Before I begin I need to preface by saying that this is a major overload of pictures and fun we’ve been having lately…and this isn’t even all of what we’ve been doing this week!
After Darrin and I learned that we were expecting our first child I discovered BabyCenter, a website for parents and expectant parents. There I could receive updates on my pregancy, what to expect, and how the baby was growing. I quickly discovered the message boards where they were divided by the expected due date month. Much later I found out there were many other boards geared toward interests and hobbies, but the October 2004 birth club was where I found my niche. I quit visiting the site when I regularly emailed a fellow expecting mom who lived in middle TN. We later lost touch as our due dates approached, and we touched base once after the birth of our girls. It wasn't until February 2006 that I reconnected with Rebekah's birth club and became good friends with so many of the moms from all over the nation and even the world. Several months later I recruited LeeAnne, and we both met Jessica when she posted on the board saying that she was moving to our area looking for friends.
Last Thursday a group of us from the October 2004 BBC birth club, the three of us plus a few from Atlanta, met up with a mom from PA who was down for the week with her family. Most of us from here in the south had met before, but we had never met Nicole, and we got to meet one more mom from Atlanta. It was so fun having all of our October birthday kids together as well as a few siblings who all are very close in age as well. Joshua is barely the oldest while the others will be two years very soon, although the toddlers didn't seem to care to play together nearly as much.
We met at Blue Moon Cafe for lunch and enjoyed our meal on the patio since the weather was so nice.
From left to right: Jessica and her son Kyle, Rebekah, Heidi (Jessica's daughter and best seen in the 3rd pic), Maggie and her mom LeeAnne, Charlie and his mom Stephanie, Stephanie's daughter Gracie, Leah, Leah's daughter Olivia (against the fence in the 2nd pic and in her mom's lap in the 3rd pic), Nicole and her daughter Kylie, Faith hiding behind her mom Mandy, and Joshua.
And a pic with me while Jessica took this shot.
While the kids waited on their food they could mold a piece of pizza dough like play-doh and after it was baked they could eat it. What a novelty idea!
Following lunch Rebekah, Heidi, and Maggie went crazy to see each other. They got in a group hug and just held each other. Before long Maggie was picking up Rebekah. The girls had not seen each other in a long time, at least Rebekah had not seen them, and it was a neat reunion to see. I just wish I had my camera handy. Soon the kids were playing "Ring Around the Rosie" in a big group.
Next we headed over to Kangazoom for the kids to jump and play. Joshua screamed because he did not want to get back into the car. He was afraid he was going to have to ride another 2 hours. But once I started getting Rebekah unbuckled to get out of the car he was laughing with excitement.
The kids had a blast playing, jumping, sliding, and climbing. It was hard to keep Joshua in the same room with the big kids so that I could mingle more with the moms. A couple of times I tried to keep him confined in the crawler section of the room (so he wouldn't run off to the room next door) since we were the only ones there for most of the day, but he found a way over the soft wall. That boy can be resourceful sometimes!
Here are a few pics of the fun. These pictures are not the best quality in the world because the lighting was not very good and I did not take my DSLR. I got frustrated a bit because the shutter lag was slow, but it was nice to only have a pocket camera for the event instead of a big camera to lug around with everything else. My only regret is that I didn't get pics of all the kids.
Joshua hit this toy first thing and it quickly became one of his favorites.
LeeAnne slides down with some of the kids.
Rebekah slid like this a lot. I'm sure it was a thrill!
Kyle didn't take long before he got tired.
Olivia looks so grown up although she is almost two years old. What a doll! Her big 4-year-old brother was at preschool, so he had to miss the fun.
This was one of those times that I tried to snap the pic and missed the shot. Kylie was holding Gracie in front of her on the wedge.
Got it! Notice the wall where Joshua is standing. Yes, he escaped over this wall a couple of times. He managed to move a wedge next to it so he could easily climb out.
Olivia and Joshua were obviously used to dealing with older siblings. They sort of picked at each other.
Faith and Rebekah - These girls were labeled "The BBC Twins" back before we ever met in person. They always favored so much in their pics.
The older they get the less they look alike, but they still resemble one another. Check this out! Of course, they are taken at the end of the day and Rebekah doesn't want to smile b/c she is so tired. First pic is 1 1/2 years ago when we first met.
Be sure to check out LeeAnne's post as well. She captured some great photo shots. Here is one of the group she shared.
On Saturday some friends of ours, Lee and Laura, whom we quickly connected with early in our marriage from the Newlywed Sunday School class, were in town visiting for the weekend. They moved away before we had children, and it had been 2 1/2 years since they had visited. Their daughter at the time was 5 weeks old and I was pregnant with Joshua. Now their daughter Lily is 2 1/2. I could not get over how much she is like my neice Taylor! They not only favor each other, but they have very similar personalities. It's almost scary how much they are alike! I tell you, they could be twins!
We met up with our friends at Cracker Barrel for lunch. Rebekah quickly wanted to become friends with Lily.
Laura and Me
Darrin and Lee
The kids
After lunch we headed outside to let the kids run around. Our kids needed it the most.
Rebekah can be so funny sometimes.
Saying Good-bye
1 comment:
Wow, that's a lot of pictures! :) I got a couple of cute ones at the park Monday; I'll have to send them to you!
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