Goodbye

Sometimes the really wonderful and happy parts of life are sad too… like when you have a good friend and it’s time to say goodbye permanently.  June seems to bring goodbyes with it every year.

Kaitlyn and Addie have been friends for a year since her family moved in nearby.  They have seen each other mostly at church each week.

Kaitlyn had a chance to have Addie come over before she moves to Utah.  They had so much fun drawing chalk pictures of Rapunzel, practicing at the hula-hoop, swinging and laughing together one last time.

Tristan was somehow just as thrilled to have one of Kaitlyn’s friends come over to play.  I was surprised at his enthusiasm but as he showed off just a little bit a couple of times I suddenly had visions of my life with them ten years from now!!!  I remember that with my brothers.  Oh dear!

The girls played very nicely together with games like Bingo and Duck Duck 123.  They went upstairs.  They ran downstairs.  They were very busy.

Then they informed me they were going on an adventure and they would be camping.  They grabbed their back packs running out the back door and all was quiet in the house.  I went out back to find this big white lump in the middle of the yard.  “Knock!  Knock!”

They were in their tent eating hot dogs, checking out their first aid kit and having a great time.  We moved inside from the heat and had a real meal to fill their tummies with peanut butter and strawberry jam on home made bread. 

After lunch they moved back outside to play Hullabaloo with Tristan until Addie’s Mom came to pick her up.  Both girls knew that this would be the last time they see each other.  They talked about it and then gave each other a hug as they said goodbye.  They had so much fun together and I regret not having Kaitlyn’s friends over more often.  Life during the school year gets pretty hectic for me and that’s my excuse if it is one.

Addie isn’t the only friend that Kaitlyn is saying goodbye to this year.  Her other friend Penelope is moving to Texas in July.  We wanted to have her come over as well.  These girls have been friends for two years (that’s half their lives) since Penelope moved here, also nearby us, and Kaitlyn loves to sit right next to her each week at church in class.  I always hear about it when that doesn’t happen. 

The girls got busy playing Caribou until they started talking about having a tea party.  They came and found me in the basement looking for flour.  “What can we have for a tea party, Mom”?  I heard.  I gave them a choice of muffins or cookies.  Then I gave them a choice of peanut butter or chocolate.  The “Chocolate Softies” won out and both girls donned aprons as they prepared to help with the baking.  Penelope volunteered to crack the egg and she took that egg to the bowl like a pro!  No shells this time.  She told me that sometimes she gets “cracks” in the bowl and has to pick them out.  I thought that was so cute and funny.  She was proud of herself this time.

While they waited for cookies to bake and cool they watched a couple of minutes of Sesame Street but there was way too much to do to sit for long.  Shortly they went upstairs to find some baby dolls and adventure packs to bring to tea.  Kaitlyn had a compass wrapped around her arm to figure out which way to go.

The ground was sort of wet so they set out their blanket for tea up on the deck.  They carefully poured water from the china tea set and enjoyed a couple of cookies each… before lunch.  I was afraid they wouldn’t have time for their “tea” if I made them wait.  Penelope told Kaitlyn that “cookies are a special treat and not for a snack”.  I told her she was right.  They loved the cookies and I told Penelope that she could take some of them home.  After all, she helped to make them.  She looked forward to sharing them with her parents… and maybe her baby sister too.

More adventures outside before lunch time, where Kaitlyn said she had to sit right next to Penelope.  (Surprise)

Kaitlyn is lucky to have such nice little girls for friends.  Good friends are wonderful… Good friends are hard to find!  We will miss both Addie and Penelope as they move on to new adventures in new and exciting places.