Playgroup "End of Summer/Back to School" Party

{Saturday, August 23}

**When you can't find better words, take them from your wonderful friend, Ashley. Oh & pictures too! xoxo Ash.

Ahhhh playgroup.  I've been saying this word for almost 5 years now.  This group signified so much ... our standing Friday "date" and way to entertain our babies and then toddlers and then big kids and then their younger siblings.  It was the group that just kept on reinventing itself.

Certain memories you get 'stuck' in your head and mine was when I found out I was pregnant with Jackson so quickly after having Emma Kate that we (her & I) didn't have any "mommy & baby" friends yet.  I knew we needed to join a Mommy Me group. Who knew there was a a thing called meetup.com? The group was called "Hip Mommies & Me" and was a very big group that had been formed & from there as all groups do they form off into their own smaller more comfortable groups.

Our first meet-up was at Ashley's mom aka Nana's house because her & Matt were building their home. Emma Kate & I met Ashley & her daughter Mia & Rachel & her daughter Presley first. All little girls born within 4 weeks of each other. I'll never forget all sitting on the floor with our 6 month olds playing & sitting on the ground with these brand new gals & saying "so happy to be meeting some nice ladies with babies the same age andddddd I'm pregnant too." Ashley & Rachel, my new friends looked a bit shocked. From there on out EK & I enjoyed hanging around & playing with them. 

Long story short, our playgroup became our sanity.  We all met up once or more a week, and the moms drank coffee and visited while the kids played.  I remember this starting when the babies all just stared up at us while we shook rattles over their faces.   Now we take them to indoor trampoline places, parks, swimming in pools, malls, lunches out, splash parks etc etc.  We blinked and these babies became big kids, had siblings, and now they have started Kindergarten.  The cliche is so true - just don't know where the time went.  Somewhere between naptimes and playdates and preschool, these big kids decided to grow up and start Kindergarten.  I'm thankful for our last celebration of this group being together at the Beach Pool last Saturday.  I don't think I realized the finality of it until later that night as I was trying to go to sleep & got teary eyed.  This group has been so wonderful to us and for us over these past 5 years, and I will miss our weekly get-togethers. I love each one of these mamas & their kids. Cheers to a wonderful year for these babies!! xo

from L to R: The Barkers (Nora, Bryn, Liam) - The Henns (James, Sophie, Andrew), Cousin Michael, the Haynes family (Brenna and Jackson), The Hagedorns (Jackson and Emma Kate) .. and Mia + Cate

Smore love