The Fantastic Four Return

Before I get to the "Fantastic Four" part, 

here are a few pics from regular babysitting

last week.

Evan will stop whatever he's doing to offer a pose.

Hunter examines a vintage Mickey Mouse.

Judy's parents actually brought this back from

 Disney World for Jennifer three decades ago.

A weary Bri is still drying out from pool time, but

 she's always got time to be fashion-conscious.

Evan attempts to defy the laws of physics by

squeezing Mickey into this micro-bus.

Better check with Einstein, Newton, or Daddy.

Claire can certainly multi-task.  Watch the

tube, surf on her laptop, and chomp blueberries.

Evan, man of 1,000 faces.

1,001.

Grandma's afghan makes a nice tent.

And a tent makes a nice hiding place.

For some people, an airplane is better than

a blanket or a thumb.

NOW, for the REAL fun!

Friday evening, at Judy's inspiration, we

inaugurated a monthly family meal, which

we'll rotate between our homes.  In this noble

experiment, we placed the six adults in the 

dining room, and arranged a kid-sized table

for the four children in the living room.

The hardest part was getting into a chair.

We knew the kids would get enough to eat, so

didn't care if they mixed in a little playtime.

Hunter seems to be negotiating a swap.

And here, I'll throw in Grandma's flowers

for free.

Miracle # 1.  Everyone seated at once.

Waitress, I'll have the usual.  And make it snappy.

I dunno, guys.  Should we let Amanda

join us or make her eat with the grown-ups?

A bonus of this evening was celebrating

Stephen's birthday.  Then why no pictures

of Stephen?  Well, the kids tend to steal the

show, but I promise ONE picture of birthday

boy. And by the way, it took help from ALL

the kids to get those candles out.

And the cake, which is actually Stephen's

favorite homemade brownies, passes the kid test.

It passed the adult test, too.

Hunter says, "I've got two airplanes.  Wanna

come fly with me?"

Evan thinks we'd better check out Grandma's

potato bin.  Better act quick or lose that arm, Hunter!

Yes, for this one special occasion, there WAS

bouncing on Grandma and Grandpa's bed.

Nobody ended up on the floor.  Just Grandma's

reading lamp (no damage sustained).

Left to right:

Matt, Jennifer, Stephen, and Amanda

Since I was taking the picture, I sure hope

Judy was with the kids . . . .

This isn't the end.  Another post will follow

shortly, with more of the evening's festivities.