fun with friends

how much love inside a friend. depends how much you give 'em.

shel silverstein

last week was our spring break. and we used it to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a while, and also those we see more often. we started the week out with a trip to a local park to meet marci & eli. marci and i have known each other since our undergraduate days at msu, but really built our friendship during graduate school. eli was born in september of last year, and we've only met him once. so we used the day to catch up with each other, in between harper's jaunts from the slide to the tire swing to the stairs and back. we walked through downtown and enjoyed the sunshine. eli is still a little bitty so he wasn't toddling around with harper yet, but i'm certain next time we get together, that adorable blond-haired, blue-eyed boy will be keeping up with the best of 'em.

isn't he just yummy? i just want to eat him up.

on tuesday, our nephews came over in the morning while my sister went to work. harper was just waking up when they arrived, so i let them go in and get her out of bed. what a surprise to see eenee and gippin walk into her room! she had a smile on her face all morning long. from walks around the court to find nature goodies, to hopscotch and sidewalk chalk, to playing in the kitchen and building forts, those sweet boys treat her like gold. they are amazing with her, and i just love them.

on wednesday, our friends kellie & anna came over for a play date. kellie & i met in a post-natal yoga class at a local mom & tot "watering hole" when the girls were just shy of 3 months old. anna is 2 weeks older than harper, and just adorable with those curly q's hugging her head. kellie & i could talk for hours (and we do via blogging, e-mails, texts, phone calls & play dates) about greening, nutrition, photography, raising girls & on & on & on while the girls slowly warm up to playing together. we're getting there. our hope is that the girls become fast & forever friends, as kellie & i seem to be doing.

on friday, we finally got to catch up with my college roommate, colleen, and her son, brendan. colleen walked in our house, and stated "i don't think the 2 of us could live any farther apart." that just stinks. i wish we could see each other more, but it's over an hour drive and we both know it's not fun to do with toddlers. so, we've compromised before and met halfway, at the science center or the zoo. we would have loved to meet at the zoo again on this day, but the weather was not cooperative. (45 degrees and waking up to snow flurries on the ground after a week's start of 70 degrees and sunshine. what?!?) so she volunteered every so kindly to come to our house for playtime and catch up. colleen is pregnant with her second, a girl!, and is due in august. harper had fun with brendan, following him around, yelling his name to get his attention over and over. i think they had fun. harper certainly crashed right after they left for a solid 2-hour nap. i'm hoping to see them more over our summer break. i do miss them so when we don't see each other for a while. and that handsome little b? just scrumptious.

this is the only shot i got of the 2. my camera died and therefore, could not get catch the other cute photo opps. note to self: charge your camera battery, or better yet, purchase an extra one for situations like this one.

and finally, on sunday, we capped off our spring break with a bbq with our neighbors and good friends, chad & jacque and their son, hunter. they had been in disney world all of spring break, and only got home friday night. we missed them so! harper wandered outside so many times over break, asking "hunter home?" and pointing down towards their house 3 doors away. sadly, i had to keep telling her that hunter was visiting with mickey mouse. she was ecstatic when they finally came home and hunter showed up on our driveway! she giggled and followed him around yelling "hunter" like a teenager in love. but how could you not be in love with this handsome face? and he turned 3 yesterday! he's an older, and wiser, boy. delish.

looking back, this post makes me thankful for all the amazing people in our lives who fill us with love and happiness.