Memorial Day Weekend With the Quints

The Quads near the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon Sunday morning

This past weekend presented a lot of firsts.  It was the first time that I've ever had all five younger kids at the same time, and it was also the first time that I've had any of the kids for more than an overnight:  I picked up the Quads and Nathan late Friday afternoon and took them home late yesterday afternoon, and Nathan stayed Sunday night as well.

The weekend had its ups and downs.  The Quads started bickering as they sat, four abreast, in the back seat of my Corolla on Friday afternoon as we waited for my oldest son Adam to arrive so that he could give Nathan something he'd been waiting for.  Things were going downhill by the minute, but we managed to pull out of a death spiral as we drove south toward Salt Lake.

After pizza, we all watched The Incredible Hulk.  Things were going pretty well.  Then it came time for the younger kids to go to bed.  Mark and I had set up a tent on the deck in back, where Aaron, Esther and Levi (the "Triads") were to sleep, while Annie was to sleep inside.   The Triads were having a great time out there.  I kept hearing fits of giggling.  The old me would have told them to quieten down so as to not disturb the neighbors, etc., but I resisted this temptation and just let 'em have fun.  I even went out on the lanai and read for a while.  Eventually, Levi decided he'd rather sleep inside, and after he came in, Esther and Aaron settled right down and went to sleep.

A grainy shot inside the tent Friday night

Saturday morning was pretty low-key.  I had my ups and downs.  Adding Annie to the mix always makes the situation a little more challenging, in a number of ways.  Plus, the weather wasn't great that day - as would be the case all weekend - so I had planned on indoor activities.  By the time we left for Hollywood Connection - an indoor amusement center out in West Valley City - around noon, I was pretty stressed, but was trying to chill.

Our first activity at Hollywood Connection was miniature golf.  I think the kids enjoyed it.  I continued in a low cycle, partly due to frustrations over trying to teach - fruitlessly - Annie how to putt the ball.

Things didn't improve much when I took Esther and Annie roller skating while Nathan took the boys and played laser tag.  I was envious.  Annie didn't really enjoy skating; it was proving more challenging for her than the ice skating we had done last winter.

It was once we moved to the amusement park rides that things started picking up.  We all had a lot of fun riding the little rides.

Levi on the carousel

Annie and Nathan

Levi and me on the bumper cars

That evening, Mark and I prepared a Memorial Day cookout of cheeseburgers, hot dogs, salad, roast potatoes, etc.  We had planned to eat outside, but it was simply too cool and threatening rain.

All the kids had to sleep inside that night because of the rain, and I guess I had done a good job of wearing them out because they all went immediately to sleep and slept past 8:00 yesterday morning.  In fact, I finally had to awaken Esther and Annie.

I was experiencing another low yesterday morning.  As I thought about it, I think my discussions with the kids on Friday evening and Saturday morning about me being gay and about Mark and me had taken a bigger emotional toll on me than I had expected or realized.  And, to be frank, having all five kids for the first time in a relatively confined space with two active dogs thrown into the mix, was challenging.

I had planned to go to the gym yesterday morning for a bit of psychic recharging, but decided at the last minute to instead go ahead and take the Quads on a hike I had planned in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  The skies looked threatening, but the radar indicated that the afternoon would be worse - which indeed ended up being the case - so I decided to go ahead and take them.  I was also thinking that perhaps this is what I needed as a psycho-emotional boost.

I was right.  The trip up the canyon proved to be lightening and invigorating.  We stopped for a short hike in the lower part of the canyon, and the kids enjoyed walking along the trail until they got too cold and were all too happy to return to the car.  They all said, however, that they would look forward to future hikes that summer, when the weather is more accommodating.  Esther was particularly keen.  She, as well as the others, said they had never been on a hike before, and indeed I can count on one hand the times I have been on hikes along the Wasatch Front.  

After the hike, I drove them all the way to the top of the canyon.  As they looked out the window at the snow-dusted forests of pine trees, they started saying, "It looks like Christmas!"  It was near the top of the canyon that we took the lead picture, above.  I had to coax them out of the warm car by promising that I would just take a quick picture, then they could all get back in.

Mark had been attending teachings that morning and had invited us to meet him for lunch at Appleby's at the Gateway (an outdoor mall west of downtown Salt Lake).  So we picked up Nathan at the house and headed down there. This represented another first for the kids:  the Quads had never been to the Gateway, and all but Annie and Aaron had never been to Appleby's.  It was also one of the first times they had ever been to any kind of sit-down restaurant.  I had to keep explaining to them why it took so long to get the food, why we paid at the end of the meal instead of the beginning, etc.

Lunch at Appleby's.  (Nathan took the picture.)

Lunch was a lot of fun.  Mark then headed back to teachings while I took the kids to the new Natural History Museum up by the University of Utah.   We had been there before, late last winter, and I had purchased a membership so that I could take them from time to time, in groups or individually, and we could stay as long or as short as we'd like, depending on the circumstances.  

Yesterday ended up being one of our shorter visits.  It was just too tall of an order to manage all the kids (especially with Annie in tow), even with Nathan along, and have a meaningful experience.  So we went back to the house and watched a movie until it was time to take the Quads home.

It was a very full weekend.  As I wrote at the beginning, it had its ups and downs, its challenges and its rewards, its serious moments and its lighthearted ones.  

Like the time Sunday morning when I had told Aaron that he sounded like a broken record.  He looked at me with a puzzled look on his face and then said, "What's a broken record?"  I stood there, momentarily stunned, then started laughing.  Of course, I thought, he wouldn't have any idea what a vinyl LP even looks like, let alone what happens when the record gets scratched.  Mental note:  can't use that expression any more.

Or like the time we were on our hike and Levi wondered whether we'd see any deer.  "What would we do if we saw one?" he asked.  "Say hello," was my off-hand reply.  "Hi deer," he said, then turned and smiled at me.  "Oh!  Like you and Mark!"  [referring to our habit of occasionally calling each other "Dear"].  Now that was a heart-warming moment.

My heart was also warmed when the Quads were jealous of Nathan staying an extra night.  They wanted to do the same.  I was entitled to this, but I had already told their mother that they'd be back Sunday evening.  I also knew my limits.  This was, after all, the first time I had had them for more than 24 hours.  I told them that they could stay a third night on Father's Day weekend, and this placated them.

For me, the weekend was both challenging and rewarding.  I continue to redefine my role as father and forge my relationship with each one of the children.  And Mark and I together continue to create our own family with the kids.