I’ve been looking forward to today and the chance to catch up with my dear friend Bekah…the chance to see our littles play together, to traipse around a different city, to browse fun shops, and to have lunch and sip coffee and just do life like we do. The contents of the day certainly did not disappoint!

H and I left home this morning around 8:30a to begin our “Adventure Day!” and head East. (Note our smiling faces as we began the day…lots of talking things up makes for fairly successful car trips and fun, action-packed outings with H at this age):

h was all smiles as we left this morning. i’m sure having his favorite things in hand didn’t hurt. 😉

i couldn’t get him to take a smiling pic with me, but he agreed to make silly faces. i’ll take it!

2.5 hours drive or so (and a lot of matchbox cars and books) later, we arrived at the little blue house in Ann Arbor–welcomed by hugs and greetings and the smiles of two friends we’ve missed here on our side of the state. It is so good to have friendships that just pick up right where you left off, even if it’s been a few months since your last conversation, and even when there are busy and talkative toddlers now contributing to the mix. Honestly, our hang outs wouldn’t be the same without the kiddos; our friendship grew as we grew them together in our bellies, and life just kept carrying on in a beautiful way once they arrived. We’ve been having coffee and kiddo dates now for two years–I’m not sure what we would do without the extra busyness and life that our H’s bring to the table. 🙂

Together with H & H, we had a leisurely and play-filled morning and lunchtime, lots of running in and out of the house to explore outside, sweet homemade muffins and tea, time for making Playdoh creations, and as much catching up as we could cram into a few hours. The babes took naps (kind of;) while Bekah and I carried on chatting in the sun/shade of the back porch. Next up, it was “Adventure Time!”, and we all piled into the car to head downtown.

It’s fair to say that a few hours wandering around Ann Arbor is not nearly enough time for a girl like me, but we certainly made the most of it! On a different visit, maybe we’ll wander without two strollers in tow, but today it was great fun to watch our two year olds run around and enjoy the outing. Hannah and Bekah showed Henry and me all of their favorite places, and I soaked up as much pattern and color and creativity as possible as we browsed racks of adorable baby items, inspired prints, and my favorite paper store to date. While there, I picked up gouache in a range of beautiful colors, so now I can work on the little calligraphy project I’ve had in mind for the baby’s room. Bonus. 😉

i’ll just take one of everything, thank you very much.

the colors and prints just do my heart good!

We rounded out our time with a quick stopover at Sweetwaters for afternoon treats and a visit to the toy store before returning B & H home for the evening.

it was hard to say goodbye to such a great toy store…

It is such a delight to just be moms alongside Bekah for the day–I certainly miss the regularity of our visits, but I love that so much still feels the same when we’re all together in one place again!

Henry and Hannah had the cutest goodbyes:

swoon.

this kiss and their accidentally coordinating outfits were almost too much to handle.

And we attempted one group shot before H and I headed out for home. Not bad for the first try, if we do say so–everyone is smiling and happy:

our little quartet for the day (or should i say quintet? there’s a bump hiding in here somewhere…)

It was just the loveliest day with the loveliest girls. H and I are so thankful for sweet friends and the time and chance to spend a whole day together before life gets a little busier with a certain small person making his or her debut in the world. I can see seasonal trips to Ann Arbor in our future–we won’t be able to stay away for very long!

Before we officially hit the road, I felt it completely necessary to make one last stop…H helped me pick out a few treats and some more practical items to bring home with us (and he even helped his mama push the cart to the car–what a gentleman!):

Then of course we needed a little sustenance for the trip home:

“we’re having dinner, my purple mommy!” (i have a purple dress on today. go figure:)

He makes such a good little adventurer and co-conspirator! Even at the end of a very long day, we were still pretty much all smiles and rainbows as we made our way out of town:

or at least, smiles and cars characters. same kind of thing, really.

And at 8:30p on the dot, as if he’d made a deal with the clock, H fell soundly asleep for the rest of the trip home. I took advantage of the remaining hour and a half of quiet to think about all kinds of things, to be thankful…and to admire God’s handiwork at the end of the day:

never mind the streaky window, that is one fine canvas in the sky! (of course i was careful, and didn’t really even attempt to do more than hit one button). the gist is still grand 😉

So now we’re home and the munchkin went straight up to bed without a fight. In fact, he pretty much just curled up in his dad’s lap while we navigated a wardrobe change into PJs. I’m not sure he ever really woke up. It was certainly an action-packed and adventure-filled day. Can’t wait to do it again sooner than later when life permits. In the meantime, I’m soaking up all of the good–the kiddos singing, loooong conversations with my beautiful friend, baby kicking all the way through the day, and a sweaty, tuckered out, curious little boy who makes every adventure more worthwhile.

so, so, so blessed and storing away new memories.

mm