The Four Crazies Reunite Part 4: The Rest Of Our Day

Our plans changed in the middle of the afternoon. Our time with our friends was supposed to end around 5 pm. Mom and Dad were supposed to be there to pick us up and head to downtown Greenville for supper and walking around. However, Mom called and Dad wasn't feeling well. They were going to wait it out and see what they needed to do. Eventually they took him to the Emergency Room in Asheville and they got back to their hotel around 9 pm.

Since our plans changed, we decided to stay another night with our bests and enjoy our time together....

So we sang Happy Birthday and had cupcakes together.

Let's make a mess!!

A perfect little face.

Then we played in the water a bit longer so that we could wash off all of the cupcake mess...and burn a little bit of energy.

She is her mother's daughter... butt crack, carbohydrates, wearing boys clothes.

I LOVE THIS SHOT OF PARKER.

And this shot tells you what it is like to have a "spirited" child. Niki gets it. Charlotte and Gavin are spirited. They are always thinking of their next step. They love big, they scream big, they play big, they fight big. A spirited child with a larger than life personality is an amazing child to have but it is difficult at time as well. I would rather have my crazy, wild, quick to anger child than a boring kid that only wants to sit and watch tv and not do anything. I love that Niki gets it. She understands the tantrums I tell her about...and there is no judgement passed. This is why we work as friends and why our kids work as friends.

(Note that Parker and Charlotte are so unaffected by Gavin being upset. This is our amazing life.)

Also like his mother...

Gavin recovered and the result was this amazing pic. I LOVE IT.

Tyler got home from work and we had supper with them. The kids then all got into the bath tub together. (Sawyer cried a lot so Gavin said it was best if they didn't take baths together anymore.)

Charlotte and Gavin snuggled with Uncle Tyler on the couch and the two younger boys played.

We headed to bed because Gigi was coming to get us around 7:30 the next morning.

Mom came and got us from Greenville and then we headed to pick up Dad at the hotel. By the time we got the rest of everything loaded up, we left Asheville around 10 am and drove back to Illinois (We were in North and South Carolina for 48 hours). We drove straight through. The kids were actually pretty good. They played, sang, cried, ATE A LOT, and we had an OK drive back.

Thank you Niki and Tyler for ALWAYS treating us like family. You always help me out with the kids when we are together. My kids love you like family. We can't wait until our next visit. You are both amazing. I miss you more than you know and I am so thankful to have you both. We love you!!!

The Four Crazies Reunite Part 3: Afternoon Fun

Our day of fun with the Midgetts continued...

Sawyer woke up from his nap and it was lunch time so we headed inside to feed the babes.

The three old kids were so content eating and watching tv. I mean, they were so into it that they couldn't even look at me for the picture.

Sawyer wasn't about to let them eat and he not be involved.

He was trying to sneak food off of Parker's plate while he was eating...

All four of our beautiful kids...oldest to youngest from the right to the left.

They were surprisingly clean for being the two youngest eating on the sofa :)

While the older kids slept, Sawyer played and played...and he got so much one on one attention he didn't know what to do with it.

(Niki took these while Momma was showering :) )

After the three older kids woke up, we all headed outside in cute clothes to take some pictures together. You know when you have big plans to get cute pics of the kids, it just doesn't work out the way you plan. 

We headed out to the back yard for a few pictures...

They really do love each other.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my kids.

There were TONS of bugs biting in the backyard so we went back to the front yard (and sprayed a ton of bug spray on everyone) and took some pictures.

No one really felt like looking at the camera for the pictures though. So we just went with it and hoped for a few good shots.

I love this one.

I actually love all of them. These two are SO handsome.

I always wonder what this busy little man's next move is going to be. The joy of Gavin James is that he keeps EVERYONE on their toes.

He LOVES his Momma.

We brought birthday hats to celebrate Sawyer's First Birthday and Gavin's Third Birthday.

Parker hates birthday hats.

Clearly.

Sawyer wore his for a few minutes. He ripped it off after this.

They steal my heart...

I have no idea what's up with girlfriend's mood here but it doesn't look pleasant.

She is pretty though.

These were just a few of the pictures we got as we all played together...

We kept them clean long enough... They felt it was time to get dirty...and wet.... again :)

And our day with our BF's continues...

The Four Crazies Reunite Part 2: A Morning Of Playing

The kids hit the ground running when they all woke up!!!

Within minutes, the Midgett household was chaos...in a fabulous way.

Meet me under the end table...

She always looks like she is up to something.

The kids ate breakfast (donuts and milk) and they played and played and played inside. Sawyer went down for a nap. Then we went outside and we got their pool filled.  

Naturally Niki's two boys jumped right in and started playing. In typical girly fashion, Charlotte needed to ease herself in...

Sweet Gavin and his Momma

How hilarious is this???? 

Handsome Parker

Best friends forever.

Niki is one of the best moms I know. I look up to her in so many ways. Being stay at home moms, we get each other (among other reasons that we get each other.) On days I feel like I am failing or days that I am completely discouraged, I call or text Niki. We are there for each other. And she is amazing to her children. I can only hope to be the mom that she is some day.

Niki brought out a morning snack for the kids. A bit of watermelon. They were SO excited.

Charlotte loves her "Aunt Mikki" so much.

We decided to just let the kids have free reign with the watermelon....

PRICELESS

Charlotte looks so timid. Gavin helped her with the watermelon (He also loved having the control over who got to have the watermelon. It was sweet though.)

Shy face.

I have NO idea what was going on here but I am pretty sure that she was speaking her mind and getting her point across.

They do love each other so much.

"Charlotte, will you hug me?"

"That's not a hug! Where are your arms?"

"Alright. I will give you a real hug."

So sweet...

This was just our morning!!! :) 

To be continued...