The Great Lawn.

I look through these photos & my heart starts getting tugged in all sorts of directions. 

Last Thursday was a really beautiful, perfect day in the city. The morning was breezy & cool (Q's sweatshirt was on & off), a little overcast & just really perfect for spending the morning at the park with good friends - both of whom I've now known for years. 

(I really like friends like that.) 

Suzi & I swung by Dean & Deluca on our way to the park to pick up some treats (apple fritters + Cokes, of course). They don't sell them any more! The fritters! I could have cried, but picked up a doughnut they had from The Doughnut Plant instead. 

Do you see how much Q loves Suzi? He always has, but seriously. Suzi has always been a frontrunning candidate for Mother of the Year, & I'm fairly certain she could mother my own son better than I ever have. He really loved seeing her (except for that part where we tried to get him to nap at her apartment - that didn't work out so well), & was so happy all morning. He & Ben weren't quite sure what to do with each other, but they happily shared snacks & looked at puppies & trucks. And Will! I loved going with Suzi to pick up Will at his summer camp & seeing the happy look on his face when he saw that I was there. 

Me: Will, do you know where we live? 

Will: 80th Street! 

Apparently he thought we'd been absentee friends for a bit? 

(Sad face.)

Corinne! Loved seeing her, with her two kids, one of whom I hadn't met yet (he's sweet). Ada is a full on little girl. I remember visiting Corinne on the Upper West Side when she was just a teensy new baby.

I love seeing Q with his little friends, even if he maybe doesn't know them quite as well as I do.

I really love these little people, & love that I've been lucky to get to watch them grow up just a little bit. 

(20 minutes of reminicing later...)

Ben was born (& Ben & Q as little teensy baby-friends)

Will learning how to walk (or these photos, which Mike just mistook for Q, or these, where we have our precious & now-extinct previously mentioned apple fritters!).  

Ada was the prettiest baby (& is still the prettiest little lady - more & more & more).

(I miss my bangs & want them back ASAP - although I hate the humidity here which has forced me to grow them out. I think I look like a horse. Also - I miss the backdrop of the city in my photos. And my friends. In no particular order, of course.)

Really though, it wasn't sad to be back in the city this trip. I wasn't depressed getting on the airplane & my heart didn't hurt while I was there like it has on other trips. It was happy, & really nice (albeit way too busy with not enough time) & made me grateful that I get to visit often - & also stay in touch with those few special friends who take the time to stay in touch even though we defected. 

Lots & lots of photos, still... A Brooklyn rooftop party! A wedding (!!)! It was a happy & really nice couple of days - starting off with a perfect morning in the park.