Fun with Friends!

I haven't posted about all the playdates and parties we've been to, lately, but it's becoming that very social time of year! We have birthday parties just about every weekend this month, on both Saturday and Sunday. And with preschool over and elementary school winding down, everyone seems to be scrambling to make those connections before everyone goes off and does their own thing for a few months. So it's been busy, but fun! There is so much to be said about living in a small town that is heavily populated with young families. There is never a shortage of friends to play with!

Anyway... this past Thursday, Niko had his buddy Nicholas over for a morning playdate and some lunch. His mom stayed during the playdate, which was nice-- we are quickly becoming friends. The boys rode the bus to school together, and she stayed for a while after that to talk some more. Once she left, Maya and I made a quick run over to Dunkin Donuts to get some gift cards for the preschool teachers. As we were walking out, my friend Jen and her daughter, Maya's friend Catherine, were walking in. So we stayed and talked with them for a bit.

And THEN, when we drove back home, I was turning into the driveway when I saw my neighbor-friend, Jean, walking down the sidewalk with her five-year-old son, Henry. I stopped to say hi, and learned they were going for ice cream. As I went inside the house, it occurred to me that I'd never invited Jean over, and she has told me many times that she would love to see the inside of my house. And, well, it was clean at the moment!! So I caught them on their way back from getting ice cream, and invited them in. I gave Jean a tour, and Maya and Henry instantly got down to the business of playing. They were adorable together! They sometimes play together at karate class (Henry's brother does karate with Niko), but this was their first real playdate. It went really well! They ended up staying for over an hour, with most of that time spent out back (adults chatting on the deck, kids playing in the yard). Not bad for a random playdate off the street! :)

AND, Jean's an aspiring novelist. She's written several novels, but her most recent is a romance in the vein of the Outlander books (which are among my all-time FAVORITES). I'm going to copy-edit her manuscript! I'm kind of excited!! :)

About an hour after they had left, Caryn arrived with Paige. We were skipping karate so that I could get some dinner into the kids before Curriculum Night at Niko's school. And Caryn really wanted to do schoolwork while Evan was in karate class, so I'd offered to watch Paige. She always gets along well with the kids, so I never mind watching her. They have a blast together!

So yeah... that was the Day of Three Playdates, haha! And there are more days like that in the coming weeks. It's just that time of year!

Today, Gus and I adopted the divide-and-conquer approach to birthday parties. Maya had been invited to her classmate's party at a bowling alley, and both kids were invited to Gus' boss' son's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. I went with Maya, and Gus went with Niko. And everyone had a great time! Maya had a wonderful first time doing candlepin bowling, which is much more kid-friendly than traditional bowling. I never even knew that this type of bowling existed, but it's apparently popular here in Massachusetts! You learn something new every day!

Anyway, it's been a busy time, but a lot of fun. More importantly, I really feel like we are part of the community here. We know so many people around town, and we see friends everywhere we go-- even when it's unplanned. I LOVE IT! We've lived here two and a half years, and I have loved it here since day one, but it's amazing how our network of friends has expanded through school(s), dance, karate, Little League, PTO, etc. And it's going to grow even more this fall, as I just signed both kids up for soccer, and both kids will be starting scouts (the Cub Scouts are trying to recruit me to be a den leader, by the way... haha! We'll see...). It will be crazy, but I'm not complaining. It feels great!!! :)