The older son visited with the whole family!

We often joke that they live too close to visit frequently. It's about a 15 minute drive through the city, around the lake, from our neighborhood to theirs. So it seems logical that we'd see them every few months. Yeah, sure, the pandemic has added to that, but that's a whole different thing.

It took much negotiating to arrange for a visit. All of the adults and our two kids have had the vaccine, but the grandkids haven't yet as they're too young. We did all of the bubble and possible contact warnings to make sure everyone was comfortable. I'd hate to have anyone pass something along, right? We're tested and confirmed every week, which helps us feel more confident that we're not spreading. We tested this morning, but haven't gotten our results back. Mostly sniffles around our house, which is every winter's nightmare, related to the dramatic drop in humidity.

They came over and the kids all played fantastically together. The adults had some time to talk. We ordered and ate pizza. Just like good times.

We shared parenting woes, since ours are just older than theirs. We revisited old stories of when the older kids were as young. Lots of talk about shots and poop...there's always something in there about poop, right?

The kids shared they're buying a house! They should be moving in February. It isn't far from where they are now, just some blocks farther, so we'll continue to be too close to frequently visit...I had to joke. Nice little three bedroom, with a big garage and fenced-in back yard with trees. They suggested that they want to bunk the boys together, leaving the third bedroom for guests. I suggested they probably won't have as many guests as they think, reminding them that the kids' bedrooms sat unused after they left our house (except for when they each returned for a stretch or two), until we grew the family again and turned them into the next round of kids' bedrooms. We had the "extra bedroom" set up for guests, and it was rarely used with the middle child would come visit alone, as we'd put them up in a nearby hotel when they came in large numbers...it really was easier for everyone... The rest of the house looked recently finished, so all they would have to do is put their furniture in place and hang their pictures. I tried to see if there was security, or at least the video doorbells, to plan for housewarming gifts...

At about 7:30, almost on the nose, walls were hit by each of our littlest. Ours started getting easily irked. Theirs started sobbing and demanding to be held. I warned them to be home before the snow hit, so there wouldn't be enough to have worried about, because if they stayed ignoring the forecast it'd surely turn into a blizzard. A not-too-fast hustle out the door, and they were gone. The big little announced she missed them already.

Everyone's healthy.