Determined

Today is June the 2nd.  Looking at my blog page I see that I am in a rut:  4 entries per month.  That's the best I can do lately.  Well, dagnabbit, this month I am going to do better!  (Of course I am!  Summer is starting and I am going to have a TON of free time!  Well, that is, when I'm not running my daily carnival for the kids so they stay busy, creative and out of sibling squabbles....)  But yes, I'm shooting for more than four entries this month.  That should be pretty easy, actually since I'm so far behind that I already have at least four things about which to write.

Where to begin, where to begin?  I'm not going to go in chronological order because who cares anyway.  How about a recent really really fun weekend: Memorial Day/My Birthday.

I love my birthday.  I find May 25th to be an absolutely magical day in the most magical of all months.  Spring has finally settled its roots in deeply enough that fears of late-spring snow are over and flowers abound on every porch, in every border garden, in every hanging basket.  Everything smells nice.  It's not too hot yet.  The end of school is just around the corner, and dreams of late starry summer nights, sunburnt legs and sleeping in are setting in in ernest.  The whole month just tingles with anticipation.  I always feel very celebrated on my birthday - it's a great day for me to recognize the blessings and lessons of another year, the grand folks that fill my life, all that there is to be happy about.

My birthday fell on a Sunday this year, usually a bummer because one of my favorite birthday activities is to stop in and partake at several of my favorite restaurants throughout the day.  So since I wouldn't be doing that, I just thought about what I would really love the most, and it turns out that I just feel so filled by the dear friends in my life.  What I really wanted was to be with some of those people.  Happily, Peter and Sheri were able to come up for the weekend, and we did our best to fill the days with activity such as (doi) a trip to the zoo - they had to see the lions, right?  (Twice, actually.)  We also hit Seven Peaks Water Park on its opening weekend, happily much warmer than the opening weekend last year - oh what a difference 20 degrees makes!  Sheri took me for a pedicure, we had my parents over a couple of times, we had a fantastic bbq lunch at my sister Margaret's house - it was a great weekend.

And on my birthday itself? Well, church in the morning for one thing.  But since my brother announced to everyone that he was visiting for my birthday,  I was well-wished and happy-birthdayed all over the place.  After church I got to go for a walk all alone:

...and that was heaven.  Sheri made sure I didn't touch a dish all weekend.  And then, get this, I TOOK A NAP.  And in the evening?  A picnic dinner at our Matthew Park high above the city behind the capitol building where we met with a few families from our neighborhood.  We enjoyed the breezy view of our green valley surrounded by the still-snowy peaks.  Sheri got all the kids playing a round of Red Rover that turned into an hour-long rover marathon.  Hilarious.  We ate cake, we talked, we enjoyed one another's so-pleasant company.

See?  I just love my birthday.  Even when I go ahead and turn 41!!  I am officially in my 40's.  Not just in my 40, like last year.  It's plural now.

Another major activity of the weekend was enjoying this little squirt and her very juicy thighs

Cara was happy and sweet all weekend long except for this one moment, which we had to capture because it was so funny and cute