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We went back to our old neighborhood today, since the kids have been begging to see Bonnie for months. MONTHS! Bonnie was our old next-door neighbor, and was the kids' daycare provider from the time I had to go back to work with each of them (around 10 weeks) until we moved away last year. For a while now, they have been telling me all the things they were going to say to her. And, wouldn't you know it? They clammed up. They would hardly say a word to her, until it was time for us to go! Crazy kids!!

Meanwhile, Gus and I had fun visiting with Bonnie and her husband, and she filled us in on the people who bought our old house. They ripped out a lot of the plants in the back yard, including all of the mature rosebushes and the huge fig tree. I think that's kind of crazy, but I have to keep reminding myself: it's not our house anymore! And I have tons of pictures of how it looked, and that is how I will continue to envision it in my mind. It's so weird to think about another family living there. They have a little boy, who was actually at Bonnie's house for daycare today. I wonder if he has Nikos' old room? On second thought, I don't want to know. Too weird!

Anyway... I took pictures of the kids with Bonnie before we left, and thought it was funny to look at the last photo they have with her-- from their last day of daycare. Maya still has those same jeans, but they are a few inches too SHORT! She has stretched out so much! Nikos, too, but Maya's growth is really apparent here. She looks so little in the top picture!

After that, we zipped over to a local McDonald's, where we met up with some of my old coworkers! It was kind of last-minute, and I am positive that I forgot to include some people in the email (OOPS!), but I'm glad we were able to see a few people, at least. Hopefully it won't take an entire year before we come back to visit again. But I have really missed seeing these faces every day! (and that tall kid on the far right? She is my coworker's daughter, and she was my student a few years ago. How they manage to keep GROWING just baffles me!!)

Anyway, it was a morning of lovely visits with some of the people we've missed. And we left just in time, as the freeway was starting to fill up with people getting away for the long weekend. We got back, the kids went to the park, and I baked the pie for tomorrow. A little boy I know is very excited to eat it! I can't wait!