In Which C and A Meet Zeph

We've mostly recovered from our Chicago adventure. I think all three of us got pretty worn out, and today was the first day that life has felt normal. So with that, Kevin returned to work, and Zeph and I had another fun blogger playdate.

It was our privilege to meet the lovely Chichimama and her youngsters, C and A. What a beautiful and fun family! I'm not sure A thought we are such fun people given that we have an overly friendly big dog, but after we sent Casey outside A seemed reassured and made herself at home. (Don't worry, A, you're not the only little girl who feels this way about Casey.) We played for a bit and then took a walk down the street to a local farm. C is quite the charming young man. He helped me push Zeph's stroller the whole way, stopping to pick up sticks that might otherwise have caught up in the stroller wheels, and we had quite the discussion of trash compaction in garbage trucks.

At the farm, the kids watched the turkeys for a few minutes, and then the plan was to pick corn and peaches. Upon arrival at the main building, however, the kids spied the farm's playground and the idea of picking went out the window. So we ended up buying some produce and then letting the kids go at the playground. Zeph was still a bit worn out from our trip, and had been up since 4:00 AM with teething, so he was content to eat crackers and sit in his stroller while C and A played.

Chichimama and I got to visit for a bit, and she is every bit as sweet and smart as you might expect from reading her blog. We mentioned some mutual blogfriends and lamented the fact that extended adult conversations aren't possible while chasing kiddos. We talked about how sad it is to see farms sold to developers, and how rough the Manhattan commute can be. After realizing it was getting late, we rounded up the kids and headed back to the house. We stopped again to see the turkeys, and I noticed C and A squatting right together watching the birds like two peas in a pod. C was obviously showing something to A, and she was all ears. After we walked back to our house, the Chichimama crew went on home. Not, I might add, without argument from all three kids. They were mostly placated with the promise of a future playdate. I can't wait to meet up again, and neither can my son.

I'm going to string together comments from Zeph (call him Liam and risk a tantrum) to give you the high points of the visit:

"C and A and their Mommy came to our house today. Casey scared A. He's big and black and sneezes. Big and little sneezes. We all played and left toys all over. C's name is C but A's name is NOT A. She is named Bernadette."

"A did something! She climbed all the way to the top of the monkey bars! So did C! And he slid down the slide."

"C likes trash trucks. He also picks up sticks to protect me from the bumps. C is very helpful."

"C and A had to go somewhere. They had to go home to eat their corncobs. They have a truck!!!! It's an SUV!!!"

"Zeph wants C and A to come back. Yeah, that's the plan. They will come back soon and we can play some more. That's the plan...YEAH!!!"

I agree, Zeph. It was a fun morning, and hopefully we'll be able to do another playdate soon. Thanks for the great time, Chichimama family!