Ms. April!

After 2 days of traveling at 11 hours each, we finally arrived at Ms. April's house!

We were so happy to see them!  It had been since 2009 when we last laid eyes on the Copas family.  Abby wasn't even with us for that visit.  She was in Osh Kosh with Jeremy for the Pathfinder Camporee.  The kids have all gotten taller, but other than that, you would never know that they hadn't seen each other for so long.  They fell right back into being the best of buds.

 One afternoon, we picked up pizza and had a playdate picnic in the park.  The kids had lots of fun running and playing.  April and I were able to enjoy some quiet chat time.

 The evenings were so nice.  Semper really enjoyed the outside time while the kids were playing with all of Aaron's friends from the neighborhood.

 Semper also quickly realized that there was something a little different about Aaron's sausage.  While her kids were eating Morningstar Farms, Aaron had the real deal.  So that's where she set up camp with her big sad eyes.  I don't think it paid off for her, but she was willing to keep trying!

 Another day found us having lunch at the Steak and Shake, one of Jeremy's favorite places to find a chocolate shake, while we waited for a swim class to be over at the Y so we could swim and play.

On top of a water slide and swimming pools, the kids had fun with the rest of the water equipment.

I worry about this kid.

 One evening after dinner, April had the kids make dessert for US!

Chocolate chip cookies!

 Everyone took their turn.

 They were quite yummy!

Ahhh... Scuba Steve.  April's now psychologically traumatized kitty cat.

Turns out adding 4 people, a cat and a dog to his formerly peaceful home were just too much for him to handle.  He hid in her room right up until this picture... Not long after which, I thought it would be ok to pick him up to pet him.  If it had been a cartoon, he would have been hanging from the ceiling by his claws.  Instead I was left holding a writhing ball of teeth and claws at arms length until I could put him down as gracefully as possible.

And this is where he stayed for the rest of our trip.  He is capable of opening the cabinet door all by himself so he can get to his hiding spot.

 Garfield also calls this area of Indiana his home, so all around town you see various statues of Garfield just hanging out.  This one was outside of a really cool ice cream shop with more ice cream, sundae and milkshake flavors than you can ever imagine.

I got one picture for me and one that made them happy.  ;)

Abby & Tyler

Amelia, Aaron & Marshall

2012

Tyler & Abby

Marshall, Aaron and Amelia

2006

Thanks for the great visit, Copi!

Can't wait for the next time.