Play dates and birthday parties

I love Mondays and Fridays.

I worked a normal Monday-through-Friday week from 1997 when I graduated college until 2009, when Kate was born. I think 12 years of that is about enough for me, particularly because so many of those years, I worked 12-to-16 hour days.

Anyway, I've been loving this work three-days-a-week-thing for more than a year now. But Mondays and Fridays still seem like 'surprise' vacation days to me. Like when you got Martin Luther King Jr. Day or President's Day off in school.

And I really, really love Mondays and Fridays in the summertime. I do my best to try to fill them with play dates whenever possible.

Play dates. They're brilliant!

I get to spend time with some of my favorite mamas in the world. We have grown up conversations (when kids aren't tugging on our dresses and repeating "Mommy, mama, Momma, Moooommmmyyyy" 100 times each). Ella and Kate get to see their 'fwends.' as And I get the joy of watching my girls interact with other kids that I adore.

So last Monday, I had my college BFFs over with their kids. We played outside and ate lunch together and tore up the good ol' playroom. I loved it. I even felt a little sad when they all left, even though they'd spent almost half-a-day with us.





Then last Friday, we had a truly fabulous play date -- hosted by my friend Heidi's parents at their fabulous "Flamingo Farms" in London, Ohio.







We wore bathing suits because we were supposed to swim. But with a play house like this, Ella and Kate only spent about 5 minutes in the pool. Can you blame them?





On Sunday, we got to spend a few hours with our darling Sophie, who lives just up the street, and her little baby sister.



Then, this Monday, we got to spend the day with my sweet friend Tara and her darling daughters, Elle, Mia and Charlotte. Tara and her older two girls took care of my baby Ella before Kate was born, when I was at work. Ella loved them so much, she'd sometimes cry when I picked her up at the end of the day!

She ran down the driveway to greet them when the arrived.







And the girls even started their own little band.



It was so much fun. These girls will always have such a special place in my heart for the way they cared for our Ella Bella. I hope we have play dates til their married with their own kids!

And in the middle of all the play date fun, we had two birthday parties!

My Godson, Robby, turned 2











....and our sweet little friend Willow Bird turned 1.











I'll take a child's birthday party over a night on the town almost any day of the week. Really. I swear. I love them!

There was a time when summer meant full days sunning myself at the pool, dinners at trendy restaurants and drinking at the bar-of-the-month until the wee hours of the morning. Those summers had their place. But I wouldn't trade my play-date-and-birthday-party summer days for anything in the world.

Oh, and just for extra smiles. This is Ella on her most recent (and last!) visit to Children's Hospital. She wore her 'princess dress' and new Mary Jane rain boots. And woot, woot! Her blood levels are all back up and she's a totally healthy girl again.



Life is good. Life is so, so good.