Friends and Friends

I had a busy week last week with some good friends in the area (or nearby area). My friend Holly (who is also my sorority little sister, but I really have stopped introducing her as such considering that we are both thirtysomething) is in town from Los Angeles for work and stayed with us on Thursday and Friday nights. It was so great to see her. James enjoyed driving to the airport to pick her up, and he loved her (she lavished a lot of attention on her). We chatted, hung out, etc. On Friday morning we headed out on a road trip...so the car contained three adult women (me, Holly, and my friend Allison - more info to come) plus the two boys, a dvd player, my "day bag" full of snacks, drinks, movies, toys, diapers, lunch for Nate, etc. Also, the double stroller, camera, booster seat and somewhere in there, my sanity. :)
We were headed down to Richmond to visit my close friend Rachel, who lives in Denver. She was in our state capital for a conference but was leaving early Saturday and had no car. So, I decided to drive down for the day to see her. Greg was going to go with me but had to work. So in steps Allison, my navigator/nanny/general wonderful girl. She and I had sung with Rachel in college, so, they were also friends. It was perfect! Allison is between jobs and loves kids, so voila - I emailed her earlier in the week and she happily agreed to come along on what could have been mass hysteria and chaos.
In the end, it was great! We got James all set up for a movie, Nate luckily took his first nap the entire drive down, and we enjoyed a quick trip after some traffic in Springfield. We dropped Holly off at the metro first so she could go to work. Allison was great - she changed movies for James, got him snacks, and helped with directions. It was great to catch up with her.
Richmond was fine - the hotel was in a sort of depressed area of the city, so, we decided that it would be easier for the boys to work off some energy in Rachel's hotel room. We ordered pizza and Rachel encouraged James to jump on the bed. :) Rachel has an almost 3 year old daughter so she's also great with kids. So James loved the attention and the excitement of the desk chair that spun around. Nate was as sweet and easy as ever.
We ended up arriving at 11:30 and departing at 2:30. I'd filled up on gas before we left so we just got right back on the highway. We were home around 4 - super easy trip back. Very fun and the boys were easy - just a little crying from Nate as we neared home - who can blame him?!
Greg got home later and we all picked Holly up at the metro, then went to dinner near our house. It was very fun to go out and have some beers with Holly. That night, she played with James for a LONG time, it was great.
Saturday morning I dropped Holly off at her rental car place at the airport. We are idiots, couldn't figure out where to turn for the place. Ah, well. It was sad to see her go but really fun while she was here.
So lots of time with friends from college...I see Rachel every 2 years on average. And I have to say, nothing ever changes between us. It's always fun, light hearted, but real, true friendship. And Allison is such a great girl - I'm so glad she moved here from Boston. And Holly really is my little sister in a lot of ways. :) She's an awesome woman!
The rest of our weekend has been good. I sit here with the windows open enjoying the breeze and the sun, which appeared (very conveniently) AFTER my 8 mile run this morning. I'm actually glad, I would have been too warm if it had been out during it. Yesterday I got a new cell phone and then we played at the train table and got groceries (made yummy pizza for dinner and had margaritas!). Today I did my run and hit Target. I'm in charge of the family Easter egg hunt in New Jersey, so I wanted to buy stuff without James. Also finally got myself some sunglasses, so the wrinkle between my eyes will hopefully not be as prominent. :)
Hopefully will post photos soon of the visits. What a great time - I am so lucky to have good friends!
p.s. The boys are great. :) Didn't write about them. I'm selfish sometimes. Shoot me.