Busy Weekend

Five years ago, if you had told me that I would spend part of my weekend at a place called Jellybean Junction, I probably would have laughed at you and made a whole variety of colorful disparaging remarks. And yet that is exactly where I found myself on Sunday afternoon with my two kids in tow...in an office park in Concord, Mass, at a birthday party, at a place called Jellybean Junction.

Sadly, though I am a voracious consumer of actual jellybeans, I did not see any of the sugary candies at the party. They did have a lot of arts and crafts for the kids though. They also had a giant indoor play structure complete with a tiny, 3 foot by 3 foot room replete with musical instruments (xylophone, bells, and drums). The acoustics of this room were amazingly similar to those of Carnegie Hall--however far away I stood, I could still hear my son banging on the xylophone as if it were inside my actual eardrum. It was awesome.

Celia was well-behaved, and hung out with me most of the time. Madhabi's parents were also nice enough to hold her for a bit so I could corral Andres who, when not making music, enjoyed dipping his paint-covered hand into communal snacks. (Sadly, there are no pictures or videos to document this behavior!)

The weekend started on a much more mellow note: sister Sarah came into town from the Great Midwest, and she hung out with her niece and nephew for the first time in a few months. Andres was shy at first, but eventually sports broke the ice, and he played an energetic game of catch with his visiting aunt. Grandpa watched and enjoyed counted out the number of consecutive catches that Andres made...the top number was 15!