Lion Cubs

Several weekends ago (my how time flies) I got together with some girlfriends from high school and their families for a Sunday brunch, as Liz was visiting home for the first time with her daughter Nora. It was fun to see fellow WL alum + babies - all girls except for Logan - and especially fun to watch the kids play and to take their adorable pictures. I'm not sure Nora or Francie so much played as they did stare in wonderment at each other or at the bigger kids. I imagine their growing brains thinking, "Wow! I'm going to be able to do that soon?!?"

It's funny how relationships can evolve with time and shared experiences. I've known each of these ladies since at least middle school, if not earlier. We were by no means an established, exclusive group of girlfriends, but through various permutations - new parenthood and, actually, blogging and even Facebook, I've managed to re-connect with old friends.

Tina I've known since our days at Sunset Primary. I don't think she and I ever actually had a class together, but the years Dee and I were not attached at the hip, Tina and Dee were. We then went on to both middle and high school together and ran around in the same crowd - in fact, in high school I was the evil beeatch who tried to steal her boyfriend (and failed miserably). She's now on her last few months in Portland before moving with her 2 year-old daughter and husband to Montana. Liz, Krista and I date back to our days as soccer players - go Dynamites! I wonder what Bart and Mark would think when they saw us now? Maybe they'd wonder who was going to coach our little girls. We should be so lucky as to have such caring men/dads in our daughters' lives - instructing and encouraging each of our little girls to be a team player, set goals, be active, persevere when you're not the best, and other such life lessons. Liz lives in Maryland with her husband and 9-month-old daughter Nora. She's working on her PhD in English and writes much more eloquently than I about (attempts at) balancing work and family life (http://diaperdoctoral.blogspot.com). Krista and her husband Jordan, who also attended WLHS, live in Portland with their two girls Clara and Evie. She's the more experienced parent of the bunch - and somehow manages TWO children - who recently returned to school for nursing. And then, of course, there's Rachel. Nuff said. BFF. And Logan seemed to hold his own with all the ladies around.

It was such a treat to trade war stories and be continually awed by an amazing group of women I grew up with. Here are just a few of the 9,232 photos the paparazzi (Mr. Close) snapped ...

From L to R: 

Tina and Sophia, Liz and Nora, Jo and Francine, Rachel and Logan, Krista and Clara and Evie.

In an effort to reduce the sheer number of photos I try to upload to my blog to share, I opted for the overstimulating collage version. I always feel like I can get more bang for my buck this way. Plus it's a great way to showcase the process of getting a photo of a group of six children. Mine was the most well-behaved. Ha! It's just that she can't walk away. Yet. Especially when I have her trapped in her Bumbo chair.

***Blog post title credit goes to Katie Hook. Thanks for the inspiration. You're a hero.