June 2 – “The best day ever”

We were hosts for a birthday party this weekend.  But not just any old birthday party, mind you.  This was a cousins only sleepover.  Josh and Christi asked if we would mind hosting the affair in honor of Zakary’s birthday, so of course we jumped at the chance.  Come on, all of the grandkids in the same place at the same time?  What a photo op paradise. 

Rather than try to describe the events, I decided to open the window just a bit and let you hear a few of the conversations that went one.  Let’s listen …

A discussion about the new baby on the way at Zak and Caleb’s house (Yes, if you haven’t heard, Christi is pregnant.  Due in early November):

DadDad: Is it going to be a human baby?
Zak: I want it to be a fox.
Me: If it is a girl, she will be a fox.
Zak: What does that mean?
Someone needs a lesson in female appreciation terminology.

And here’s a little sample of “creative play.”

Cailyn (beaming): “Guess what, Nani?  Guess what’s going to happen when I grow up?”
Nani: “What?”
Cailyn: “When I grow up I’m gonna get married.  And guess who I’m gonna marry?”
Nani: “Who?”
Cailyn: “Zakary.  He asked me.”
Nani: “Well, we’ll make those decisions when y’all get a little older, OK?”
Cailyn: (grinned real big and ran off)

Shortly thereafter, from the next room …

Jachin: “Zak and Cailyn, sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.” (Come on.  How long has it been since you heard that classic bit of American folk literature?)
Micah: “Yeah.  You have to kiss each other now.”
Cailyn: hands on hips, finger pointing: “Well, you have let me grow up first.”
That progressed (deteriorated?) into a game of Sleeping Beauty, but Nani changed the scenario a bit.  See, in her Nani world, all it took to wake up the princess was a hug.

And one final comment came while we were at the beach.  Caleb had been anticipating this part of the weekend for a long time.  So amid riding the waves on the boogie board, being pulled around the shallows by Daddy on that same board, and actually dunking his head under the water and retrieving globs of seaweed to toss around, we heard this faint, yet apt description of the whole experience:

Caleb: “This is the best day ever.”

Psalms 93:5 says, “Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord.”

Father, may your statutes stand firm in our Vaughan houses for endless days as well.  Amen.