Well...
I ended up paying a sort of surprise visit to my friend, Rachel, this evening. We've been playing phone tag for months, and we haven't seen each other in about two years. And, of course, she only lives about 20 minutes from my parents' house... So... I was driving around, and just decided to head over to her house to see if she was home....
It was great seeing her again, as well as her husband, Robert. I've actually seen Robert a few times in the interim since he used to sing with the Washington Opera Chorus - he's a baritone - and we'd run into other in the canteen at the Kennedy Center. However, the great pleasure of the evening was re-meeting her three-year old daughter, Madeleine Rose - the last time I "met" her, she was nine months old - and also her newest arrival, Olivia - she's six months old. Great kids.
Madeleine ended up putting on an impromtu dance show for me. She went over to her father's computer, brought up iTunes, and selected "Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)". Then she proceeded to bop away for a couple of minutes. And sing along during the big "ahhh... Aaahhh... AAAAHH..." section. -I think her and my nephew, John Michael, would get along very well.

Olivia was a little cranky, but since I had sort of interrupted her feeding time, it was understandable. But she's a "mellow" child, and she has a big sister who likes to take care of her.
I ended up hanging out there for about an hour or so. Lots of catching up, and even some dish.

It was great seeing her again, and it turned out my timing was very good. Tonight was one of the few nights they had just planned to stay at home and relax. And since I had arrived just after they had finished dinner, they were in clean up mode, and get the kids ready for sleep mode, and I was not that much of a distraction.
I was also finally able to drop off the present I had bought for her girls a few weeks ago. It's this big over-stuffed bunny, that is basically a seat/seat cushion. "My First Sofa" is embroidered on it. Very cute. And Madeleine Rose decided right away that would be her new reading chair.

OH! And I had also found the perfect Father's Day card for Robert a few weeks ago. The pic on the front is a father sitting in a bathtub, and all around him are babies toys, baby clothes, stockings hanging from the shower curtain rod... "To The King of the Castle".
