She's Known Me Since 1993...

...and she still likes me enough to come spend an evening with my family when her family goes on vacation.  Amazing!

But that's Lisa: A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  :)

She and I met when we were freshmen in college, living in the same dorm; but it wasn't until the last two years of college when we were two of the five women living together that we got to know each other really well.  And believe me, when five women live together in a small college apartment, you do get to know each other REALLY WELL.  :)

The five of us still love to get together, although the distances between our dwelling places make it a rare event when we get to pull that off; but I'm grateful that for several years, Lisa and her family have vacationed in my area and have been willing to give up an evening of their vacation to get together with us.  In previous years, we've had them out to our house for dinner; but this year, I asked Lisa if they would like to go to Riven Rock to let the kids play in the water and have a picnic supper together.  After all, if we love it so much (AND WE DO), maybe Lisa's kids would, too?  :)

Lisa and Andrew agreed to my plan, and tonight was our night to do this...provided the weather cooperated...which it didn't *exactly*...but a few raindrops never hurt a bunch of creek-splashing kids, right?  ;-)  When the raindrops intensified, we decided it would be a good time to eat our supper in the shelter; and by the time we were done, so was the shower.  Back to the creek the kids went for Round Two.  :)

My picture-taking was minimal this evening, since I was enjoying so much the chance to just BE with Lisa; but here are a few photos I managed to take.  Lisa is the one on the left.  A special joy tonight was meeting Andrew's sister Anna (in the back of the photo).

Maybe I should have told my kids I was taking this picture, so they could have looked at me and smiled.  Ya think?  ;-)

 As always, the big draw was the creek.  Simple, beautiful nature at its finest.  :)

 I couldn't get a clear picture of these two girls no matter how hard I tried, because they stayed IN MOTION.  Anna (yes, Andrew has a sister named Anna, and a daughter named Anna, which doesn't seem at all strange to me because I'm in the same situation with my Davids!) and Moriah are both three, but Anna is older than Moriah and was quite fearless in how she approached that big, slippery rock in the cold, cold water!  :)

 Towards the end of our time there, the girls jumped off the rock into the water over and over and over again.  :)

Before we said goodbye, I really should have thought to get a picture of Lisa and I together!  But even without a physical photo, I will keep the memory in my heart of a special evening in a special place with a very special friend!!  :)