Spending the day with a good friend

My best friend from high school lives in Illinois -- it is only a 3.5-hour drive from my parents' house in Indiana to Karen's house in Illinois, but unfortunately we have found it more and more difficult to get together now that we both have kids. My trips to Indiana are often packed with visits to various family members, so I'm rarely able to take a day away to spend with Karen.

Roommates together again after a too-long absence!


Since I last saw Karen, she had her second child, a beautiful girl named Liliana, I gave birth to Cordelia and Estella, and our older kids (my daughter Adelaida and Karen's son Hamilton) both grew up from babies into active toddlers. So when Karen suggested that she could drive to Indiana to visit with us while I was staying at my parents' house, I was overjoyed!

Adelaida with Baby Michael


Hamilton poses with the birds by the house


Karen, Hamilton, and Lilianna drove to Greenwood on a Sunday evening, just in time to introduce our kids to one another and then put them to bed. We talked for a while that evening, then got as much rest as we could that night. The next day, Karen's parents drove up from southern Indiana to join us and we had a whole day together, talking and laughing and playing with the kids. Karen's parents brought a big box of sidewalk chalk, so we spent about an hour outside, with a blanket on the grass for the little kids to lay on while the big kids colored on the driveway.

Adelaida, Cordelia, Estella, Lilianna, and Hamilton


Lilianna gets tummy time while Cordelia and Estella sleep


Pat sits with Adelaida on the blanket


When the kids were done with their sidewalk chalk, Dave helped Karen and me take the kids for a walk -- with two strollers containing three infants and two toddlers running around, we didn't go very far, but we found some good puddles to jump in and interesting flowers and trees in the neighborhood.

The day flew by and, before I knew it, Karen was loading her kids up in the car and we were saying good-bye. I miss Karen but will try to see her again before we both add more kids to the family!