Kid Wrangling

The whole Santa Cruz contingent is in town, including our infant niece, to attend a wedding. They arrived Thursday morning, and the nephews had expressed interest in going to the aquarium. When the Mrs. first told me about the plan to go yesterday, I thought she meant everyone was going, but I found out on Thursday that her intention was for us to take the boys, allowing their mother and stepdad to do other things that day.

It took me by surprise at first, but I didn't really have a problem with it. The boys are about to turn ten (in fact, turning ten tomorrow) and three months from being 13. In the past we would have hesitated to consider this kind of an outing, but they're old enough now, and in the past couple of years they have made a lot of progress in moderating their public behavior.

So yesterday morning we drove over to Harvard Square so I could purchase discount passes to the aquarium (a perk offered by my employer) and then out to Concord to pick them up where they are staying. They got some stern warnings about behavior from both mother and stepdad, but they know from experience that their aunt doesn't put up with any crap. Basically that's her job description: not taking crap from people for a living.

During the car ride they reenacted scenes from their favorite movies and YouTube clips, which kept them occupied most of the way into the city. When we were driving around the Greenway area, hoping to find a parking space, they got a little antsy, so we gave up and parked in a garage. We had warned them that it was chilly and windy, but the younger one insisted on wearing shorts. As we made our way along the waterfront from the garage, they got a taste of just how chilly it really was.

Our visit to the aquarium went just fine. In fact it lasted less than an hour, because both boys said they were bored. The penguins held their interest better than just about anything else. We had thought they would enjoy the museum of science more, but the aquarium had been specifically requested. Whatever; we were all hungry by then, so we went off in search of lunch.

Our original plan was to walk to the North End and go to Pizzeria Regina, but before we'd even made it across the Greenway, we realized that it was too cold to walk that far, so we detoured to the Quincy Market location. The boys devoured the pepperoni pizza quickly, declaring it good.

We drove back to our house, because we had to tend to the dog, and the boys wanted to see her. They also got an hour or so to indulge in the pleasure of the Cartoon Network, because while they are allowed to watch movies at home and have access to Netflix, they don't have any regular TV service.

When we got in the car to return them to their parental units, they started getting kind of aggressive toward each other. We sat in the driveway and waited it out. By the time we were on route 2 heading west, the older one had fallen asleep, possibly still jet-lagged, so the rest of the ride was quiet.

When we got to our destination, their stepdad said, "You didn't lose them? We would have paid you extra."