June: good-byes, swings, creeks and trains

Sometime when I feel like I can keep it together I'll have to do a post on our good friends the Simmons. They moved at the end of May so Cal could start his EM residency up in Portland, Maine. Sarah and Cal are the kind of people you imagine when someone mentions "life-long friends". They have been our next-door neighbors and almost constant companions for the last two years. Their little girl Ellie would come over to play most days and multiple nights a week found the Simmons at our house watching movies, playing games, eating dessert or just hanging out. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them so far away. Someone like that you never forget and can't ever replace. The kind of friend that is always there for you and loves you for who you are, who pushes you to be your best but doesn't judge if you fall short. The kind of friend you can call in the middle of the night for anything or who goes with you when you take your child to the emergency room so you don't have to be alone, or who gladly volunteers to watch all four of your kids so you can have an hour at the gym or a date night with your husband. Oh Sarah, what am I going to do without you? She's the best friend I've ever had and my heart is broken that they have moved so far away.

Our "good-bye" dinner with the Simmons and the Taylors a few days before they both left.

Ugh. Okay, on to happier things...

Our last couple of weeks in our apartment were busy while George worked and I procrastinated packing. I spent a lot of time on craigslist looking for things for our new house. We scored a couple times with a free piano and a leather couch we got for a great price. When we were about to go crazy cooped up inside, the kids and I ventured out to enjoy our cute complex a few more times before the move.

I am going to miss having the park right outside our back door. It's been nice being able to send the kids outside to play while dinner cooks or I'm getting some chores done. 

This little girl loves to swing! She wiggles and squirms and laughs when I push her. Jude likes to push her as well, although I get a bit nervous with his enthusiasm and usually end up taking over in an effort to keep Lily from flying out of the swing. Jude struggles with the "she's a baby" concept and is convinced she can play rough like Cole and Lance. Maybe he's right--Lily thinks Jude is awesome and sometimes just hearing his voice makes her laugh.

On one particularly hot day we went to the "down park" and played in the creek. The boys thought it was the greatest thing ever. (Lance was spending a couple weeks in California right before the move.)

Rock! Jude and Cole had a blast throwing the rocks onto the creek and watching the water splash.

Jude ran off to explore another part the creek, hence the millions of pictures of Cole.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of Virginia's green.

Lily was a trooper as usual and happily hung out in the grass.

The day after Lance got back from San Diego the Scouts held a Regatta at Pres. Schill's house. Lance made an awesome boat with Scott which he raced. George and I got lost on the way to the Schill's so only caught the last race. It looked like fun!

Lance testing his boat in the river.

The last "race" they did they had all the boys drop their boats into the river from the bridge. I don't think they figured out who won, but it sure was fun!

Almost immediately after this, the sky opened up and it poured! Our family was soaked completely. We tried to take refuge on the Schill's porch along with everyone else, but after Jude threw up (he tends to do that if he's too excited or had too much to drink) and Cole ran back down to the river to play, I decided it was time to go. Although it was crazy with the rain, I'm glad we got to see Lance race his boat.


Have I mentioned how much Cole loves trains? And by love I mean the "take a train everywhere and even sleep with it" kind of love. This little boy is obsessed. It's strange because neither Lance nor Jude have every been that attached to a certain toy, although Lance does like his own blankets.  Cole on the other had has a special toy that he cannot do without. This toy does change from time to time, but he is never without at least one thing that has to go with him at all times. It's been his Wonder Woman cape in the past, along with some Ninja Turtle swords and most recently it's been trains. He has to have a train no matter where we are or what we're doing, the cars have to be in the right order and no one else can fix it if it falls apart. Even if you put his train back together in the right color order, he will tear it apart and fix it himself. He's such a funny kid.

He is also obsessed with train tracks. The day we closed on our house, we went across the street after signing all the documents to have some lunch. There happened to be some train tracks next door and Cole refused to come inside the restaurant. He saw the tail end of a train go past and it was all over. He cried and cried and refused to eat until we took him back outside to watch for more trains.

They sat like this for probably half an hour just waiting for a train. (See the little train Cole has?)

The other day I had to get the brakes changed on the van. George was working nights and needed to sleep, so I left Lance and Jude at home to watch TV while he slept and took Cole and Lily with me. The car repair shop shares a lot with the train track and Cole could not have been happier.

We saw no less than three trains pass by. Even though we were stuck at the shop for three hours, Cole was in heaven. Love this boy!