3, 4, and 5

This weekend some of our good friends came to visit-- the Morrises and the Biermas. Chris was my co-clerk my first year out of law school and Christa clerked for another judge in the same building. We've known each other almost 10 years--long before any of us had children and Christa and I weren't even married.

Chris and his two sons, Jack (age 5) and Jeb (age 3), got in Friday evening. Ned was on his way back from Maryland and didn't get home until after midnight. Chris and I tried to put Jack, Jeb, and Samantha (age 4) down for bed several times. They kept getting up. We finally put our foot down at 11pm and made them go to bed.

To celebrate, I had a beer and a half with Chris Friday night. I hadn't had any alcohol in years. Seriously. Between being pregnant and trying to get pregnant, I hadn't had a drop. Unfortunately, I had a sour stomach for most of Saturday morning. I can't believe 1.5 beers would throw me off but, in an abundance of caution, I had coffee the rest of the day.

Christa and her husband Eddie and their baby Peter got here on Saturday afternoon. They couldn't get here any earlier because Eddie is a doctor and he was on call last night. Chris and I decided we would be very happy when Eddie got here; it would be nice to have a doctor in our midst. Plus, Chris had some medical issues to discuss with Eddie.

Peter is about 3 weeks younger than Jack and I was really anxious to meet him and see how he and Jack got along. Peter is long and lean-- he's taller than Jack but weighs a couple of pounds less. And he has six teeth. And, I'm sorry to say, apparently he's a bully. Within a couple of hours, he beat up Jack and bit Bear. Just kidding. . . about the bully part anyway. Peter really did take out Jack and Bear but I think it was an accident.

Yep. Your eyes aren't deceiving you. That's Peter taking Jack's binky.

As for big Jack (age 5), Bear, and Jeb, they became affectionately known as 3, 4, and 5. Every now and again I would ask if someone knew where 3, 4, and 5 were. They became fast friends and I know Bear was sorry when the boys left on Sunday. No pics of 3, 4, and 5. I would say that I wasn't really on my "A game" as far as taking pics.

Given the hostility that broke out the last time the adults were together and played Cranium (guys vs. girls), we avoided board games and all organized activities. Chris believes we are all too competitive for such things and asking for trouble when we engage in these kinds of activities. I think we should give it another try. Maybe next time.

As for our hosting capabilities, I don't think we did the Barefoot Contessa proud. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs pretty early on Saturday night so we could feed the kids around 6pm. We went ahead and cooked everything and left it in the oven to keep warm. We must have done something wrong because everything was burnt by the time the adults went to eat after 8pm. Plus, I never did mix up that salad I had planned on putting together. Fortunately, by that point, a lot of beer and bourbon had been consumed. I'm hoping to do better the next time they come to visit. If you are Chris or Christa-- please come back. We'll do better next time.

A final note. I was wrong. The Jets are siblings but they are NOT adopted. I am so cooked sometimes.

Love,

Allie