This last weekend we hosted Megafest 8.1 at our house. It’s the first fest we’ve attended (and hosted) since Calvin was born. I really had no idea how the fest would work out with Calvin but it turned out to be neither as good nor as bad as I feared.

Calvin’s daycare had an “inservice” day on Friday so I took vacation that day in order to take care of Calvin. I had great plans for the day that included going into Boulder and buying a new pair of tennis shoes, picking up a high chair for Calvin, and swinging by Costco to get more formula. However, the cold that I had been fighting hit me hard and it was pretty much all I could do to appropriately supervise Calvin. I did make it to Target and picked up a high chair for Calvin but that was it. Both Calvin and I went to bed before the festors arrived.

Saturday, Calvin woke me up and we got ready for Sabbath School. In typical fest scheduling, most people were still asleep when we left. Calvin enjoyed Sabbath School and then we headed back home to meet everyone who had arrived the night before. Calvin and I got back just as they were clearing off the table from breakfast. Introductions were made and Calvin had great fun staring at all the new people. Jaeger watched Calvin while I played a game of Puerto Rico with everyone else. Then, Jaeger worked on his Sushi supper while I supervised. I went to bed at my normal time since I had to get up when Calvin got up. However, I was really congested and only got about 3 hours of sleep before Calvin woke me up the next day.

Sunday, Calvin and I had our normal morning routine and then I headed out to pick up some pastries for breakfast. Most of the day is a blur, I recall Calvin being pretty cranky and requiring a fair amount of attention (though I was sleep deprived so it might have been me that was cranky). I did make it to Costco and was able to restock our formula supply.

Monday, Anya was awake by the time Calvin and I were ready for our morning walk so she came with us. Later in the day, Anya and Yanthor went on another walk with Calvin while I made Jaeger a birthday cake. I really liked the cake frosting. It was simple yet decadent consisting of three ingredients: heavy cream, semi-sweet chocolate, and vanilla. Jaeger had agreed to get up with Calvin on Tuesday so I stayed up later than usual and watched a movie.

Tuesday, Jaeger got up and took care of Calvin’s morning routine before taking him to daycare. It was amazing to have the ability to sleep in but I didn’t fully appreciate it as I was having to struggle to breath. We had a quick (for a fest) breakfast and then everyone but Yanthor set off for a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. I debated until the last minute on whether or not I would go as there was some stuff around the house I needed to do. However, eventually I decided to go. I coughed and sniffled the whole way there but did enjoy the hike. We arrived back home and I worked on getting leftovers ready for supper. At my normal time, I picked Calvin up from daycare. By the time I should have finished supper prep, Calvin was sleeping in my arms so Anya took over and finished everything.

Wednesday was the last day of the fest. Calvin and I went through our morning routine and I took him to daycare after our morning walk. Back home, we played a fairly brief game of Settlers of Catan before the Lincolnites packed up to head back home. The rest of the day I worked on household chores before picking Calvin up from daycare.

I wish I could have played more games at the fest. Jaeger and I realized a bit late that we should have tried to get a babysitter for a couple of hours to allow both of us a chance to play more games. I also wasn’t involved in much of the food prep this time. I feel like I should have done more but supper time is when Calvin is the crankiest and it’s hard to juggle both him and food at the same time.