Reunions. Grateful days.

Saturday morning we got into a very full car and headed north.

The first stop was only an hour away, though. Adele'd been invited to her old friend Mazie's birthday party at ChuckECheese!

If you have to go to ChuckECheese, 10am is a nice time to do it. The caffeine was flowing, moods were stable, and we all had a good time. Jon & I played some impressive skeeball and threw some impressive basketball freethrows. Jon set a new record on his machine, so obviously we're a power couple.
The rest of our travelling that day brought us to Lancaster, PA, to the home of some dear college friends. Once again, our boys met and befriended one another. They could relate to each other about love for Star Wars, among other things:

Sunday morning, after a delightful breakfast, we were northbound again. And Monday morning, waking at Grandpa Jim's house, we had a delightful surprise!

Snow! The forecast hadn't called for it, we hadn't packed for it, but you better believe we made do with what we had to enjoy it as best we could.

Can you spot Adele's snow angel? 

Adele was having more fun than this picture indicates.. It did get cold after a while with no snow pants. Miles was just a blur, running back and forth in it like a puppy. He got hold of Grandpa Jim's rake and was raking the snow for a while. That was one heavily footprinted backyard when he was through! 

I was in the first stages of a painful cold, so I stayed inside to watch the play and nursed my tea. 

That evening, we welcomed the Nickoloff's, Agnes and Mercedes to a birthday dinner for Adele. 

Her big gift: Her own first bicycle! 

Only a few days later and she was master of it. 

With her 4 year old cousin, smiling over her cake.

Her two favorite things right now are princesses, and fast cars. The cake was a hit. Thanks Wegmans!

These two were thrilled to be back together, scheming, giggling, and enveloped in their own world:

These two? Same.

The evening ended with a dance-a-thon. Adele picked "Shake it Off" to start, TSwift being a big favorite of her's.

I have a deep satisfaction in watching these four know one another, play, and grow together. Thanksgiving indeed.