After driving through the night last Friday, we arrived at Justine's house at 10:30 Saturday morning. No one was there, but Justine had left the door unlocked for us. We unpacked the car into the middle of the kitchen and settled down at the table for a late breakfast. The Bossards popped in briefly before heading out again, leaving us to our own devices as we recovered from the drive. By dinnertime we were all present and accounted for, including Jacque and Joseph's sister and her husband.
Sunday was Walter's baptism, which went swimmingly (no pun intended). The usual priest was out sick, so a newly ordained priest got to perform his first baptism. Afterwards, we all went back to the Bossard residence, making a brief pit stop at a Radio Shack so that Bryan could purchase a new power cord for his laptop since he'd forgotten his in Ohio. Sarah and Luther left late Sunday night (after we all looked at the lunar eclipse), bringing the occupancy of the house down to five adults and six children.
Monday was library day, so Justine, Jacque, and I packed up the kids in strollers and wraps and wandered over to catch story time. Luckily for us, there are two story times in a row, so we were on time for the 11:00 one (after aiming for 10:15). I was impressed by their story time, which was much bigger, more elaborate, and better organized than any story time I've attended thus far. The best part was definitely during the song "Shake Your Sillies Out" when twenty some toddlers jumped their jiggles out, briefly turning the room into a pint sized mosh pit.
On Tuesday we thought about going to Boston, but didn't ever make it out the door. Sleep deprived adults and cranky toddlers decided to hang out at the house instead. I did take an excursion to the park with my three kids and one nephew. William made a beeline for the sandbox and Olivia and Gretchen happily followed him. They did eventually move on to other playground equipment. A little over one happy hour later, we wandered our way back home and I promptly dumped everyone in the bathtub to take care of the sand in their hair.
Wednesday was rainy, so we stayed in and planned for the next day's trip to actual Boston. I'm not a big touristy type, but after driving 14.5 hours to the east coast, one feels a certain obligation to at least glimpse the major city. The kids spent the day inside reading the fabulous book that Aunt Jacque gave William for his birthday. Then they zoned out in front of a movie for quiet time.
Thursday was Boston day. First we went to Music Together, which was a very exciting class of nonstop catchy songs. Gretchen got into the music right away, while Olivia was more reserved and then decided to compensate by being wild. The trip into Boston was awful and stressful. Traffic was crowded and three separate emergency vehicles had to muscle their way through the congestion. Rumor has it that Justine's passengers were quite excited about the close proximity of sirens and flashing lights. Not so in my vehicle. Jacque sat in my car and assured me that no one in Boston hated me when I (1) stopped in the middle of an intersection due to a red light three blocks away, (2) covered a crosswalk due to another red light, (3) drove in a bike lane to avoid the car forcing itself into my lane as a fire truck went by, or (4) deliberately ran a red light to make room for an ambulance. I hated me a little, though, and this experience was enough to cure me of my desire to go to Boston. As we were already there, we found a parking garage with claustrophobic little ramps that we had to take all the way to the roof to find parking spots (I definitely tried to push off the wall with my hand going around one corner, failing only because my window was in the way). We got the kids out and walked to the public gardens to see the Make Way for Ducklings statues. The kids thought those were great, and we took a few pictures before heading back. We meant to drive to a harbor afterwards to watch boats and planes, but wrangling six children, two of whom are nursing and two of whom are potty training and five of whom still take a nap at least some of the time, is not nearly as painlessly quick and easy as it sounds. So we skipped the harbor, threw snacks at the kids, and just drove home. The return trip was considerably less eventful, to the relief of all.
On Friday we just stayed in and hung out together. The kids got a movie while I ran out to buy new tail light bulbs for the van (side note: they were installed by a Steelers fan; he wanted to make sure my Browns fan husband was aware of that). Somehow someone turned the movie off before it was done and when Bryan went down to turn it back on it was at the beginning again. We let them watch the first half over while we made lunch. After dinner on Friday, we got in the car and began the long drive home, this time with an extra driver. We arrived back at our house at 9:45 on Saturday morning and spent the day unwinding.
And here ends our Boston saga.
Something of note: William is absolutely convinced that Gretchen's name is Gretchy-Gretch. He never calls her anything else.
Pictures and Videos:
Videos from a couple of weeks ago (password BarhorstBrewed)
Kaitlyn Plays
Kaitlyn Laughs
Dizzy Gretchen
One more selfie with the girls:
The older cousins watch a movie:
William and Gretchen measure oatmeal:
Kaitlyn and Mommy:
Aunt Justine shows a video of Kaitlyn:
The adults watching the lunar eclipse:
Aunt Jacque helps the niblings play basketball:
Gretchen and Olivia, reading the same book from Aunt Jacque:
Gretchen and Elmo at the library:
Making Way for Ducklings:
The cousin line-up:
I think Justine's turned out a little better:
Kaitlyn in a blanket:
The three girls one morning:
Justine took a family picture, too:
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