Last night...
Have cousins here. They spent the night last night. The girls are still asleep in my bed. Last night we watched "Throw Mama from the Train" after eating at a little hole in the wall by their house, Jolly Cup. The cousins directed the dining and cinema choices and everyone really enjoyed themselves. You'll have to get the cousins to take you to Jolly Cup when you come. They have great Vietnamese sandwiches (banh mi) and shakes with tapioca balls. We were trying to find a cheap place where I could feed all 5 of them and they both were very much in favor of this place. At first oldest son tried to stage a hunger strike (he had been out-voted 4 to 1 against his choice, Chipotle) but the Big Dawg knows good food when he smells it and eventually his sense of taste and smell won out over the his principles (must always have my way?). Jolly Cup was a good way to let the searing pain and humiliation from my 322nd back up into another car (can anyone say back up camera on the next car?) dissipate. Niece forgot her handmade gift to Uncle Lee so I decided that reversing down the cul-de-sac at night with a van full of kids would be the most expedient method of retrieval. Only we didn't get very far because our backward progress was impeded by a white Toyota Camry, which lucky for me, sustained no damage. We managed a quick get away without the gift and with only one explicative said aloud (which daughter was quick to spin for me in a moment of crisis. "You mean frick, mom, right? Because you hit the car? That's what she means 6 year old girl cousin"). Regardless, Vietnamese sandwiches in a dodgy strip mall in a restaurant filled with patrons who mostly spoke either Spanish or Vietnamese (except for the very loud 5 children who were alternately demonstrating Jane Fonda-esque aerobic maneuvers as can be done with your bar stool-niece with daughter as her star pupil or an 11 year old executive-nephew-handing out food orders whilst simultaneously looking very grand with a functionless blue tooth poking out on his right ear). Niece was generous enough to share her copy of Auto Trader magazine with me when she was done reading it and nephew was quick to explain the virtues of a giant bottle of communal Great Value Ranch Dressing vs bastardized barbecue sauce in a Siriracha bottle on your hot wings to his 10 year old cousin. Thankfully C-Span was playing on the 65" screen TV for all of us to enjoy.
On the car ride home I learned that Isaac likes niece as evidenced by his demonstration of love in kindergarten with a kiss to her forehead. The admiration is not reciprocal because niece has pledged her affections to Conner.
The girls started on a puzzle which generated a conversation about nerdiness; is it good or bad and what constitutes a nerd? The general consensus was, though they may like to study a lot, it was good to be a nerd although no one present was willing to be categorized as one.
The girls, very sweetly, laid in bed and read with me last night. Niece with her stack of Berenstain Bears books, daughter with her chapter books and me with my People magazine. And their they remain with books all over the bed. The boys all bunked in middle kid's room and nephew had emerged for a brief moment but went back to sleep when he learned he couldn't start playing video games at 7 am.
It's so comforting to be in their presence witnessing the creation of memories as a fly on the wall-just a facilitator. They all have their own unique and special role in the family dynamic and that sweet new baby niece better rest up now because she's gonna have to be ready to rumble soon enough!
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