So sad.

Well, here we are again, Monday.

But unlike most Monday's, I'm bumming today. Our weekend is over... the weekend that I looked forward to for nearly 7 weeks. The one where so many of our friends were in town. The one where I only worked 6 hours and took PTO for the other 18. The one where the Kranz's were here hanging out with us.

I miss the Kranz's. Why must they live on the East side of the state? Darn you, Ferndale P.D., for screwing just about everything up. (Right Kate?!)

Sterling Heights really isn't so far away, but when I work weekends and it's hard to get there for visits with both Liana and Mike in tow, it seems like we go forever between visits. And that stinks!

Anyways, our weekend was great. Friday we hung out, visited with the Prins', and then had dinner with the Burns'. Saturday was the big day.... Mike and Marty playing in the GVSU Iron Man Tournament all day and Mike's team ended up winning the whole thing. I worked on Saturday from 9-2 and got to the rink around 2:15 with just enough time to visit with the hockey wives, meet some of the hockey kiddos, and see Mike win the championship. My parents, who had watched Liana in the morning, dropped her off around 2:45 so she was there to celebrate with us too. After the games were done we had a nice dinner at Bdubs with some of the crew and then came straight home. By 5:45 I was in my pj's and exhausted...as was everyone else in my household. While we had initially expected for Saturday night to be our "late night out", we ended up just staying in and everyone was in bed by 10pm.

Does that mean we're really old and lame?! ;)

Sunday was a lazy day around here. It was Mike's 27th birthday!!! In the morning, I handed Liana a card and said, "Go give this to Daddy." Seeing her seek him out and hand it to him was adorable. I kind of wanted to do something during the day, but the Kranz's had family pictures scheduled for 4pm and we all wanted to make sure that Lily was well rested for those. So instead we stayed put and truth be told... I loved it even more than getting out and doing something. The boys watched the Lion's game and Kate, the girls and I all napped while they did. As they left for their pics (with everyone looking super cute, might I add) we headed over to my in-law's for a family get together.  :)

Last night, I was again in bed around 10pm. I don't know what was up with me bc I rarely go to bed before 1030, but I think all the excitement from the weekend just wore me right out!

And today, well today is disappointing. The Kranz's are gone and Liana and I are both pretty sad about it. Trust me... we've both shed some tears.

There were so many wonderful parts to our weekends with our friends. I love seeing Liana have a buddy... someone to play with and learn from. I love watching Liana and Lily work through their "disagreements" and play well together. I love going from Friday, where they weren't quite sure about each other (it's been almost 6 months since they last saw each other) to yesterday, where they were like old pals again. I love Liana calling out for Jager (their dog) and loving him just as much as she loves her own. I love seeing her give Kate and Marty some love just as much as I love getting it myself.

I love having a full and bustling home. I love seeing clothes strewn about, Lily being able to borrow whatever she needs from Liana and Kate whatever she needs to borrow from me. I love the comfort that is the four of us adults just hanging out because it comes so easily to us all. I love that after years of separation, we've been able to pick back up where we once left off.

I'm hopeful that I'll be off my weekend gig by the end of October (though I wish it were much, much sooner than that!). And once I am, I can't wait to be able to make trips as a family to visit the Kranz's more often.

This weekend was a good one. One that I wish didn't have to end but I know that we'll be able to have more like it sometime soon.

And in other news? Our checking account is again ours.... after the jerk in FL spent more than $1500 of our money (which Chase promptly replaced. Thank you, Chase!). Hopefully our problems in that department are now over for good!

Have a good week, everyone!