Instant Social Life

Well, life here in Texas is getting busier and busier, but in a good way. John and I are starting to make friends. Today we got together with my new friend Wendy and her two daughters. Our two year olds actually played TOGETHER today. There were some sharing issues, but generally all went well. Yay!

We're also getting to know some of our neighbors through the meetup group. Yay! I am so impressed with how organized the whole thing is. There is a website with a calendar of upcoming "meetups." You can RSVP directly on the calendar and see who else is planning on attending. There is a message board to discuss various things with other group members. You can send e-mails and public greetings. It's really fun. The group I joined has 66 current moms as members. The children range in age from newborn to 18 years old so the meetups are varied--some appropriate for my little guys and some not. There are also Mom only meetups and family meetups and even a Dads poker night. It's like having an instant social life. To give you a better idea of what I'm talking about, this is a list of the meetups currently scheduled for our group in September:

September 1: Labor Day
September 2: 3:30PM Family Swim
September 3: 10:00AM Playdate at C's house; 7:00PM Bunco
September 5: 11:00AM Playdate at park with splash pad (think lots of fun sprinklers); 7:00PM Soccer Parade
September 6: 10:30 AM Family storytime at library; 11:30AM Playdate at Games place
September 7: 3:30PM Birthday party at neighborhood park (for summer and September bdays)
September 8: 9:30AM Playdate at T's house
September 9: 7:00PM Family outing to ice cream place
September 10: 8:00PM Moms only swim night
September 11: 3:15PM Play at neighborhood park
September 12: 10:00AM Playdate at H's house
September 13: 6:00PM Graze Around the Neighborhood (adults only; drinks and appetizers at 4 houses in the neighborhood)
September 14: 6:00PM Family dinner at BBQ place (kids eat for free)
September 15: 8:30AM Breakfast picnic at neighborhood park
September 16: 10:00AM Playdough playdate at R's house; 3:30PM After School Floats at V's house
September 17: 6:45PM Evening play at neighborhood park
September 18: 7:00PM Mom's night out at Tex Mex restaurant
September 19: 10:30AM Playdate at L's house; 7:00PM Dads Poker Night
September 20: 10:00AM Family play at neighborhood park
September 21: 1:00PM Dinosaur exhibit at local museum; 7:00PM October Planning Meeting
September 22: 11:00AM Lunch at local place--moms eat free with purchase of kid's buffet; 7:00PM Moms Game Night
September 23: 3:30PM Board game playdate
September 24: 10:00AM Children's book swap playdate
September 25: 10:00AM Boys playdate at Co's house
September 26: 10:00AM Playdate at Cy's house
September 28: 9:00PM Moms movie night at Co's house
September 29: 9:00AM Nature walk and craft; 7:00PM CPR 'party'
September 30: 3:30PM Activity Bag Exchange; 7:00PM Pokeno (like Bingo with prizes)

Isn't that amazing? I love it! I won't be able to make many of the moms only stuff right now with Brian traveling and Norm's nursing and John's desire to have me put him to bed, but I'm still excited about the possibility of knowing it's out there. I know that not all the children are at a good age for John to play with, but there are a good number of 2 and 3 year olds. Most of the in home meetups have limited spots available (understandably), but we got into some of them. The park and non-home playdates are always open to everyone who wants to come. And, of course, John is going to be in school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (starting September 2nd) so we won't be attending meetups on those mornings.

Anyway, that's our excitement and how we came upon our instant social life.