Fun and Games

We have a family friend who, for certain good reasons, is raising her nine children on her own. I've got to say the woman is doing an amazing job; the children are as good as they are beautiful, and they're really beautiful. Anyway, since every mom needs an evening to herself sometimes, and the four older ones were gone to ski camp for a few days, she readily accepted our offer to have the five youngest come to our house one afternoon and sleep over. It was a lot of fun: Emma, the youngest at 4, is a dark-eyed and fearless little thing who asks a lot of questions; the smile on Brendan's face when his mother talked to him on the phone almost made me cry; Michael trotted around radiating Irish benevolence; Bernadette found fun wherever she went; and Jane looked angelic and played piano but loosened up enough to giggle at the funny parts in the movie.

We had some great conversations with Emma:
1.
Emma: What are you drinking?
Mom: Beer.
Emma: I like beer.
Mom: Oh. Would you like some?
Emma: Yes, please.
Mom poured an inch into a glass and handed it to the child, who drank it down without batting an eye.
Emma: That was good. What kind of beer is that?
Mom: Rickard's Red. What kind of beer do you usually drink?
Emma: Guinness beer. But that was very good too.
2.
Emma: There's kissing in that movie.
Me: There is?
Emma: Yes. (Pauses) If you get married, you have to kiss like that.
Me: Yes, I suppose you do.
Emma: Are you married?
Me: Me? No, I'm not.
Emma: Oh. You should marry Jason. (She points)
Me: Um, his name is Robin, not Jason, and he's my brother.
Emma: Ewww!
Me: Yeah tell me about it.
3.
Emma: Can you show me your room?
Me: I'd rather not, Emma, it's quite a mess.
Emma. Please?
Me: No. It's so messy, it's embarrassing. I hope your room isn't that messy.
Emma: (Grabs my hand and heads for the stairs) Show me anyway.
Me: This is it.
Emma: It's not very messy. (Pauses) Guess what? I have pig pajamas. Do you want to see?
Me: Sure. Show me your pig pajamas.
4.
Emma: (to Maria, Robin's girlfriend) Why do you want to marry this guy?
Maria: (laughs, doesn't answer)
Robin: We're not getting into that right now.
5.
Emma: Shooting the can is fun!
Robin: Yeah. Hold the pelletgun higher, Emma.
Emma: What are those things on the pond?
Robin: Those are the ducks.
Emma: Can we shoot the ducks?

The kids were also lots of fun to photograph:

Clockwise from left: Michael, Brendan, and Emma

Brendan shoots, and I cut off Robin's head:

Emma swings :

Emma does photography:

Emma swings again:

Brendan swings: