McArdles visit

Robin and the cousins were here this week. As always, they're all beautiful and charming and the kids love them. Jack and Mikey have reached closeness enough in age that they are basically into the same things and pretty much from Sunday evening's dinner through this morning they maintained a steady and largely exclusive conversation about superheroes, Wii games, baseball, and other sports and popular culture things that are the realm of boys aged 7-10. I think at dinner I basically just spent 10 minutes watching them babble away to each other as if they were the only ones in the room. Clearly they're both just ecstatic to have a boy relative to see. I would like to say Jack talked with other people the last few days but I am not certain he did.

Kate is drawn to Abbey because she is youngest (and evidently Abbey is thrilled not to be THE youngest); but really, it seemed Kate loved all of them to pieces and was ecstatic to spend time with any of them for as long as they were willing. She read books with them let them carry her, walked around clutching great pictures Niamh had drawn of her favorite stuffed toys, played dolls with each at various points...and today, went around desperate to get hugs goodbye from each of them, including Mikey, who stood obligingly as she hugged his waist.

Among the other highlights:

- Coffee in the mornings and beer in the evenings on the deck with my sister

- Laura and Niamh loving Times Square, taking great pictures (including an hilarious Laura-Naked Cowboy shot that just struck me as a classic). Both spoke glowingly about the time they had, which made me happy.

- Abbey making bracelets for everyone. Jack and Kate beaming at theirs

- Kate singing all the way into the City on the train. And according to Emily sleeping most of the way out.

- Seeing the big Lego lions at the library with Jack. "I would buy one of those!" he proclaimed.

- The old school King kong posters at the Empire State building and the original movie playing on a screen as we waited in line. It's the little things.

- Being hustled through the line BUT stopped long enough for a picture of the whole group. Bribing Kate to smile with the promise of future candy. Despite just one take and barely stopping moving, picture turned out great with all 9 of us smiling. Impressive.

- Going en masse to the Pool on Monday, and seeing Jack jump off the diving board into 12 feet of water without hesitation. Swimming to me and saying excitedly, "I did it, I did it! That was one of my goals for the summer, and I did it!" Pretty cool.

- Niamh jumping in like a cork. Laura looking like she wanted to dive, then changing her mind and jumping. Me following with the ugliest looking dive ever. But not getting hurt.

- Kate swimming like a fish, without water wings, without fear. Jack jumping off so many times he wore himself out.

- Laura and Niamh delighting Kate (and all of us) with a duet of My Favorite Things, complete with hand gestures, falsettos and wild eyes. Hilarious.

- Pitching to Mikey and Jack in the backyard. Nice to have a fielder sometimes.

- Both kids tonight being so tired they were almost slurring their words. And going to bed really happy.

Not just them.