We met this family (Hartter family) years ago when we were brand new parents to Russell and they were expecting their first little girl. We instantly clicked and became GREAT friends. For years we lived next door to each other, or just a few blocks away, and did almost everything together. Meals weekly. Birthday celebrations. Zoo trips. Cook outs. Walks. I can not even begin to explain how wonderful "the golden years" of living next to each other were.

Over the last few years each of us has made big moves and we no longer live close. When we do get the chance to get together it seems that not a day has passed since "the golden years". When we got a call last week saying that Lil was thinking of coming with the girls, the excitement was almost too much to handle! We were definitely in need of some quality time with this family. Jake was greatly missed though. Here is a quick recap of our week:

A break from playing to have some popcorn.

The beach

We found several of these on the beach. We later found that they are called a "sea gooseberry". They are a type of cone jellyfish that do not have tentacles or sting.

Max holding a sea gooseberry.

A trip to the beach is not complete without a stop at our favorite ice cream place. Even though it was pretty cold.

Russell's blazer was a hit with the girls.

We were able to go spend some time at the Y on a rainy day.

Lobster! Along with clams and scallops. Oh what a delicious meal!!

R.C. and his little friend

Trying clams. All the kids liked the shells, but not the meat inside. Oh well, more for us!

It is amazing how well these kids play together. They are very content to play anything together and very little parenting is needed. If there was not a need to make a meal I feel the kids would not have needed us one bit. Lil and I were able to just sit and chat while the kids played for hours on end. The boys were shown how to play with fairies properly and the girls were shown the art of legos and dinos. It's obvious that they don't care what they are doing so long as they are together. There are so many funny little stories to share, but this is already incredibly lengthy. Just know that a great time was had.

Thank you Lil and girls for coming to visit!! We miss you again, already!