OMG!!!!!!

The cast of characters included in this post: Natalie, Michael, Spencer, Ginger, Chelsea, Lilly, Zac, Laura, Josh, Sara, Karen, Bernie and Tyler.

The plan: Chelsea, Lilly and Zac would drive from Tucson to Chandler on Friday afternoon and stay with us for 2 nights. Laura, Josh and Sara would drive from Tucson to Tempe on Saturday morning and stay with Karen, Bernie and Tyler for 1 night. We would all get together Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday morning for various activities.

The outcome: Things did not go quite as planned and as such I#1: have not been able to blog for several days and #2: currently feel like I have been drug through the mud, put through the wringer and been used as somebody's whipping boy.

I considered blogging the events of the weekend as, like, 3-4 different posts. I decided against it though because I got very little downtime between each "event" and if you're going to re-live the weekend with me you might as well get the most realistic experience possible.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON/NIGHT

So, this is 10 minutes after Chelsea and her kids arrived. Spencer was still napping at this point. A single energetic one-year-old was responsible for this (and this is just a tiny snapshot of his energy).

Yes, Zac was a hurricane of activity. He even needed to take a nap on Ginger's bed after he flew around the house on Friday afternoon.After Spencer woke up we took the kids to the park. Spencer started the first of many Lilly hugs.
Then we came home and Lilly and Zac borrowed Spencer's swim suits and we played with water in the backyard. I discovered that we could have shared swim suits with 5 more kids. I have NO IDEA how Spencer ended up with 8 swim suits.

It was during all this water play that Laura called us with the sad news that Tyler was sick with a fever so Karen, Bernie and Tyler wouldn't be able to join us for all the weekend activities AND Laura, Josh and Sara could no longer stay at their house. The decision was made that it was silly of them to get a hotel room and they would just have to come stay at our house.

Let's briefly stop to count how many people will now be staying at my house on Saturday night: 9. Let's also recap how many of these people are age three or younger: 4.

Lilly and Spencer shared a romantic dinner of pizza and grapes at the art table.
Then, immediately after their 1st date they ended up in the tub together. They move fast. I had to edit the picture since Spencer still doesn't understand the concept of sitting in the bathtub.
This is definitely a shot for their 8th grade yearbook.
SATURDAY MORNING

We played with Mickey Mouse ear hats.
Then we headed off to Dunkin' Donuts where we met Laura and Sara.

After we were sufficiently caffeinated (adults) and sugared up (adults and children) we went to the toy store to meet:

Peter Rabbit! (Or Peter Bunny as Spencer calls him) We listened to a story and then took individual pictures with all the kids.

Zac was not so much in love with Peter.

Lilly would only stand there after Spencer agreed to go with her. They make a good team.

After all the excitement of donuts and rabbits we came back to our house and got the strollers ready for a walk.
I don't think any of these children were particularly excited by what the adults thought was a hilarious photo opp.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Tyler was feeling good enough that Karen could leave him at home with Bernie so she could join us for dinner. We had dinner a little later so Zac and Sara were in bed by the time we ate. 50% less children makes for 50% more eating without interruptions.

The couples:

Me and Michael

Josh and Laura

Without their spouses, Chelsea and Karen became a couple.

Spencer and Lilly

What is a night with long-time friends (notice I didn't say old friends, because we are all quite young) without a fabulous cake?

Chelsea has a promising career in food photography.

After dessert Karen left us and the rest of the night became 1) blurry and 2) confidential. What I can share is that small children went to bed, 6 bottles of wine and 18 bottles of beer were consumed, memories were shared, tears were shed, abdominal muscles were sore from laughter and we all went to bed far too late.

SUNDAY MORNING

Chelsea and Lilly in the guest room.

Zac in the pack n play in the play room.

Me, Ginger, Spencer and Michael in our bed in our room.

Josh on a mattress on the floor in Spencer's room.

Sara in the pack n play in Spencer's room.

Laura in "Spencer's bed" (in quotes because Spencer's never actually slept there) in Spencer's room.

Oh girls, it was fun. We have all changed so much since 5th grade (when I met Karen), 7th grade (when we met Chelsea) and 9th grade (when we met Laura), yet we are all still exactly the same. Let's start planning the next get-together immediately. My only request: keep me and Laura away from BevMo because 6 bottles of wine was obviously way more than we could handle.