Christine recently said to me, “you managed to find a neighborhood with a 1950s mentality” and I texted back, “I’m eating a warm chocolate chip cookie on a neighbor’s porch right now, so yeah, you’re probably right.”
A few doors down is 23 year old Joe, who Xander recently said, “can I go see if Joe is home?” to which I replied, “the
adult?! No, you can’t be friends with a grown up!” But Joe happens to be a Pokemon expert and also the most patient person I’ve ever met, as he has spent several hours sitting on his front step, VERY patiently explaining a complex game to 3 little boys who don’t even know how to read yet. He’s quickly become a hero and at first I was worried that the boys were bothering him, but whenever they knock on his door, he happily comes out to trade cards or teach them how to play.
On Friday, we had our first ever (but not last!) Camp Juliet, which was NOT my idea and I was a little skeptical, but was AMAZING. We had regular neighborhood happy hour like usual, but that extended into grilling and potluck dinner.
After dinner, we headed to our backyard to set up tents. When Sean came up with the idea, I was hesitant because it seemed like a good way to end up with overtired, crabby kids. But I went along with it and I am SO glad we did. 3 families planned to camp. Putting up tents while kids and dogs ran wild and free was a test of 3 marriages, but we got all of them up and everyone was still smiling. We had a campfire, and then set up a backyard movie theater for the kids. We projected the movie on a white sheet. I had buckets of popcorn and all of the kids were wrapped in blankets. At one point in the movie, all 7 kids burst into laughter and it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
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While the kids watched the movie, the adults sat around the campfire and chatted. We paused at one point for everyone to make s’mores, and then the kids went back to the movie and the adults played flip cup (which I haven’t played in a long time, but was SO fun!). Several times throughout the evening, different people made the comment that the whole thing was magical. And it was so so magical.
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When the movie ended, we put the kids to bed in their tents and continued to sit around the fire. As I had expected, my children had a tough time falling asleep in the tent, and at 11pm, I made them go inside and go to sleep in their beds.
Augustus slept until 10am the next morning, which is a record!
We woke up the next morning and took down tents and cleaned up the yard. But fun with friends and neighbors was not over yet.
Nate was off to spend the day at a kittenball (like softball, but a different ball) tournament in honor of a friend lost a few years ago. I had to run 11 miles for my 1/2 marathon training, which I expected to take me around 2 hours. So our 11 year old neighbor Olive came over. She took her Red Cross babysitting class a few weeks ago and recently sent out a flyer advertising her services. I remember doing the same thing when I was that age and I was eager to support her! Also, the boys LOVE her and have been begging to have her babysit for weeks. I think Xander may have a little crush on her because when he found out she was babysitting, he was nearly floating on air and had the biggest smile on his face.
She kept them busy and happy while I slogged through the miles. She made them lunch and kept them alive. It was outstanding! 10/10 will hire her again!
But wait, our weekend of fun was not over yet!
After running, the boys and I got ready and drove an hour to Sarah and Grayson’s house (Nate met us there after the tournament). Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Iowa Cyclones– YAY sports! Sarah and Grayson had made so much amazing food and so I was content to eat snacks while the kids all ran around and the football fans actually watched the game.
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Today we had our family photos taken, but otherwise is just a day of rest. The boys are back to playing with the kiddos down the street and Nate and I are catching up on laundry and house stuff. We are all taking it slow and enjoying a day of rest after a marathon of fun on Friday and Saturday.
What an amazing weekend of fun and friends. I am overwhelmed with how lucky we are to live in a magical world.
