Time with Friends

One of Noah's most devoted fans lives a little ways from Noah's house... So far that Google Maps says "We could not calculate directions." It's about 7,500 miles, give or take, actually. That's too far to walk, and Noah's pretty good at walking. That's too far to ride in a bike trailer, which Noah enjoys quite thoroughly. And it's even too far to ride in Mama's car, Dada's car, or Noah's car (which tends to be whichever one he's riding in at the time).

Eva had never met Noah - not in real life, anyway. But we'd been told that she is a fan, particularly of the videos. Noah's parents got to meet Eva when she was really young, but Noah was still hanging out in that cozy womb at the time. Then Eva went back to Bahrain, where her parents happily reside. And while she was back there, she got a baby brother, Gabe, whom neither Noah nor his parents had met before.

When Eva's family decided to visit the US, it was hard to tell who was most excited about the visit... Noah hadn't developed quite the same attachment to Eva, but then again, he can't look at a computer for more than 3 seconds without trying to push buttons and touch the screen. No real concept of "watching" something on the computer aside from occasional Skype sessions with Grandma and Grandpa. But really, Noah loves every opportunity to play with new kids, and he's heard about his biggest fan, so he was excited. And of course, all the parents involved were pretty psyched, as well.

Could it get any better? Why yes, yes it could. Not only were these special guests coming to visit from out of town, but our good friends, Kristina and Jake, offered to host the Egles AND Eva's family all under one roof. Noah got to hang out with Kristina and Jake and their kids a few months ago at the beach at a Metro Park. He liked playing with their daughter, Hayven, and I think he liked being the "older buddy" for their little Isaiah.

That's right, if you were counting right, 5 children all in one house, all within a couple years of age, all weekend long. Fun times, fun times.

Wait a second... should we throw a few more children into the mix? Why not? Let's add our friends, the Grabowski's, of Malawi fame (http://eglesinafrica.blogspot.com/2009/04/welcome-to-malawi.html). That brings kid count up to 7 and a half.

Gabe was missing, but otherwise pretty impressive to get everyone together

I could try to tell the story of the weekend, but I think it would only detract from its wonderfulness. It was good to have all the kids together. It was good to see so many friends that we see so seldomly. It was good to have such amazingly gracious hosts open up their home to us. It was very good to have so many people coming together, all like-minded with a similar goal in life. God is good.

Walking to visit the horses next door. "Neeeiiiighhhh!"

Eva and Noah eating avocado (or "cado" for the cool) sandwiches

Child-swapping: Kristina and Gabe high-five Alison and Isaiah

Eva and Noah catching butterflies... only no one ever saw any butterflies

Or better described, running with nets and giggling incoherently

The Heisman Pose of butterfly catching

Still posing, but Eva seems unimpressed

Anna's creative use of the net

Cara and Eva still running...

Catching butterflies like a man... with a club!

Look out ladies, here he comes!

Post-butterfly meal... what boy wouldn't grin sitting with four girls?

Making cookies!

Someone can guess what those are going to taste like... and he's excited!

Eva and Hayven squishing the dough

Just anxious to bake... and EAT!

Josh is ready to eat, too...

Isaiah... cool as a cucumber. This is as riled up as we saw him.

The fruits of their labor

Followed by some good Bible story-time with Kristina

Men, men, men, men

Rawr!

Looks like bedtime to me...

Festival!

"Wanna go to a festival? There's going to be a petting zoo!" Gokul knows the key to Noah's heart, apparently. Bouncy toys... jumping Frisbee-playing dogs... and to top it all off, a petting zoo??? Jackpot!

Noah and Gurteshwar like the Frisbee-playing dogs. I think Noah liked that they were dogs, whereas Gurt's slightly more sophisticated tastes appreciated their athletic abilities. To each his own.

Anish was just happy to be so tall.

We initially put Noah and Anish into a kayak as a cute photo op...

But after some strategic coaching from Gurt, they quickly learned the ropes... They were unstoppable! It looked like they were about to paddle away, even though the boat wasn't even in the water.

I think they were just getting all excited because of the Olympics, so they decided to start training for 2016. Keep an eye out for the Anish-Noah combo to represent the USA.

But Noah and Anish aren't snobby about their sports. They don't restrict themselves to events that will ultimately yield them gold medals. They are true all-around athletes. So, while some people may not consider bowling to be a very complex or high-class sport, these fine young men consider it a challenge to overcome, nonetheless.

Who cares that the ball weighs half as much as he does? Noah is going to be a professional any day now. If only they had oiled the lanes, there would've been a lot more pins knocked down in these pictures. (It's always the lane's fault, right?)

Anish was generous with his tutelage... He showed Noah a thing or two, and I think they both improved their game after a few rolls.

Next stop: bouncy toys.

Noah is pretty much more at home on a bouncy toy than anywhere else, it seems. He doesn't seem to mind getting bounced to the point of falling down. It's pretty much the only place where he consistently tries to jump. He doesn't cry on bouncy toys. He's basically always smiling. I mean, he's a happy kid in general, but bouncy toys kick it up to a whole new level.

Even when he's abandoned by all of his little buddies, Noah knows how to live it up. I thought I'd have to crawl in through the tiny opening to pull him out, but eventually he decided that it was time to move on... Maybe he remembered what the next stop on the agenda was...

So, if I were clever and thought ahead, I could've gotten videos of Noah making the animal sounds for all the animals he got to touch. That would've been cute. Maybe I'll just let you know what sounds they make, and you can just read it out loud in your best Noah impression. That might be more fun anyway, now that I think about it.

"Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"

"Aaaaaaaa!"

**Scrunchy-nose (and open-mouth) face**

I don't know if she knows what sound a bunny makes...

"MMMMMmmmmmmmm"

"Aaaaaaaa!"

"Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"

Habitat for Humanity had a booth at the festival. They were there, in part, to officially welcome to Southfield the inhabitants of a new house they built. But their ulterior motive was really to recruit new workers. And apparently with volunteering, there aren't any labor laws to protect kids.

They had a helmet that was just the right size for Anish... Scary thought, eh? Can you picture him chasing you with a hammer - I mean, hammering in the nails that keep your house together? They didn't have a helmet that was quite small enough for Noah, though.

At the end of a happy day, ya gotta hug, man...