Glor-ious (but quick) visit

We have had so few visitors in the last two years that having guests to our house is so exciting for the kids.  Our friend and former colleague Gloria, who has moved to the Bay Area (but who was one of Iver's favorite people when she was living here), returned "home" to visit Humboldt this past week and joined us for dinner on Tuesday. She stayed with her former (elderly) landlord (who made her get regular COVID testing) which reassured us even further (but was not a concern of ours!). 

What a sweet relief it is for kids to have other (even adult) playmates for even a short time which offloads us mostly emotionally. After dinner, Iver showed off his garage fort, which features some tiny lights that were a Christmas gift from Gloria (which he remembered).

They also had fun in our backyard playing "fetch" with Gloria's dog, Luna (who also came to visit) and having races. Luna would occasionally growl at Pepper when she got too close to her precious ball, but elderly Pep appears to now be deaf and therefore oblivious; thankfully, there were no doggie conflicts.

Gloria even got to participate in bedtime story reading, and the kids missed her the next day. Niall, who was only one the last time we saw Gloria (thank goodness for this blog for me to look up past dates!), remarked, "When is she coming back? I didn't even get to play my legos with her!"

Hooray for friends visiting again and more playmates for our kids! We gave Gloria the gift of an Open Door fanny pack and maybe we'll lure her back here one day!