Off Broadway

The Off Broadway production of Mary Poppins made a stop in Grand Rapids this weekend, and we met it there. Months ago our friends asked us if we wanted to get tickets and we've been counting the days since then. We have great friends in that city that we don't get to see very often, so we got tickets, and made plans to stay with them one night while we were in town. Seeing them alone was worth the trip.

Then...I had forgotten the wonder and magic of a Broadway musical—or perhaps I'd attended so many children's plays with Calvin prior that my expectations had become skewed. The voices, the dancing, and ooooh the set. The set was like a fantastical pop-up book.

Calvin loved very minute of it, and my joy was enhanced by his as he tapped out the rhythms and laughed at the comedy and gasped at the magic, sitting on my lap to better be able to see.

A stop for dinner at the local brewery (a big favorite of ours)—one more chance to see good friends—and we were headed back home with good memories in tow. We'd bought a CD of the live production so we listened to it all the way home, the timing so perfect that we were just finishing the curtain call as we pulled into the driveway, shortly after a usual bedtime. And that was a perfect day.

Journal to follow shortly.

Well loved friends and a brewery

We headed north for new years as usual, but on the way we detoured to Grand Rapids to visit friends (who are from Seattle now, but come back once a year to visit friends and family). With growing kids and families, once a year hardly seems like often enough to catch up, but we'll take what we can get, and one of these years we'll visit them out in Seattle, too. And since we were headed to Grand Rapids anyhow, we stopped in at Founder's, our favorite Michigan brewery for lunch. Turns out they have really great food, too.

The great Dire Woof

We spent today with good friends, so while we started out with some chores, some piano practice, and some journal writing, we ended it with an early bedtime due exhaustion from wild giggling and activities. Legos, play kitchen, books, a walk to the park, and even a fall craft. The two little ones (who aren't so little any more) were lost in every kind of imaginary game they could think of. At one point they were hiding out in the toy tent—scientists on an expedition!—when the meat-eating Ollie-saur (or the Dire Woof, as they later named him) came lurking around and needed scaring away with loud shrieks and roars. It didn't really work, because he wanted to play, too, which meant that Ollie made the perfect play thing today, and that he is also passed out with exhaustion tonight.

We walked to the park, collecting things of beauty along the way, like brightly colored leaves that we brought home to laminate for hanging in the windows, or setting on the table. We were busy, we were happy, we had a great time.

Where you are

Days go by, years go by. It is hard to remember the children we once were, or the teenagers, sometimes even the young adult years are beyond grasp, but the memory of friendship is one that rarely fades. As we grow and change we can easily lose sight of the connections from our youth, but reunion with friends is a sweet moment, even if brief. We gathered today at a nearby lake with friends from my past. Sixteen years ago we graduated together, and today we reconnected to laugh and chat and watch our children play. From one generation to the next.

Childhood friendships do not always go with us into adulthood—we lose touch, we grow in different directions, we start families at different times or in different ways—but respect and fondly shared memories are a good basis for rekindling, or an enjoyably spent afternoon. Thankfully it was neither 90+ degrees nor storming, and the afternoon was breezy and comfortably cool as we gathered near the play structure to watch the kids weave in and out while we caught up on current life news. The past can rear up and bite with regret, or nostalgia can bring a pain of longing, but enjoying the people we've become and the generation we've created brings a heady feeling of contentment and ability, and a sense of being right where you should be. And at the end of the day, where you are really is where you should be.

Zoo, zoo, zoo

Calvin's first written word was zoo. I'm surprised, in fact, that it wasn't his first spoken word. It should not, therefore, surprise you that we were at the zoo again a few days ago, this time with friends. We've gone and had a great time with Noah and Isaac before and this was no different. As the boys grow older it is fun to observe the changes in their dynamics and interactions. Calvin brought along his magnifying glass today and all three boys had a fun time with it, mostly in making themselves lop-eyed monsters. And no two trips to the zoo are ever alike; aside from the variations in child behavior, the animals always treat us to something new and wonderful on each visit. Today the binturong, whom we have always observed as a faintly discernable shadow in the back doorway, was actually sleeping out in the open; a frog was hanging out in plain view in the fish pond; the flamingoes were honking away.

Probably my very favorite picture from this trip—discussing fungus.