Catching Up

Aunt Robin and her beautiful children visited, I had a birthday, and a whole lot of other stuff happened. I'm going to try to pick some highlights out of the past week...

August 4th - Robin and the kids arrive late afternoon. We go out for Mexican food, where most of the kids try something Mexican for the first time (quesadillas). Jack has chicken fingers, and I again think about him consuming a taco at Benny's in Denver, when he was just a year and a half old. Sometimes he eats tacos. He does like chips and salsa. Laura and Niamh get slushy drinks, I think a daquiri and a pina colada (non-alcohol, of course). I think Niamh said it was her first one.

The sleeping arrangements entails the twins on an aero bed in Jack's room, although Jack wants to sleep on the aero bed so Mikey takes Jack's bed. They're all still awake, talking and stuff, at 9:30. Good grief. The rest of us are all up until around midnight. Kate wakes everyone up the next morning before 6.

August 5th - It's my birthday, and there are indications that Brett Favre might be traded to the Vikings. I really don't want that event, which is pretty much akin to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse showing up in my eyes, to occur on my birthday. It doesn't. Two days later he's traded to the Jets, who are as close to a local team there is. Whoohoo!

We had some crazy idea that we would go on the Circle Line boat tour of New York City today. For that to happen, we'd need to be out of the house around 9 a.m. No one is moving that quickly. Instead we opt for the aquarium, where a good time is had by all. The Octopus is particularly impressive, doing a little dance in front of the glass for us. There's a rare white alligator that looks quite content to sleep all day, though he does crack an eyelid at us once or twice. The sharks, as always, are cool. We have fun in the gift shop too. We watch the seals get fed. Robin gets some good pictures of the kids behind these big turtle shells. Jack wants to throw money into this thing that's supposed to be cool because the money does spirals and stuff. He essentially just wants to throw money into it. Kids today.

The Rosenfelds and their kids show up. Lyndsay and Stacey and Abbey become friends instantly. All 8 kids (not counting Kate) run wildly around the upstairs, downstairs, and back yard for the next hour or so (and then again after dinner and cake). It's chaos, but fun.

Red wine, pizza, pie, and ice cream rule at my birthday party. Kids take control of the balloons but don't fight too fiercely over the Spider-Man and Superman ones. Each of the kids makes me a handmade birthday card; all unique and clever and beautiful. We stay up late watching Jaws for the 87th time. "Amity, as you know, means friendship."

August 6th - We sleep until 6:30, which feels like a victory of some kind. Then we go to Old Navy, shopping, which is what Robin and the girls want to do; I take Jack and Mikey to the comic store. I tell them I'll buy them one comic book or one toy. Shockingly, they opt for the toys, a pair of superhero action figures. Female! The selection was poor. I'm relieved that neither wrenches something really expensive to the floor in the tiny, cramped little comic shop, forcing me to purchase some $300 comic from the '60s that a 3-year-old just stepped on.

They leave, and our house is quiet and comparatively empty. Jack falls asleep about 10 words into "Swing on a Star" -- the fastest he's fallen asleep in probably ever. A good time was had by all.

August 7th - Favre is traded to the Jets. I tell Jack this, realizing it will be no different for him, except maybe next season we'll go see him play in person, should Favre play two more years.

August 8th - Home with Jack and Kate. Jack has a couple of bathroom accidents. The second one I'm fuming. Jack, standing in the bathroom in a puddle, looks at me. "I didn't mean to do it," he says. I melt. "I know, Jack. I know."

I bring him upstairs for a bath from the waist down. As I'm standing him there, running his bath, he looks at me. He kind of has the anxious eyes and stiff upper lip like he's going to cry. I actually don't think I've seen that look before. I hug him. He's a beautiful little kid.

It was a week.