WORLD OF COUSINS

Note** I was having major formatting issues in this post and I tend to throw things when I get angry so rather than keep trying to fix the problems I will save my laptop the trip across the room and just leave things be. Please ignore the weirdness.

The Walker clan is nothing if not fertile. My first cousins and I, although somewhat spread out in age, have managed to have 10 second cousins in like 7 years.  My mom, Roan, and I went to visit some of them and wound up with 6 kids together in one glorious tornado of giddy chaos.  Amid momentary catastrophes the adults managed to catch up in thirty second increments.

Somethings brewing...

Oh dear, someone's not pleased with this scenario

All is forgiven!

Dressed up and ready to go

Making noise

Sunday we went to the Please Touch Museum.  I had the same reaction to it that I have when I go to a Home Depot or Trader Joe's in the suburbs; why is the Brooklyn version of all such family centered places so much smaller, dirtier, less staffed, and more crowded?  The Brooklyn Children's Museum is like playing in an abandoned Happy Meal box compared to the Please Touch Museum.  There are 2.5 million people in Brooklyn!  Where's the love??

Part of the massive Alice in Wonderland exhibit

I digress. We had a fantastic time at the Museum.  There are two massive floors of activities and nothing is off limits for the kids.  But leave it to Roan to somehow stray into forbidden territory.  He kept trying to get in to the corporate offices.

Escapee from the River Adventures area with his cape

Roan and Dylan.  They look so much alike!

Supermarket Sweep

Lunchtime madness

There was a classic old carousel in the atrium and we managed to get all the kids on at once.

This was Roan's first time on a carousel and he was super antsy while we waited for the ride to start so I was sure he would dig it once we started moving.  Unfortunately, Roan may not be quite the daredevil we anticipated.

 

The kids tapped out after about 4 hours so we headed back.  BTW, Roan and Declan held hands almost the whole way there and back.  It was so achingly sweet I could hardly stand it.  I thought about the fact that he used to sit next to Lula in the car and wondered if he remembered that somehow.

The other big task of the day was haircuts. A couple of weeks ago I posted here about my reluctance to cut Roan's hair and my cousin Lori, who happens to be a fantastic hairstylist, texted me and said she would give him a little trim if I wanted.  This was actually a perfect solution.  First of all, who better than family to give him his first cut? Second, her son Dylan has exactly the same hair and she is just as reluctant to chop off his curls so I knew she wouldn't go overboard. We set up Elmo on the iPad for maximum distraction.

Declan got his first haircut too!

 

Today we were back in our quiet, one-kid Brooklyn apartment and I realized how much harder I have to work to entertain Roan without his entourage.  Me folding laundry with NPR on in the background is hopelessly dull compared to second cousins so we will have to go back again very soon.