Friend Fun

I feel like all I've been doing these days is packing...and thinking about packing...and talking about packing. It's getting kinda old. When I haven't been desperately trying to figure out how to fit items into boxes with as little room to spare as possible (it's like a 24/7 game of Tetris!), I have managed to be somewhat social with the kiddos. For the sake of all of our sanity, we got out of the house for a couple of fun dates with friends last week... 

Last Monday we met up with our Mommy & Me group at Shannon's house. This lady is the hostess with the mostest; she always spoils us with yummy homemade treats and has a wide array of toys set up for all ages. I had a lovely time visiting with her, Kris, and Allison, while our nine munchkins had a ball playing in the backyard and driveway.

Maloney and Levi chillin' in the baby zone.

Meanwhile, her brothers went on a joyride in the Barbie jeep.

Porter held on tight as Luke took the wheel.

"The engine looks good, Ella."

Thanks so much to Shannon, Jessie, and Ella for welcoming us for such a fun morning (and especially to the girls for sharing their awesome toys with all the crazy boys!). Hope to get in one last visit with this sweet group of moms and tots before we say goodbye.

Thursday we were invited to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium by my friend Kim and her lil man Jackson. It had been ages since we'd been there (well over a year, I believe), and Kaiser and Porter were so excited to see the elephants, gorillas, and polar bears. We met up around 10:30 and enjoyed about 2 1/2 hours walking around together. It was a tad overcast, but rain held off until after we left, which made for pretty perfect weather. We managed to hit up all the animals we wanted, despite the sometimes overwhelming crowds of students on school field trips.

Kim and our boys taking a look at the rhino.

P, K & J loved seeing this leopard up close!

Happy, but ready to move on...

The elephants are his favorite.

Just hangin' around at the giraffe exhibit.

Porter sharing his hat with Sissy.

Jackson loved watching the gorillas, but was ready for lunch.

As was this homeboy.

So glad to be out of that stroller.

Caught me a couple polar bears!

As it turns out, visits to the zoo are slightly busier when you have three children to look after and no Daddy to help, so my camera wasn't clicking as much as it has been on trips past. Besides that, Kim and I were far too busy talking about all that's going on in our lives. We are both so anxious to get down to Atlanta and make these outings with our kiddos a weekly occurrence. We've heard a thing or two about how fantastic the aquarium is down there and can't wait to experience it (and a lot of other things) for ourselves!

Saturday the five of us took a trip down to Washington, PA, to hit up the outlet mall for summer sandals for the boys. On our way home, I got a text message from Kacia asking if our family wanted to hang that night. Umm, that's a no-brainer. Though we would have loved to hit up a park for a picnic dinner, it was a bit chilly to do anything outdoors. So, we landed upon one of our favorite Mexican spots, Verde, instead. Thank goodness we ate there early; I'm not sure they could have handled our party of eight if the restaurant had been busy! Let's just say we definitely gave our waitress a run for her money that night. :)

Sweet boy waiting for his dinner.

It's crazy cute how much Harlow loves Malone.

Say, "I'm chubby."

Special performance of the "duckie dance".

Mr. Andy is quite a funny guy.

I can't say enough about these three and just how much we love them. So much, in fact, that we asked them to come to our house the following night, too! :) I told Kacia that if they could excuse the disaster zone that is currently our house, I would make us all dinner and we could let the kids play and then after bedtime watch Arrested Development, which released on Netflix that day. She and Andy took us up on our offer, and again we had a wonderful time. I kind of wish I'd snapped pics of our three amigos forming a band (always a must), pushing each other around on the tractor in the backyard, and taking a dip in the tub together, but alas, I was preoccupied chatting and laughing and just enjoying the presence of our dear friends. Come to think of it, I'm not sorry. I know I probably definitely should put down the camera and do that more often.

Well, I think I've more than used up my allotted "not packing" time for today. Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's back to the basement I go! Wish me luck...