St. Pat's recap.
Mar. 18th, 2007 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
navygreen(I was really torn over whether to use my St. Patrick's Day icon or my recap icon. Decisions!)
Yesterday afternoon/evening was wonderful. To be truly honest, though
Herb is a sensationally great and easy-going guy, I was a bit nervous to meet the rest of his family on such an important holiday and occasion (his family is Irish, you see). It's one thing to meet someone's immediate family (parents, sister, etc.), but it's quite another to be meeting extended family, step-family et al. - and all at one time. I was also a bit stressed over whether the boys would behave in a new environment, surrounded by strangers and with no toys to play with.
I should never have worried.
We were decked out in our green shirts, our pinch-proof uniforms. Herb arrived at my house around 4:30pm. I wasn't sure what time we were getting together, so I had literally *just* sat down in my recliner and begun to tat his mother a special something - a tiny green clover. I asked Herb if we had about twenty minutes to spare, and he assured me that we did, so I quickly whipped out the new pattern for his mom. When finished, the piece was tiny indeed, but it was so cute. I took a few pictures, and then we gathered our things together to leave for his mom's house.
I carried my fragile, little clover while Herb toted the cake and pie I'd made for dessert. The boys each grabbed their "play jeans" and leprechaun hats (Jack insisted on bringing his orange playsilk with us as well), and we set off all together in our van. His mom lives very close to us, and we arrived in minutes. As he led us around the building to his mom's apartment, a few kids on the basketball court yelled out a welcome to Herb, "Hey, Butch!" I was confused, but I quickly forgot it as we entered the apartment.
We were greeted by two small chihuahuas, and they were so adorable! Missy was very welcoming, and Peanut was just so tiny! I later learned that she is a "toy chihuahua" - my first "dog lesson" of the evening. Herb introduced us to everyone, and the boys quickly scampered off to change into their "play jeans" in the bathroom. They stopped for a moment to meet the new birds his mom had - little finches. And then they set out for the playground just in front of the apartment. Within minutes, they were playing with TONS of other kids, too.
Herb played the role of attentive parent with the boys outside, and I stayed inside and got to know his family. His mom and step-dad were so welcoming from the get-go, and they asked me a few things about Philip as well. His dad and I talked for a bit about his tour in Vietnam and his service in the Marine Corps. I enjoyed listening to his uncle and cousins play several familiar tunes on the guitars. I noticed that everyone was mentioning "Butch," and I finally had to ask. It turns out that "Butch" is Herb's nickname! Though I know two names for him myself, that's not one of them, and it continued to catch me off-guard the rest of the evening! Though it almost seemed too soon, dinner was ready!
I called the boys back inside, and we sat down for a scrumptious and traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner - my very first! I'd never had real corned beef before (unless you consider Carl Buddig® lunch meat "real"), and the cabbage and potatoes were divine. A.J. stuck to just corned beef and rolls, but Jack was brave enough to try the cabbage and potatoes. Though he ate the things on his plate well, Paul (Herb's step-dad) was kind enough to then cater to the boys, making them a few corndogs as well. They were so spoiled. ;-)
We rested a bit before digging into the desserts, and the boys went back out to play until it became too dark to see. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Lemon & Lime Poke Cake and the Key Lime Pie, so I'm glad they were both successes. Myself, I had a small piece of each! Herb's dad, uncle and cousins left then, and his mom and sister chose to entertain themselves with needlepoint and the dogs while the rest of us played a few hands of Uno. Jack won the first hand, and he decided to stop playing while he was ahead, sitting out the subsequent rounds. ;-) He asked Pat (Herb's mom) if she had any movies to watch, and she produced a handful of DVDs and many good Disney movies as well. He picked Shrek, and I was happy to listen to Herb sing along with each song in the movie, as he sat on my right while we played Uno.
And speaking of that, I won't ever sit on Herb's left again. I swear, he was SO MEAN to me during the game. I was the unlucky recipient of so many of his 'Draw 2, Reverse, Skip' and 'Draw 4' cards! He hates me, I can tell. I threatened to make him walk back to my house for his car, and then he let up just a little. ;-) It was a fun game, and A.J. seemed to really enjoy himself after Paul and Pete (Herb's step-uncle) teased him enough about his cards.
Finally, it was almost 10pm, and we had to get going. Herb helped me to round up all our things and get the boys going. Jack insisted that it was the "most fun place" and he "didn't want to leave EVER!", but we had to go. While navigating the dark yard back to the car, Jack bonked his knee right into an unlit lamppost, and there were a few tears, but he quickly recovered. The boys had a quick shower as soon as we got home, and then they went straight into bed. I changed into jammies so I could pre-treat a stain on my shirt, and then I joined Herb watching some TV. He had tuned into a poker tournament on the Travel Channel, and we watched it until we decided which movie to watch. Though we were torn between Maverick (watching the poker game got me hankering for it) and Kicking and Screaming, Herb finally settled on the latter, having not yet seen it.
I tatted another clover while we watched the movie, and then I fell asleep somewhere towards the end. And I think I fell asleep again while he watched the outtakes (a shame!). I'm not sure of the time, but I think it was after 1am then, and I shuffled sleepily to the front door to bid him goodbye and lock it. Then I snuggled into my covers and was completely back to dreamland within a minute or two.
All in all, it was a fun, memorable day. I'm so glad he invited us along to his family's shindig, and we had a great time. Even as we were leaving, his mom gave us all big hugs, and Jack was already coordinating his summer schedule with her ("Can we come back?" "Sure you can! You come anytime!" "On Easter. And then on my birthday? And then A.J.'s birthday, too?") It was cute.
Yesterday afternoon/evening was wonderful. To be truly honest, though
Herb is a sensationally great and easy-going guy, I was a bit nervous to meet the rest of his family on such an important holiday and occasion (his family is Irish, you see). It's one thing to meet someone's immediate family (parents, sister, etc.), but it's quite another to be meeting extended family, step-family et al. - and all at one time. I was also a bit stressed over whether the boys would behave in a new environment, surrounded by strangers and with no toys to play with.I should never have worried.
We were decked out in our green shirts, our pinch-proof uniforms. Herb arrived at my house around 4:30pm. I wasn't sure what time we were getting together, so I had literally *just* sat down in my recliner and begun to tat his mother a special something - a tiny green clover. I asked Herb if we had about twenty minutes to spare, and he assured me that we did, so I quickly whipped out the new pattern for his mom. When finished, the piece was tiny indeed, but it was so cute. I took a few pictures, and then we gathered our things together to leave for his mom's house.
I carried my fragile, little clover while Herb toted the cake and pie I'd made for dessert. The boys each grabbed their "play jeans" and leprechaun hats (Jack insisted on bringing his orange playsilk with us as well), and we set off all together in our van. His mom lives very close to us, and we arrived in minutes. As he led us around the building to his mom's apartment, a few kids on the basketball court yelled out a welcome to Herb, "Hey, Butch!" I was confused, but I quickly forgot it as we entered the apartment.
We were greeted by two small chihuahuas, and they were so adorable! Missy was very welcoming, and Peanut was just so tiny! I later learned that she is a "toy chihuahua" - my first "dog lesson" of the evening. Herb introduced us to everyone, and the boys quickly scampered off to change into their "play jeans" in the bathroom. They stopped for a moment to meet the new birds his mom had - little finches. And then they set out for the playground just in front of the apartment. Within minutes, they were playing with TONS of other kids, too.
Herb played the role of attentive parent with the boys outside, and I stayed inside and got to know his family. His mom and step-dad were so welcoming from the get-go, and they asked me a few things about Philip as well. His dad and I talked for a bit about his tour in Vietnam and his service in the Marine Corps. I enjoyed listening to his uncle and cousins play several familiar tunes on the guitars. I noticed that everyone was mentioning "Butch," and I finally had to ask. It turns out that "Butch" is Herb's nickname! Though I know two names for him myself, that's not one of them, and it continued to catch me off-guard the rest of the evening! Though it almost seemed too soon, dinner was ready!
I called the boys back inside, and we sat down for a scrumptious and traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner - my very first! I'd never had real corned beef before (unless you consider Carl Buddig® lunch meat "real"), and the cabbage and potatoes were divine. A.J. stuck to just corned beef and rolls, but Jack was brave enough to try the cabbage and potatoes. Though he ate the things on his plate well, Paul (Herb's step-dad) was kind enough to then cater to the boys, making them a few corndogs as well. They were so spoiled. ;-)
We rested a bit before digging into the desserts, and the boys went back out to play until it became too dark to see. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Lemon & Lime Poke Cake and the Key Lime Pie, so I'm glad they were both successes. Myself, I had a small piece of each! Herb's dad, uncle and cousins left then, and his mom and sister chose to entertain themselves with needlepoint and the dogs while the rest of us played a few hands of Uno. Jack won the first hand, and he decided to stop playing while he was ahead, sitting out the subsequent rounds. ;-) He asked Pat (Herb's mom) if she had any movies to watch, and she produced a handful of DVDs and many good Disney movies as well. He picked Shrek, and I was happy to listen to Herb sing along with each song in the movie, as he sat on my right while we played Uno.
And speaking of that, I won't ever sit on Herb's left again. I swear, he was SO MEAN to me during the game. I was the unlucky recipient of so many of his 'Draw 2, Reverse, Skip' and 'Draw 4' cards! He hates me, I can tell. I threatened to make him walk back to my house for his car, and then he let up just a little. ;-) It was a fun game, and A.J. seemed to really enjoy himself after Paul and Pete (Herb's step-uncle) teased him enough about his cards.
Finally, it was almost 10pm, and we had to get going. Herb helped me to round up all our things and get the boys going. Jack insisted that it was the "most fun place" and he "didn't want to leave EVER!", but we had to go. While navigating the dark yard back to the car, Jack bonked his knee right into an unlit lamppost, and there were a few tears, but he quickly recovered. The boys had a quick shower as soon as we got home, and then they went straight into bed. I changed into jammies so I could pre-treat a stain on my shirt, and then I joined Herb watching some TV. He had tuned into a poker tournament on the Travel Channel, and we watched it until we decided which movie to watch. Though we were torn between Maverick (watching the poker game got me hankering for it) and Kicking and Screaming, Herb finally settled on the latter, having not yet seen it.
I tatted another clover while we watched the movie, and then I fell asleep somewhere towards the end. And I think I fell asleep again while he watched the outtakes (a shame!). I'm not sure of the time, but I think it was after 1am then, and I shuffled sleepily to the front door to bid him goodbye and lock it. Then I snuggled into my covers and was completely back to dreamland within a minute or two.
All in all, it was a fun, memorable day. I'm so glad he invited us along to his family's shindig, and we had a great time. Even as we were leaving, his mom gave us all big hugs, and Jack was already coordinating his summer schedule with her ("Can we come back?" "Sure you can! You come anytime!" "On Easter. And then on my birthday? And then A.J.'s birthday, too?") It was cute.
