This is our forecast here for today:
Looks like rain, huh? Ah, that’s okay. I’m kind of in the mood for a rainy day. We have had a stretch of some beautiful, hot weather for the most part, and this weekend looks like it will be mid-80’s and sunny too.
Like I’ve mentioned before, Fridays are generally one of my favorite workdays and surprisingly (?) usually one of my most productive days. There’s usually nowhere I need to go, no morning tennis lesson or Asher’s pool time to work around, and by Friday I’m generally more content to just let the kids sort of start the weekend. Not that we have been having tons of real structured time for them anyway, but I’ve been giving them lists of a few educational things to do and whatnot.
So, I’m kind of in the mood to just settle in for a rainy workday to get a lot done before heading into the weekend. The boys do have an exercise class at the gym at 9:00, but normally they bike over. I suppose if it’s raining I’ll need to drop them quick, but it’s like 2 blocks away so no big deal.
Last night our neighbors were going away, so we kept their daughter all evening. She has been a best buddy of the boys since we moved in here 7 years ago, and we just found out they are putting their house up for sale on Monday and moving back to be near family!! The boys are pretty devastated. They spend hourseach week playing with her, and they play SO WELL together.
She is a bit of a tom boy and fits in perfectly with the boys. I also just really like how they play together- tons of outdoor, active play, jumping on the trampoline, searching for toads, stuff like that…but they also play a lot of imaginative games with her. Together, they make up complicated tag/ make believe games in her tree house, they build huge Lego cities together, they make scooter mazes in the cul-de-sac…they are just very in sync with their more creative play styles and that can be hard to find in a friend.
Sniff, sniff! I am actually really sad about this, too. I have loved that the boys can just run out the door and have an instant playmate. They’ve all taken to just roaming the neighborhood between the various backyards and I had recently been thinking how grateful I am that they can have this more “traditional” barefoot, play-in-the-sprinkler type summer experience. Fingers crossed maybe another family with kids will move in. Their house is a great set up for a young family especially being on the cul-de-sac, so I’m hopeful.
Anyway, it was a fun night with her here and per their request, we made a bonfire. Another friend that lives nearby ended up joining in too and they played some epic games of tag followed by “ghost in the graveyard” for a looooong time after dark. Plenty of s’mores were had, too. 😊
Some pics from the evening:
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We had chicken tostadas and Mexican rice, but I made this “calabacita” dish too- zucchini, onion, tomato and corn with cheese melted in! We ate outside on the deck and it was perfect.
  While sitting and thinking about our neighbors moving, it made me want to capture a few images of our own house and yard. I feel like if we ever move, I would like to look back and remember little things, like this big Ash tree (pictured below) that is dying fast and needs to be removed, our old swing set (looking at removing it now and replacing it with a trampoline) and just how our yard looked on a summer night at this stage in our life, having a bonfire.
  From my chair by the fire pit I really liked how warm and cozy our sunroom looked, with the warm glow of the light from inside….plus the tree branches and the moon. I’m such a sap. Haha. Those little things do make me happy though.
 And last but not least, a summer night wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t snuggle with a toad!
 Have a great Friday! Is it rainy where you are today? Did you ever have a best friend move away when you were a child? I didn’t but it was always sort of one of my biggest fears!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for my house. I’m grateful that we own a house, that we have a yard we enjoy, and that despite its imperfections, our house has been a true home to our family over the years. 💓
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GRATEFUL KAE 
That is a huge bummer that your kids are losing a beloved playmate/next door neighbor. I didn't have any best friends move away from me growing up. I didn't have a lot of playmates close by but my best friend lived just down the road from us so I could bike down to her house when I was around 8 or 9? I can't remember. There is a little guy 3 months older than Paul across the street from us. We've just waved from afar so far but I think her and Paul would be great playmates. When they walked by a couple of weeks ago, we chatted and then she blew us kisses when they walked away! So cute. I'm looking forward to some play dates when COVID is not an issue anymore. we also think we'd really like their parents. We've never had friends on our block before. I think most of the kids on our block are older than Paul so our options are kind of limited but even being friends with one couple/family would be amazing. I think we are getting showers this morning and I am happy about that. our yard needs rain and I would like time off from watering my garden. This has been a very hot and dry month, although we did get a decent amount of rain last weekend on Sunday afternoon/evening.
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Awww sounds like Paul will have a little playmate too! Let's hope they get along! It has truly been the best and I'm so sad about the whole thing. 😦
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What a sad thing to have neighbour friends to move away, or friends just depart from our life or we depart. When we moved from DC to Manila, it was hard for all of us unknown about the future, leaving our friends behind and our house. I think that's part of the life, that nothing is constant, therefore we should cherish every moment that we have now. My girls are pretty resilient to departures, which is not the case for all expat families, so i'm grateful. looking at your house picture makes me miss ours… well.. one day we'll be back. 🙂
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Oh that is sad about your neighbors. As you know my best friend moved far far away at the end of sixth grade and it was very hard. The worst thing for me was going on to middle school without any close friends to depend on – it was such a big change to a different school with a lot more kids and I felt very alone. But even if your boys aren't losing a school friend it is still hard to have that first experience of having to say goodbye. Will they be close enough to stay in touch? Even if they are, it won't be the same for them or you to just have them be able to run out the door. I imagine tears will be shed. 😦
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I had forgotten about your friend who moved away until after I posted this! I thought of it yesterday though. That was so hard for you, I remember. Ugh. I can't imagine how that must have felt. I had forgotten too that that happened right at the start of middle school!! They will be a few hours away now, so staying in touch will be challenging. They still have other family in the area, so she may come back for visits at times, but it's never the same. People just naturally drift apart when that constant interaction isn't there I guess.
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