Fun with Friends

Thank the Lord for good friends! As many of you know, our good friends the Gumms and our family take turns having each other's children over to spend the night. About every six weeks either the Gumm kids are here or our crew is over there. We started doing this about a year and a half ago so that each couple could have a night and morning where they didn't have to worry about babysitters or getting home in time to put the kids down, etc. Basically, every so often we get a really long, nice date night. It has been a GOOD thing. I highly recommend it! Find a family that is a similar size (so one doesn't feel guilty bringing all those kids) and that has similar parenting styles (I guess this one is not a must, but it definitely helps when you have lots of kiddoes running around!), and set it up! We started doing it soon after our youngest turned one, and it has only gotten easier as the kids have gotten older.

Here are some pics from the latest in the "MacGumm" adventures. After the Gumms' arrival at our place, we played at our house for a while, then walked down to my in-laws house in order to use their trampoline. Thanks Grammy Sue and Papa Paul!

Emily really loved jumping on the trampoline!

We played a rousing game of "crack the egg." Trent, Lauren, and Troy were the three finalists. Lauren was the eventual winner. Actually, I never did crack her since all the others kept rolling into the way. :) Trent would like it known that he would have given Lauren a run for her money if it had not been for the unfortunate landing of his forehead on an acorn on one of his bounces. It drew blood which caused a momentary stoppage in play.Here is the crew at the end of the trampoline jumping time. I think Reese had had enough. She loves jumping, but was getting a little tired. As you can see in the pic, we had an extra with us at this point. Paige's good buddy, Jane Anne, joined the MacGumms for the trampoline outing. All of the kids here have had great fun on Papa Paul and Grammy Sue's "jumpy thing." How smart of them to get it thrown in with their house deal!

After the trampoline adventure, we dropped off Jane Anne at her house and then walked back to ours for dinner. After eating (tostadoes were a big hit!) I sent them to our backyard pool. Can you tell that we try and burn lots of energy during sleepover night? Can't imagine why!

Paige was watching an airplane fly overhead when I snapped this shot. I really just love the picture.

Here's another picture that I like. Reese has really taken to the water lately. Once she figured out that she can touch the bottom of the pool she has wanted to be in it all the time.

And here is my favorite picture of John Paul from the sleepover adventure. He wanted to use Troy's goggles, but alas - they were a little big. Of course, the water streaming in them didn't really matter. He was happy just to use them.

After a fair amount of time in the pool, we all trooped back in and got ready for bed. I put the youngest two down while the other five had a chance to talk before bedtime. The older five have really done a good job the last several times of settling down and going to sleep. Reese and Emily - not so much. I finally had to separate those two. After that everyone conked out quick and I didn't hear a peep until the next morning. After all of the activity, everyone was tuckered out!

This MacGumm adventure was a success! The kids had fun, Eric and Sherry enjoyed a night to themselves, and I had a lot of laughs. Maybe next time I'll convince Emily and Reese that 6 am is not a good time to wake up on a Saturday morning. :)