Friends!

I have been lucky enough to get lots of friend time in lately!

First up was a 30th birthday trip with my college girlfriends.  We see each other pretty often, but typically we have the kids running around when we meet.  Everyone loves to see the kids, but it is tough to get in time to catch up and talk.  So we headed to New Buffalo, Michigan for a wine weekend.  We had a great time on the wine trail (hired a driver!), eating (and eating some more), chatting and antique shopping (I have noticed when it goes from thrift to antique the prices go way up!).  

I cannot believe I have known these girls for twelve years.  I am so lucky to have them and we had fun celebrating our 30th birthdays together!  I love New Buffalo if you are looking for a fun overnight trip!

  

Stephanie decided to embrace the photo bomb :)

Love this picture my friend Steph took.  Wine bottles and breast pump bottles...times have changed since college ;)  Wine and not wine coolers?  Hee hee.

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Next up was a baby sprinkle for my friend Nicole and her husband Kris.  They are welcoming a second little boy this month.  My girlfriend Kayte, Sharon (Nicole's sister) and I had fun planning a surprise sprinkle for the baby-to-be.  The construction theme worked out perfectly because they broke ground on their new house that same day!

I met Kayte and Nicole right after college but before kids.  I was a little eager for new friends at that point, not living in the town we worked, and I was so thankful they took me right in with open arms.  We now love to get our families together often and I have met so many great people through both girls. 

 

Very surprised!

Thanks to Ryan for making these new balloon stands for me!  They will be used again and again and I will get to save a little helium and money in the process.

The boys were really good sports.  The games were only for the boys.  Here Kris and Brody were competing in a little Daddy Olympics which involved car seats, baby dolls, diapers and strollers :) 

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And lastly, I got to spend an evening with my "mom friends" last weekend.  I initially met each of them through a breastfeeding support group at the local hospital.  I am thinking it was a great place to meet people as they have easily transitioned from my "mom friends" to some of my closest friends!  

I am so grateful to have these girls because making "mom friends" can be a bit tricky.  Maybe similar to dating?  You have to find people you enjoy being around but also parent somewhat similarly to you and it helps if the kids are similar in age.  It is tricky, tricky stuff.  Who would have known?  

Relieved I found these girls early on!

The five of us now live in three different states but I was so excited to have some time all together! 

Thanks to Ryan for always being a good sport about my friend adventures!  I would not be able to partake without his support (I also enjoy BUNCO and book club!).  He is more than willing to take the kids on his own and a happy participant in being involved sometimes too (i.e. crazy shower games).  

He may have won the Daddy Olympics :)

More updates on these two coming soon.  Soon they will be two and five!