One last playdate

 Tuesday, Alex's friend came over to play for the last time before moving away to Florida.  It was really good to have them get together one more time, and it was good for Alex and I to be able to spend the day with our special friend before we had to say goodbye.  'J' came over at about 1pm and hung out until about 5:30pm when it was clear that both boys were getting pretty tired and were ready to wind down for bed.  I was grateful for my child development courses, that helped me to plan a fun and mostly uneventful day for these two little guys (ages 4 & 5).

To start, we went to 4-Town Farms to pick berries.  I checked online first to see what was in season, and they were supposed to have blueberries.  However, when we got there they said that they weren't picking berries that day.  So I looked at my two little guys...then looked back at this woman...and then I said "what can we pick?"  Flowers.  Okay, flowers it is.  As you can see, the boys adapted.

 We walked up and down the rows, looking carefully at the available flowers and letting each of the boys pick out exactly which flower they wanted.  Then I cut the flower, and they tossed them into the bucket.  There were some very pretty ones.  Some were bug magnets, and some of these bugs were pretty scary looking, so we avoided those.  As hot as it was, I am happy to say that the flowers made it safely back home and didn't wilt...even with our making a stop for ice-cream on the way home.

 We stopped at the Dairy Bee in Riverside for some soft serve ice-cream for the boys, and a cone and a shake for dad and I.  They have a soft serve there that comes with a flavor striped along the edges, in fun colors.  I tried to keep it simple by asking them what color they wanted.  "Red".  Easy enough.  So I asked the girl for "what ever the red is", and she asked me in return "watermelon, cherry, or raspberry?".  Sigh.  So much for keeping it simple.  So Alex went for watermelon and 'J' went for cherry. 

 They both stayed pretty clean, and managed to avoid dropping their cones on the ground, so it was a pretty successful outing.  Overall, it was a wonderful day.  We went back home, watched some Spongebob and The Andy Griffith Show on Netflix, and "J" sat right against my left arm on the couch for a while (something that Alex usually does).  Alex didn't even get jealous!  They played upstairs, and didn't make a huge amount of noise.  No one cried.  No one got hurt.  No one whined (much).  Everyone shared, played nicely with their friend, kept their hands to themselves, and generally had a great time.  It was the best "last day to play" we've ever had.

I'm admittedly

a little sad that these two won't get to grow up together, as "J" is the first friend Alex ever had.  I love him and his family, and they've been really good to us and understanding of my boys and their needs.  They've loved my two boys (even when it was hard to do) and they've always welcomed my boys into their home.  Josh has been a huge influence for good to my teenage son, and Kristen has been a friend, a visiting-teaching companion, a relief-society president, and a primary co-worker to/with me for the last handful of years.  I've really enjoyed getting to know them and making friends with them, and I'll really miss them.