I'll just keep on living vicariously...

So, some of you may know that I dream of having like 14 kids. I didn't really consider myself a "kid psycho" until I had my own and started meeting all my friend's sweet kids and I realized something about myself--I seriously love all these little stinkers running around. They make me laugh. They keep me energized. They force me to continually examine what I think about life and about myself. And nothing makes me more giddy than getting to plan little lessons and activities for my little crazies. So when we recently made some fabulous friends whose kids I ADORE, I just had to get my hands on them. Like so many of the other families we've been blessed to know, these are two of the kindest, most interesting kids--a direct reflection of their wonderful parents. John Marshall is 4 1/2 and Isabella is 2 and our kids LOVE playing with them. John and Jessica got to steal away for a quick anniversary date while I monopolized their children. :)
The evening started out with action. Dance action. The very best kind. We introduced John Marshall and Bella to Hullabaloo (the DVD version)--our kids favorite game. (Thank you Meredith for that wonderful recommendation!) The kids danced around and moved like different animals in order to stand on different shapes/colors on the ground. John Marshall and Bella LOVED it, probably because they won almost every round. :) Sorry--there were no pictures, because I couldn't stop dancing long enough to snap any. You know how I love to practice my skills.
We moved on to some good ol' play time, which resulted in some pretty sweet moments:



and also resulted in this, in which every single toy that we owned was brought out. (Fortunately, everything is stored in baskets, so clean up only took like 3 minutes.):


Then we moved on to making pizza for dinner. It was so cute to see all the kids in their aprons, hard at work. (Mikaiah was content in her high chair, feasting on cheese and gluten free pizza that I made ahead of time for her.)




Some of the proud bakers, showing off their talent (it was so cute to see their little personalities come out in how they made their pizzas!):




After pizza, we headed to the park, where I forgot the camera. But, I will say that Anna followed John Marshall's lead and conquered this very neat little climbing wall. Almost gave Brian a heart-attack, which he very sweetly concealed in his excitement over her accomplishment. I also missed some very sweet moments between Anna and John Marshall. Apparently, she has found yet another quality little guy with whom we'll have to consider drawing up an "arranged marriage" contract. They were holding hands at one point and Anna looked up and said, "I just love John Marshall."

We headed back home to have "pink ice cream" (raspberry sherbet-Anna's current favorite) and played in the backyard.




Since I was already returning our little friends to their parents with skinned knees and mosquito bites, I figured the least I could do was remove some of the filth. After we tucked the baby in bed, we threw all of the big kids in the tub.

John and Jessica returned at the tail end of bath time and reclaimed their children--much to the chagrin of my own little ones. I think they wanted the fun to go on forever. As did I. But at least I got my fill for an evening. (Since Brian has officially vetoed the idea of having 14 of our own.)