Welcome Back, Friends

About five years ago some friends of ours who lived a few houses away moved out of state. It was hard for the Artist who lost a playmate and sad for mom and dad who lost trustworthy friends living one minute away. No more impromptu company for dinner, impromptu game night, or impromptu "Can I leave my child with you for half an hour, right now?"

We missed them.

Saturday was a wonderful reunion with our friends who have moved back to Ohio and now live only an hour away. We now have eldest children the same age and younger children the same age, plus they've added a toddler. The fourth graders took right up again with being friends after a five year absence. And the Pre-K- Kindergartners fell into quiet, cooperative game playing, block building, and marble run constructing together. For the Artist, especially, it was a joyous reunion. A few months ago, when they were first back in town, they stopped over for a few minutes. The Artist was out of town with her grandparents that day.

I was thoroughly enjoying myself the whole time they were over and I did not think to grab the camera. Luckily, the Quipper caught a video of the older kids playing a duet on the piano. When I can figure out how to show it, I will! He also got some snapshots of the younger kids.

The adults played Boggle (why do I bother? Oh yeah, that's why! -- To come up with words for the Quipper to challenge and then find them in my dictionary for him most of the time.) I never score too well in that game. We had a discussion about all the games we'd like to play next time we get together, then we played a horse racing game our friends had brought over. That was a blast! It was a wonderful evening.

We're looking forward to more such evenings together as they build their new homestead and put down roots here again.