That time we met the Met, my birthday, and more (7 Quick Takes)

Some weeks I wonder whether I’ll have seven things to say, but we have had an extremely full week. The challenge today will be keeping it to seven.

~1~

Last week we traveled to New York to visit my sister Maureen and her four splendid children. I had the chance to hug them all and talk with them in person. I am so, so grateful for the technology that helps us stay connected, but there is absolutely nothing like actually being with the people you love.

Best of all was watching our sons slip right into life with their cousins, launching into playing Among Us and Apples to Apples and basketball as if no time at all had passed at all.

~2~

One day of our visit we traveled into Manhattan to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I’ve gone to the Met before, but not for many years, and John and our boys had never been there.

It’s an absolutely extraordinary experience, and it’s impossible to take everything in, but it was magnificent. The blend of art and history blows me away, and I love how vast the human experience feels. Because I am now a bird person, I took many pictures of birds as we walked through the museum, and they were everywhere.

Seeing museums through your children’s eyes gives you a whole new perspective, of course, and I loved seeing what they responded to the ancient artifacts. Naturally, we all hit an I’m-hungry-and-my-feet-are-tired wall eventually, and then we went and sat on the museum steps and ate street food in the sunshine.

Life is just so, so good.

~3~

Maureen’s children are big fans of my guacamole, which is not popular with anyone in my household except me. So, one night of our visit, I made a huge bowl of guac and tacos with all the toppings. It was so much fun just to be together, passing around the cheese and shredded lettuce and salsa.

It wasn’t all perfect. I spilled an entire iced caramel coffee all over Maureen’s dining room floor, for example. But when that’s the worst thing that happens, you know it was a good visit.

~4~

We invited our 12-year-old nephew to come home with us from New York, and we have been having a lovely visit with him this week. My sons are fairly self-entertained, but it’s somehow even easier with our nephew here. I turn around, and they’re all playing a board game or running outside for a lightsaber battle or deep in Minecraft or reheating the buffalo wings I made for dinner.

I’ve made bacon twice this week for breakfast because aunts have to show off sometimes.

“I wonder whether we should go to an Orioles game,” I said to his mom.

“That would be the highlight of his whole summer,” she said.

So, we did. And it was fantastic. A college-aged Orioles fan who caught a ball in our section even gave it to our younger son to take home.

~5~

My birthday was Monday, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the birthday greetings and gifts from my friends and family. After our long drive home from New York on my birthday eve, we came in to check on our finches and found flowers and treats and a card from our finch sitter and his family.

My father delivered a birthday cake my mother made for me, and I was surprised to receive so many other thoughtful, sweet greetings and gifts from friends and family.

I absolutely love everything about birthdays.

~6~

I had planned to take off from work for my birthday, but I wasn’t sure how we would spend the day. Then I realized that our power was going to be off for most of the day because of tree trimming in our neighborhood, so we had to plan an outing.

I decided we would go to the Udvar-Hazy Center, the Air and Space Museum Annex in Dulles, Va. We hadn’t been in years, but I knew it would be interesting, air-conditioned, and spacious enough inside to be able to spread out from the other visitors.

We invited my godson and his brother to come along, and we had a great time. We made it home about an hour after the power came back on.

~7~

We took our sons and their cousin to John’s sister and brother-in-law’s house for swimming fun in their pool, and they had the best day.

The pool would have been fun on its own, but their chocolate lab, Ruffy, swam with the boys, and they really enjoyed being with her. She adored them.

When we were leaving, Ruffy climbed into our car and refused to budge.

It was a little sad but also very sweet.

Find more quick takes at Kelly’s blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum, and have a great week!

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