The Boy Child

When we were younger, that's what my sisters and I called Darin. He didn't love the nickname, but by then he had learned to choose his battles with us. I wrote an explanation of Darin's life in another post. In short, he is a Monk and on Sunday, we took Maiya to meet him.

As the third of four kids, he spent a lot of his childhood with a lot of other kids and the influence is still evident. He asked all the right questions about Haven and Maiya. He was a natural baby holder and Maiya liked him immediately. Haven, on the other hand, was kind of intimidated by his beard.

Haven was not intimidated, however, by the gigantic construction trucks on the campus. He was ready to climb inside and take them for a drive.

Darin said we could stay for dinner. For the record, a Monastary-style dinner + two little kids = an interesting situation. First of all, Monks eat at their own table. In silence. Secondly, men and women do not eat together. So, Dave and I each took one kid to our gender-respective tables and attempted to feed them tuna and salad. This was interesting since Haven doesn't like tuna and Maiya can't yet have tuna. We were able to interest them in the accompanying apples and bread.

To say that Monks are quiet people is in an understatement, as it is to say that Haven and Maiya are noisy people. Sounds of "apple!" and "no!" and whines filled the otherwise silent dining area. Afterward, Darin said it was fine because it was an "informal" dinner. Well, I think we gave a new meaning to Monk idea of informal.

It was a short visit, as it always is and unfortunately, this time he did not have permission to have his picture taken. Here are few shots of us from the visit:

Here I am, covered head-to-toe. Maiya got away with showing a little leg since she's still a baby. She also wasn't required to wear a head covering, but with a such a cute hat, I figured, why not?

Do I like this grass or not?

It was a quiet drive home.