summer and she

Maybe just maybe the single best thing about living here is that, come summertime, this place is absolutely beautiful, so people love to come and visit us.

My best gal, Sheila, and her family were camping nearby.  It's a yearly tradition of theirs - the grandparents, siblings, cousins - all of them, or a bunch of them, come together each year up here in the White Mountains.  This makes me pretty happy, because it guarantees a visit with some of my favorite humans.  Yay for that!

Sheila took a break mid-week from all of the dirt and fun to come bathe her kids ( they stayed clean for maaaaybe 5 minutes, thanks to the wild ways of my kids) and wash some laundry.  It was a welcomed and much-needed catch up!

The thing about long, tried and true friendships of the Anne Shirley and Diana Berry bosom-friend sort is that there can be years between visits, but we can pick up again like it was just yesterday we were having Pride and Prejudice marathons while putting on egg and honey face masks that made us both have to hurl (it was the 90's) at the very same time.

Good times.  Good times.

What is even more mind-blowingly cool than thinking back to our fun and soopersilly college years?  Watching our kids play together, make memories with each other, and become as thick as thieves.  Sam and Lucas, especially, as Sheila says, are cut from the same tree.

And.  I mean.  Her kids are gorgeous and smart and spunky and make me laugh and sigh with contentment.  THOSE kind of kids that are dreamy to gaze at, but just as truly pleasant to be around, because they are g o o d good.

Goodness gracious but every time I go to innocently mention this girl it turns into a full on Ode.  She's that great.

(Moral of the story : Don't come visit me or I'll plaster your picture on the internet and talk about you in embarrassingly glowing terms.  If your name is Sheila.)