A Visit from Friends

My college buddies Erika & Samantha drove into the City yesterday for an afternoon play date and catch-up time.  We have been trying to get together for a while, and we finally made it work…even in the middle of a snow storm!  Samantha was my Sophomore roommate and from a church near mine in Colorado.  Erika is my favorite Mainiac, and was one of my bridesmaids.

The last time we were all together was in July 2010 – and we were joined by our friend Danielle.  We went to Erika’s house in Connecticut.  Elaine was about 8 months old, and Kevin was a newborn.  Danielle & Samantha were not yet married.

Danielle, Me & Elaine, Samantha, Erika & Kevin

Fast forward two and a half years…Samantha and Danielle are both married. Elaine is 3, Nolan has joined the family, and twins are on the way.  Erika also has another addition – Cassie – who is 15 months.  And Samantha was the brave mom who came all the way to New York City with baby Sophie, only 1 month old!  She was born 3 weeks early, so she still weighs only 7 pounds!  It was a lot of fun to hold a newborn again!

Samantha & Baby Sophie {1 mo.}, Me with Elaine {3 yrs} & Nolan {20 mo.}, and Erika with Kevin {2.5 yrs} and Cassie {15 mo}.  It was a busy house…but we did manage to get them all to take a nap at the same time!

Our get-together was recently postponed because Samantha was nearing the end of her pregnancy, and her blood pressure didn’t cooperate.  Then we rescheduled with just Erika & her family, but a nor’easter kept us all at home while it dumped a lot of snow on New England.

We just had a good time letting the kids play, eating, and talking.  Erika brought Samoa Brownies that are amazing, and we passed a sleeping baby Sophie around while we all caught up on life since college.

She is such a little peanut…and she just snuggled or napped the whole time!

Initially Kevin was a little shy about coming inside, but by the time we had all of the bags unloaded, Elaine had worked him into the playroom and they were having a great time.  Nolan was not so thrilled to share his toys with Cassie…but she was happy to just twirl and sing “ta-da” over and over again!

Kevin & Elaine did artwork until Nolan woke up from his nap.

These guys worked really hard to catch the fish…even resorting to…well…cheating.  But they had fun!

  
Kevin & Elaine; Kevin & Nolan

 
Samantha said that Elaine could “hold” Sophie.  At first Elaine didn’t know what to think.  Then Sophie got a hold of Elaine’s finger.  Each time I tried to give Sophie back, Elaine asked to hold her some more.  I think this is a good sign…

I didn’t really have many close friends until I went to college.  Now I feel blessed to have several lifetime friends.  No matter how long it’s been…no matter how far apart we live…we can pick right up where we left off.  We miss you Danielle…our “group” was not complete this time!

Erika, Samantha, & Me at Late Nite Bowling in 2007.