Brunch with Sarah, Donald, and Kids 2016

We met Sarah, Donald, William, and Robert for brunch at the Green Pig Bistro. So delicious! I was excited to see the whole family together. I saw Sarah, William, and Robert shortly after Robert was born, but I visited on a weekday so I'd missed Donald. The four of them are the cutest and I kind of failed to capture the magnitude of the cuteness in my photos. Next time I'm making you guys pose.

Law school besties- I'm probably texting her as you read this.

See what happens when I don't say "Say cheese!"? But they're still the cutest.

We were posing though that didn't stop Miranda from frowning on purpose.

Sarah is a foodie, so the food was all very delicious. And I was impressed that both DOnald and Sarah got the super chicken with waffle. It looked epic. The boys were all perfect little gentlemen at brunch. Miranda sat on the floor and pouted and refused to eat anything several times before eating everything.

Delicious brunch joy!

We trapped her in here.

Love you guys!

Meeting Robert B. 2015

On the way to Charlottesville, Kevin, James, Miranda, and I were able to stop in for a very quick visit to meet Sarah and Donald's new baby Robert. Robert is so snuggly and cute, and he's only 3 weeks old! I love him so much. I have an unhealthy obsession with him really. I have been missing him since I met him.

Meeting my new little buddy Robert!

Oh Robert posed for this one!

I also got to visit with his big brother William who is so smart and even pensive. As a bonus, Sarah's mom, sister Jane, and Jane's three girls were there too! So that's a total of 5 adults and 7 children! Everyone behaved!

James (almost 4), Miranda (almost 1), Robert (0), William (3)

James bugging Sarah's niece Rosie (9.5)

Sarah's nieces Isabelle (almost 7!) and Penelope (3.5), and son William (3)

• Last time I saw Sarah, Fall for the Book, September 2014
• Sarah and Donald meeting Miranda, May 2014
• Meeting William B., April 2012

WWFTC Reading at Fall for the Book 2014

Kevin read for the Fall for the Book festival at George Mason University so we took the whole family down to hear him read. The Fall for the Book Festival is pretty awesome actually. It's a week-long event and brings a lot of great authors to Virginia for readings, talks, and book signing. Some of the headliners this year were Pulitzer winner Richard Russo, bestseller Jodi Picoult, poet Martin Espada, essayist Eula Biss, thriller writer Sophie Hannah, and the author of Orphan Train Christina Baker Kline.

With George Mason himself.

Kevin read "Isabel and Colleen" from his collection We Were Flying to Chicago. Even though it was Monday afternoon he had a big crowd of people of all ages, and his crowd spilled out of the tent! After he read the story he answered questions about his writing process. He also introduced me and the kids to the crowd.

Kevin reading "Isabel and Colleen" to a big audience

Miranda and I are listening intently.

Spill-over crowd!

A lot of our friends from different times in our life came to the reading. It made me so happy to see everyone there together! Kevin's friend Jon from high school in Florida was there! His friend Cory from college, his wife Robin, Robin's entire family (!), Jody and Bill (Brady's parents) were there. My friend Sarah from law school and her son William, my friends Anna and Mike (from after college) and their two younger kids. Thank you guys so much for coming out! You warm our hearts!

Kevin talking to his high school Jon

James meeting Robin and Cory's nephew

James photo bombing the photo of Robin and Cory's family

Miranda wearing the dress Sarah got her.

Me and Sarah and our 3.5 kids.

Jody and Bill- meeting Miranda! 

Anna, Mike, and their two youngest, Clara, and Maxwell

Clara is James's age and they were having an awesome time getting dirty!

And Miranda and Maxwell are pretty close in age too! He stole this picture!

Sarah, Donald, and William Visit- May 2014

Sarah, Donald and William spent the weekend with Sarah's college buddies in upstate New York and they were awesome enough to brave the insane New York City traffic to come by and visit with us on the way home. Not only was I excited to have them meet one of my new favorite people, Miranda, but I thought it was awesome for our two boys, William and James to have their first play date since William started walking.

Donald and Sarah meet Miranda

James was a little dodgy about sharing his toys at first, after all he's practically still an only child, but after some coaching he was offering different toys to William. It warms my heart to see them play "together."

Moms and all the kids

Three cuties!

I think William is checking out our busted lamp in this one

Thanks for visiting Sarah, Donald, and William! See you in September!

• Sarah and Donald, DC, October 2013
• Sarah, Donald, William, Virginia, March 2013
• Carter and William hit Nashville, October 2013
• Meeting William, Virginia, April 2012

William B's First Birthday! 2013

Friday was William's first birthday! We were lucky that we were able to go since it was Kevin's spring break. Sarah and Donald had a little family gathering. This let me pretend that I'm an official part of their awesome family. I'm especially attached because I got to know their siblings and parents pretty well while we were all attending law school. Sarah's family visited a lot and Donald's siblings were attending UVA undergrad while we were in law school.

Sarah, William, and Donald

William with his doting grandparents

We had kebab-style chicken and rice which is so awesome for a children's birthday party. And then after the happy birthday song we had the most delicious cupcakes. The best part was how happy William was after everyone sang him happy birthday and clapped. He's got the cutest dimpliest smile.

Singing happy birthday

William is delighted

Yummy cupcakes!

James was medium-well-behaved according to me, and poorly behaved according to Kevin. This discrepancy is probably due to the fact that Kevin mostly chased him around while I snapped lots of photos. One of James's sticking points is that he loves Curious George, and one of the helium balloons was of Curious George. He kept insisting the decoration be taken down so he could play with it. At one point he managed to untie the balloons himself and bring them over to William (perhaps to share?). When Kevin retied the balloons with a knot, James decided that his friendship with Kevin was over. Needless to say, James exhibited no interest in playing with the other toddlers.

Hey, William, I stole your balloons.

Cousin Penelope goes for the cupcakes!

James essentially has his bad behavior rewarded.

We're all excited to see William grow up. He's been standing on his own a little and any day he will have those life-changing first steps. Happy birthday, William!

Group photos rock!

I can't believe it's been a year since we first met William! Also read more about the last time we saw William in Nashville.

Visit with Carter and William B. 2012

I couldn't spend two posts on Nashville, without dedicating a little space to my favorite part, I got to see Carter and William B again! I opted to leave James at home with Kevin because of the difficulty of traveling with James, but I had two cute bouncy boys waiting for me when I arrived.

Carter is running around now! When I last saw Carter in May, he took his first step right in front of me! Like James, he's fascinated with going up and down steps. Actually all his interest and activities remind me very much of James. Except for Carter's excellence in sleeping and napping. James does not share that.

Donald, William, Carter, and Audra at Katy and Luke's Welcome Party

William B. looks completely different. I haven't seen him since shortly after William was born in March. He's sitting up on his own and he gives me these adorable very serious looks. Considering who his parents are, he's probably going to be a genius. No pressure, little guy.

Snuggling with William B.

I even got to meet a bonus baby! Emily brought her daughter Iris by to meet the Burke family.  Look at how cute she is! James will be sad he didn't get to meet her!

Sarah, William, and Iris and her mom Emily

Meeting William B. 2012

We're on a bit of a DC-and-Virginia tour, and I'm so excited we got to meet Donald and Sarah's new baby William.  For one thing, he wasn't even due until March 30, and if he had come late we would have missed him entirely.  We were lucky he came early and that his mother Sarah had started to recover by the time we came to town.  He is a very beautiful bouncing baby boy.  None of the photos reveal this, but in person he looks more like Donald than he does in the photos. At least I think so.

The Burke Family of three and the Clouther family of three- yay!

It was also nice that the Burkes got to see James again for the first time in about 10 months.  He was a lot more active than he was back then, and they got a little preview of their future as he ran through their house.

Baby-holding rocks!

And I got to see Sarah's mom too, because she's there helping with the baby for a little while.  She's always lovely.

Super baskety-cuteness

Winning!

Sarah's mom and baby William's "Gam"