Zach Throws a Picnic and Meets his Extended Family

Now that Zach is a little older he is ready for some social life. We kicked that off with a big bang. I had been emailing with our two nieces, Clare and Kathleen,

about stuff they had and were offering for Zach. Their children are in the 7 – 10 age range and the motorized ride-on jeep – with a spare battery, sandbox, seesaw, bouncy seat and Baby Einstein videos were gathering dust and taking up valuable space.

So I invited them with their children and their Mom to a picnic lunch to meet Zach. We started out with our nieces and their children holding Zach while my husband took pictures with his fancy new camera. Zach was as cooperative as could be and rather enjoyed being held by the new cousins he was meeting. Our nieces, by the way, are our children’s godmothers. It was a nice day and we shifted the activities to the backyard and enjoyed a picnic lunch and being outside.

At last my husband's sister, Clare, also got to hold Zach. As the mother of five and grandmother of seven, she knows her way around babies pretty well.


Then it was time for a bigger adventure. We packed ourselves up, my son, Hugh, with Megan on his shoulders, and went to the park. My son headed up the paddleboat ride with his younger cousins – Mike, John, Shannon and Megan. Zach isn’t quite ready for that so Fran and Josh strolled Zach over to the playground to check things out. My son treated the kids to ice cream and some further adventuring in the park as Zach headed back to our house for a rest and clean diaper.

When we all came home there was dessert that my nieces brought and finally figuring out what new equipment would stay at our place and what would find a home at my daughter’s home.

It was a wonderful day. We were concerned about how Zach might respond to a lot of chaos but everyone was respectful of his space and I think he really enjoyed meeting his extended family. Perhaps now he knows that family gatherings will mean lots of fun. And we all had a lot of fun. .....But why is my house beginning to look like I’m the one who just had a baby?