Bubble days

Our neighbours have the funnest little bubble station. They can often be found blowing bubbles and are so welcoming to anyone who wants to join them. Janelle rests a plastic lid on top of a cooler. She has a little dish for bubbles and some wonderful bubble wands and doesn't seem to mind that the kids spill all over the place (which is something that stresses me out to no end). She just appreciates having kids over to play with her little boy so she can kick up her heels for a minute (and she sets out camping chairs for all the parents so they can join her for a chat while the kids play). 

Janelle is—and I don't say this lightly—an absolute gem of a person. She's such a wonderful friend. She is always serving others—cooking meals and visiting the sick. Like, literally, I aspire to be like her. Whenever we leave and I remind the kids to thank J— for playing with them, Janelle always reminds me that she's also thankful that we could get together because our friendship is just as important as the children's. She's generous (I have a number of items she's loaned me that I need to return to her) and thoughtful (she's always aware of what's going on in our life, whether she hears it from me or from the children when they're over playing with John) and I'm really very lucky to have a neighbour like her!

And with that sappy bit out of the way (and a spontaneous order of a gigantic jug of bubble solution to give to Janelle (because really I owe Janelle about 50 gallons, I'm sure)), I'll share a few pictures of Alexander and Phoebe blowing bubbles the other day. J— was there, too (as you can see in the pictures above), but I'll just have pictures of my two kids below. They were having such a good time!

This neighbourhood has been a bit of a bummer for Rachel and Miriam (who have become the best of friends for each other, thank goodness!), but the other four have friends behind nearly every door! It's very rare to have a day go by without playing with friends and we're very lucky in that regard. This evening, for example, we had a handful of kids playing on our trampoline(s). Did I mention we have two now? It was another Buy Nothing find and it's been nice to expand the bouncy area of our backyard. I guess where Janelle has bubbles...we have bouncing...

Phoebe isn't as good at making bubbles as the bigger boys are, but Alexander and J— made plenty of bubbles to share with her.

She has fun catching them on her bubble wand. She knows so many words now it's hard to keep track, but "Catch! Catch! Catch!" was one she was using a lot while playing bubbles.

She was having a glorious time (as evidenced by her grin):

We went home with soapy hands and happy hearts.