bad that we live in Washington and they live all the way in Edmonton.
Because I've rarely seen Charlie hit it off with anyone the way he did with Ella.
And I wrote about it here.

Later my Aunt Laura, of Seattle, arrived with her boyfriend.
I think it is funny that my aunt and I live about 30 minutes apart,
And see each other less than once a year.
I believe we even worked mere buildings apart in Bellevue for years.
Life is just so busy.
But she looked happy and it was great to see her, too.
And fun to see my Dad with one of his brothers and his baby sister.

My Dad was Ephram's escort at the zoo for most of the trip.
Ephram gave him a run for his money.
My mom held Macie almost the whole time.
It was so nice for me to have my mom and dad there.
Because these types of outings, by myself while Andy is at work,
Are typically the stuff that my nightmares are composed of.
And the kids loved all of the attention!

Later, Charlie also fell in love with Kendra when she completely played into his love of Star Wars.
I'm pretty sure that he is so enamored with Kendra and Ella that he could easily squeeze into their family.

We had a great time at the zoo.
(And I'm purposely leaving out the part about how we got lost trying to find the car afterward.  So don't ask me about it.)