Friends

Back in March we were enjoying lunch with our friends Amy and Jon and their son, Ewen, when Amy mentioned that Jon and their daughter, Stephanie, were going on a mission trip to Peru in June. On the spur of the moment I invited Amy and Ewen to come to town and stay with us for a few days while mom and son were on their own.

I'm not sure I even knew which days we were talking about, and I hadn't run the idea past John. It was a spontaneous suggestion. But Ewen's family and our family just get along--both the boys and the parents--and I knew it would be a good visit.



Was it fun?



Oh, yes. And that was just in the first 15 minutes. Then there was more fun. More fun. And still more fun. And then we ate, slept, and kept having fun the next day.

Along the way, Louis learned a little more about sharing--or maybe Ewen was just incredibly tolerant.



At first our boys acted a little shy. Then they started in on Play-doh. "Ewen, what are you making?" Louis asked. Then Ewen noticed a noisy battery-powered airplane. When Baba woke up from his Father's Day nap and offered to set up the water table and pool, the boys couldn't get outside fast enough.

Whether they looked like retirees chatting about the weather...



...or two boys on a water-related mission...

 

...Ewen and Louis took their cues from each other, wanting to play with the same toy at the same time, or treating Baba as an ally or enemy, depending on the game of the moment.

Louis had been counting the minutes to Ewen's arrival, and water play is always more fun with a friend.

Of course, Louis being Louis, when there was an opportunity to multitask, he sprinted over to help peel husks off ears of corn.

The boys shared meals...

...and dances on drain covers...

...and games with sticks...



...and wild races around the house...


...and Ewen even let Louis taste his milkshake.



Our boys have a lot in common. They were born in China, and they both came home to their forever families in 2009. They enjoy vehicles and Dr. Seuss and watermelon and ice cream. They love to laugh. And they both think that posing for a photo is a tremendous waste of time and effort.

Still, they tried to throw us an occasional bone.

Can you blame us for wanting pictures of this pair of pals?

Around here we fit trains in whenever we can, so we took Ewen and Amy to our favorite train museum. We even met Louis's Grandma and cousin John Paul there, so we had three train fans on our hands.

The boys walked the tracks.

Ewen did some weeding.

They showed Amy some "angry" faces.

They worked together to lift a simulated musket.

They climbed on the playground and rode the 25-cent shaking train rides.

And they drove locomotives, of course.

Just to spread the vehicle love around, we visited the airport and watched planes take off and land.

Airports are so much more fun without luggage and a schedule.

The boys decided this plane--which was a spaceship at times--was going to China and then coming back to "Merica."

It was one of the safest flights I've ever been on, though I've never seen such relaxed pilots.

 

And they even served spaghetti and pizza on the flight.

 

They were also a bit distracted, ditching the plane to explore the baggage cart...

...and popping out of this "tank car."

It was terribly hot in the play area--with heat pouring out of the radiators--but Ewen and Louis were having so much fun that we stayed until we just couldn't stand it any longer.

When we finally escaped, they guzzled their juice boxes.

Then we headed out for a meal we knew would make everyone happy--even if we lost a few fingers to the Chinese lion.

This picture was taken before John accidentally ate Amy's meal.

Oops. Luckily we were all still speaking to each other after the meal, and we were on friendly enough terms to go to the Asian market next door. The boys loved looking at all the seafood and watching the crabs crawl around a large tub.

Louis had had so much fun that I wasn't sure how we would get him upstairs at bedtime that night. Then I mentioned we needed to "blow up Ewen's mattress," and the boys sprinted for the stairs.

The next day I had a sense that sharing might be getting a little harder, so we shared a Dr. Seuss movie instead, while Ewen brushed his teeth on the couch--a novelty Louis noticed, of course.

Then, even though it was raining, we decided to take the boys to the zoo.

Ewen was very interested in the animals.

Louis seemed to think it was more of a race.

They both liked the giraffes, but Louis wanted to get close to them...

...and Ewen wanted to stand far away.

Ewen was hoping to see an eagle and a panda, but he had to settle for a raven and some bamboo.

Still, the boys had a fantastic time. They climbed across bridges.

They met animal statues.

They even became animals themselves.

And they took photos of each other. Louis's picture of Ewen is actually pretty good.

Posing for a friend is always more fun than posing for your mom.


On the way into the zoo, the boys had declined our request to get a photo with an iron lion. On the way out, however, after losing a few fingers in the lion's jaws...



 
...they agreed to pose. "Did you lose a finger?" I asked Louis. "No," he said. "He ate my thumb."

By the time Ewen and Amy were getting ready to leave, we were all worn out, but no one wanted to see the visit end. It was a terrific time for our boys to get to know each other--and for the moms to get to talk not just over email and not just while keeping an eye on our active children.

It was also especially fun to see the boys having little conversations together, which they did more this time than they ever have before. While I was filling up the car one morning, Ewen said to Louis, "So, how is your week?" "Um...three," said Louis. "My Chinese name is Jun."

Will these boys always be friends?

It's hard to say. But one thing's for sure. They sure have some special memories from their time together.

Oh, and their moms managed to get just a few photos of these two handsome boys.