Giving Thanks--for Dear Friends

This is a greatly overdue post--but yet the perfect time to finally share it. : )

In October my dear Susan and her two girls came out to visit us!  Susan has visited us before, but this was the first time the girls came too. And I am SO glad they did.  Their visit truly was the highlight of the Fall:

Tiny house + huge bag of pebbles for a landscaping project in the works = perfect under layer for the tent in the front driveway.  DH and our kids slept out in the tent all but the last night, leaving the beds in the house for me & Susan and her girls. The last night all the girls slept out in the tent together (Smiley came back to his own bed for the night).  Everyone out in the tent said it was fine sleeping. The only issue was the roadwork that was being done out in front of our house throughout their visit, which resulted in steel plates on the road--which were LOUD when driven over.  But still, everyone was rested enough that week, to have a good time. And our kids liked it so much they asked if they could sleep in the tent even after our friends left.  And they did, for over a week. So, clearly the accommodations were fine. : )

I think this photo is one of my favorites. This was only the first or second morning.  The girls pretty much immediately loved one another. Seeing them play and hang out so happily together all the visit really made me happy.  At one point they even announced that they were more like cousins than friends. : )  Which of course is perfect, since Susan is like a sister to me!

I actually don't have any photos of most of the time we spent together, because it involved the kids all running away down the creek behind our house, exploring and together finding and creating a special area/fort they named "Gentrock" (which is a combination of both families' last names). They even made a flag for it. : )

Meanwhile, Susan and I got to escape just enough, to sit overlooking the ocean and discuss raising teens, or have lunch. Or cook lunch together. Just doing the girlfriend things I love to do, and getting a chance to talk about all manner of things that were important to us. 

So, the kinds of things we did most of the time I couldn't take pictures of--but am storing up in my heart. : )  

But we did do a few official outings. We went to see wild sea lions and sea otters at Moss Landing State Beach. And in these photos we visited the redwoods at Henry Cowell State Park. Not that they weren't playing under redwoods all day at our house. . . but nature hikes are always fun!

Everyone squeezing into the car for a moment while we drove from one car to the next. (Funny--I never realized until this moment that the inside of my car is white!)

Another fun thing the girls (and sometimes a grownup) did throughout the visit--string games. : )

And on their last night, we had to visit the Boardwalk!  

I love carousels.  This one is special not only for being in the movie The Lost Boys (as are other parts of the Boardwalk), but also because it has a thing that you can pull rings from as you go around (if you are sitting on an outside horse and can reach, that is). . . 

. . . which you then try to throw into the mouth of that scary clown on the wall. 

And Susan got it in his mouth the very first time around!  (It's much harder to do than it sounds, and usually the bells that herald success only go off once a ride.)  

Susan, this is you right before you threw!

Ah, I love this smile of victory!

J, if you look carefully (and double-click on the photo to enlarge it) you can see yourself swinging out on the left there. : )

Merry and L

The final day--photos and goodbyes. : (  But I think the smiles in this first photo sum up the week pretty well. 

The two biggest girls.  

The two youngest girls. 

Hugs all around. 

Susan & Me. 

We love you and miss you!