Exploring

Last weekend we rallied the troops and headed down to Connecticut to visit friends. Mr. 4 loves to travel and his dream is that he'll go to sleep in his bed and wake up states away from where he started. This has only happened once when we drove out to Indianapolis from Boston well over a year ago but he has never forgotten how wonderful it was. So now anytime we mention going on a trip he immediately asks if we'll go while he's sleeping! In fact, when we told him it was time to get ready to go he immediately stripped out of all his clothes and I found him trying to find his pajamas so he would be ready even though we had barely finished dinner.

Friday night and Saturday we spent with friends from college. They have five kids - 8, 6, 4, 2, and 2. Whenever I feel a bit overwhelmed by how busy these 3 keep us I'm reminded of how busy they are with 5 (including twins)! M, the mom and master organizer of this crew, is amazing and I love watching her in action. Since our last visit they have moved to a house that backs up to a huge stretch of woods - enormous by our city standards. The boys had a fantastic time exploring although Mr. 4 did manage to step in the stream and required emergency return to the house for dry clothes. I did discover that you can blow dry a shoe pretty quickly which is useful info! Mr. 6 and friends played a game of ice hockey on the frozen part of the lake with sticks from the woods and a piece of styrofoam abandoned in warmer times. The parents stood on the sidelines and took turns reminding everyone to stay on our side where we were sure it was frozen! I love seeing the boys out in the woods - it just feels right for boys to be out exploring, hitting trees with sticks, trying to ford streams, and finding treasures.