My family of 8

Today a friend of mine had to drive to Sacramento and take a licensing exam, she needed her husband to go and be her "subject". With her other main buddies out of town, at weddings etc she had no one to take care of her 3 kids. I was happy to take them. Mateo is the closest thing to a friend that Alex has. Liza is in the 1st grade and Ki will sometimes tolerate being kind and play with her (though she prefers to play with Aj and Mateo, of course). Ange rounds out the bunch at 3 years of age. All three have light eyes, and 2 are blond. The girls looked like a progressive set of mini-Me's

I am an only child, Pops has one brother and NO cousins. I have a few cousins, but they never lived near by and many were quite a bit older. We only vacationed with cousins 3 times and never spent holidays together. Currently, my kids are quirky and my hubby pretty shy. So there are not a lot play dates for kids or families at our house. So a big family gatherings with lots of kids and families are somewhat of a novelty to me.

I told Alllie to bring her kiddos over in the am unfed. Pops and I cranked out an impressive pile of pancakes for the gang. They are lovely children and so very well behaved. There was TV and video games and outdoor games. Lots of guinea pig feeding, petting and adoring and lots of fetch and chase with Java. We dragged them along with us to our kids soccer games. Pops took the boys and I took the girls (including Granny). Back home for lunch of mac and cheese, pb and j, grilled cheese and left over spaghetti. A low cost cupboard cleaning event. More playing. Occasional outbursts from my kids.

At 2:20 I stuffed the five kids in the van and headed to the movies. Granny wanted to go "to help". I declined and I know she was a bit miffed, but she unknowingly often adds to or creates chaos. I told Pops I didn't need his help, he could work on something at home or go for a run. We filled half a theater row for the Igor movie. I doled out contra ban soda cans and licorice from home and divied up theater popcorn. The movie went great.

We were at the theater off of 101. As we were walking out I looked over to see three year old Ange kneeling on the edge of the fountain.
I called out from 20 feet away, "Ange, careful that's a bit dangerous, you might..."
SPLASH
It was then that the ticket buyers gasped as they saw Old Mother Hubbard loose one ass-over-tea-kettle into the fountain. I scooped out what resembled a shocked wet kitten and wrapped her up in my coat. She was unhurt but may now be reconsidering any plans for a future in synchronized swimming.
I gave Ange a bath in our big tub and dressed her in Ki's too-small pink Power Puff Girls underwear and a set of Stitch pajamas.

I've always wanted a big family and it has never come to be. It was fun. I had a nice day being Old Mother Hubbard.