a day in Myrtle Beach with good friends!

I will come back tomorrow to update this with the real story. For now, I'll leave you with this photo: OK, I'm back. It has taken me a couple days because, well for one thing... it's summer and around my house (and I am sure it is the same way around yours) summer is not the relaxing, lazy time that I want it to be. I have romantic visions of days sitting outside in lawn chairs while the kids play happily (and independently) leaving me to sip iced tea and read a book. Now, I tried that yesterday.... my version anyway. I had a glass of diet grape drink and the book Angela loaned me (thank you! thank you!) about going to Disney World. I need to dive into this book/guide as it is 800+ pages. The Lorax is considered a long read for me these days. It is going to take me from now until we leave to get through 800+ pages. Especially if each time I pick up the book goes like yesterday did. Just a million good ol' 4 year old things. "Mommy! Watch this!", "Look at me!", "Hey Mommy! See what I can do?" mixed in with "Let's play Monkey In The Middle" or "Hey - catch!" That one is usually yelled a tad too late for my comfort. I think I read 6 pages. I did eventually finish my drink.

But, the other reason I haven't quickly updated our visit story is because it was so much fun, but so "normal" that I really don't have much to report. If you don't understand the workings of internet social sites, you won't "get" how this all happens. These are ladies that I have literally known for years. In the photo, you see Angela, DeAnna and myself. DeAnna and I met five years ago when we had kids born in late 2005. Angela and I can't quite remember which board we crossed paths on, but after thinking it through, I think it was Special Needs. I remember reading about Benjamin's birth and I know I was on and off that board (mostly reading, posting only occasionally) with Carl as well as other friends who have children the same age as mine with various therapies in their lives.

So, knowing Angela was going to be in Myrtle Beach on vacation, we planned to all meet there. It was central for DeAnna and I coming from different directions. Between the 3 of us, we have 8 kids under age 4.5. (four 4 year olds, two 2 year olds, two babies) Originally, we planned a beach playdate, but a chance of rain made us reconsider and we picked the Children's Museum as our meeting place.

The Older Kids:

Gretchen

Carl

Jack

Andrew

Gigi

Benjamin

That morning, we left the house about 10 minutes later than I wanted to. Not bad. Traffic slowed us down only about 5 more minutes. But, as we got closer and realized we were going to be late, I kept saying, "I should call someone now." Then I thought, eh - 10 minutes late... I'll hold off. So, once we pulled into the parking lot 15 minutes late, I buzzed up Angela who happened to be pulling in at the same time. I then turned around to see DeAnna pull up waving. See, all the cool kids knew we were really meeting at 10:45!

We got a chance to hug and meet and even play a little in the lobby of the museum (which, had some decent natural lighting).

Of course, Carl wore his favorite "colors with goat" shirt which turned out to be a great shirt to wear from my point of view. All I had to do was quickly glance around the room and I could spot him easily.

I got to meet Benjamin and snuggle with him for a couple minutes. He was very busy with his walking tour of the lobby, but he did make time to smile at me. Angela's mom was with them and she told me that when he put his hands on my cheeks - that was a sign of affection! My heart overflowed hearing that!! Angela's mom, Paula took this photo. I thought there was too much emotion in the shot to leave it in color.

We did take a group picture... well, more like a ton of pictures. We should have coordinated the 2 cameras better. We have a mix of people looking in two directions... and well, 8 kids... the results were pretty funny. They really show the fun of the meet-up mixed in with the flexibility that comes when you have small children.

Paula took Benjamin back to the condo because he would have been overwhelmed for the playtime and lunch. But, the rest of us headed inside to play for an hour or so. The kids were funny, playing together sometimes, playing side-by-side sometimes, and just being independent sometimes.

Jack, Gretchen & Gigi making pizza

Serious Sand Buddies

Here's Gigi inside a bubble! Neither one of my kids would even get near it! Gretchen said she didn't want to get soap on her dress.

Carl loves "Buggy Cars"... and Carl loves street signs and handicapped parking signs (notice it by the door?) He looks perfect in it with his tie dyed shirt on!

The 2 babies were angels the whole day! Both Angela and DeAnna swear that Baby #3 is the easiest by far. I will trust them on that. But, if what we saw was any indication... it must be true!

Francesca

Thomas
After playtime in the museum, we decided to go to a pizza buffet/arcade place for lunch. Even that was perfect for us. We were able to sit at a nice big table in the same room with the arcade type games for our kids ages - so they could run and play and we chatted away while eating. The kids got to make their own pizzas. Gretchen did well eating hers, Carl won't eat pizza but he was happy as a clam with salad. He likes lettuce and shredded cheese. Lew also put a mound of sunflower seeds onto his plate. Prior to Tuesday, he hadn't tried them. Lew got them for Gretchen, but Carl snarfed them up and requested more. (The next day at home, I put some on his lunch plate and set it down in front of him... he gasped, "Woo Hoo! Seeds!") This is a shot Angela took. As you can see, Carl wasn't into it. He actually left soon after.

We just talked about regular mom friend stuff. Schools and pre-schools and movies and schedules and who crawled when and how many teeth they had and who's mom is best at getting out stains. See, this is the part that is hard to explain. This wasn't meeting strangers for an awkward lunch. This was getting together with good friends. So, for those of you wondering how I could go meet complete strangers for a day... you're probably disappointed to read how easy it was. (I just got an email the other day from a friend in NY and the end line was "I love my computer because all my friends live in there!")

And I really wish we all lived closer, because I know if we saw each other more often, the kids would be best buddies! Oh -DeAnna, when we got in the car to head for home, Carl said, "Gigi will get in her car, too." We had been looking at pictures and going over names, but I didn't think he was paying attention! Guess I was wrong!

I'm so happy we had the chance to get together!!