Don't you hate it when bloggers have been gone for a while and then come back with a regular post like nothing ever happened? No fill-in for the days missed? I do. So here's the scoop for the last few days.
** A birthday. Our middle girl is now eight. I know kids grow. I know it's healthy for them to keep on getting bigger and older, but it's still so weird! I met Xi when she was less than a week old as Nathan and I were working together at the time. A few months later we started dating, so in those early months when Nathan had his Papa time with Xi, I got some too. And even later when both Xi's parents were working I got to babysit. And even later still when Nathan moved in with me his Papa-overnight times became my overnight times as well. I remember feeling giddy, folding little clothes and arranging a space for this new little person in the drawers of my bachelorette-like storage space.
In other words I've known this girl from the beginning and now its eight years later.
Nathan wrote about the special day here, with lot's of photos. That three-tier cake was a two-night affair, so now you know where that time went.
**We did two markets this weekend, thrilling the crowds with tiny fairy food. The girls are regular pros at this point, even helping me set up the shade tent and wandering the market like it's their own backyard. They've made market-kid friends and Echo even has a new beau, a fellow four year-old named Caleb who wants to be boyfriend and girlfriend. At this Echo blushes demurely.
The second market was at the Carousel and we did it because it coincided with the Carousel's Fairytale and Superhero Festival. I didn't give that angle much thought until, right before needing to be packed up and out the door to set up our stand, Echo brought the brush to me and said, Mom? I need you to brush my hair into a bun because I am going to be Cinderella. I don't know if y'all remember Echo's hair situation, so let me remind you that I wash it and brush it occasionally (as per her wishes) and at the furthest reach of those washes her hair is large, wild, and a cylinder of tangles. I think you can guess that that's the state in which she came to me a minute before leaving for market.
I brushed, she yelled ouch, I asked if she wanted me to stop, I brushed she yelled ouch, I asked her if she wanted me to stop, until I had made it half-way up her nest of snarls. Then I smoothed those remaining snarls into a little bun, she slipped on the Cinderella dress, her sisters doused her in blush and we were out the door. Xi was Snow White, and Bella was a fairy.
The two younger girls lasted an hour in their get-ups until they were too hot and wanted to change. Bella made it all the way until the festival ceremony and was our only girl brave enough and interested enough to get on stage and twirl and wave like a prom queen. For her efforts she got a balloon and free ice cream (which her younger sister, the non-costumed, non-participating one, helped her eat with vigor). By three p.m we were all hot and wilted. Which brings me to the next item.
**Rivertime. River season is upon us. We've fine-tuned our locomotion to our favorite riverside spot. Nathan drives the tandem with Bella in the rear and Xi riding a tag-along bike attached. I ride our red bike with Echo in the seat in front, and a bike trailer with Henry-dog, towels, and tubies behind. The water is warm enough for us to walk up the trail a bit, plop in near the pedestrian bridge, and float down to our belongings.
At this point of the season the river is full, not only of breath-taking beauty, but youngsters with beer and bikinis and sunglasses and whoops of loudness. As we sit, zen-like on our stones, we have constant entertainment in the form of passersby. They lend an air of celebration to the day, as we all rejoice in our own ways, the return of river season, and the unbelievable goodness of water in the middle of town. Henry-dog likes these partiers as well because they are always losing things. Their loss means objects of retrieval for him. He considers it his sacred duty to swim out and fetch floating beer cans, plastic bottles, and flip flops.
**Communal Dinners. A couple days ago while neck deep in pinatas at Party America, I received a text from Romy seeing if I wanted to join in a dinner smorgasbord at her house. I had birthday on my mind, and though I had thawed chicken I had nothing else planned for dinner. Smorgasbord sounded awesome. And it was! Most of our playgroup gang brought this and that to eat and we chatted and ate while our children went wild. It felt like a bonus track to our weekly playgroup and the kids got the thrill of seeing each other at nighttime. When I was a kid it seemed like the neighborhood games really got going good right before bedtime. There seems to be something special about that twilight hour.
What's even better is that we have been able to repeat this extravaganza two more times this week! It turns out it's pretty easy to pull off. Last night as we were leaving Kris' house, I was so reluctant to leave the wading pool and naked children and idle chat on the back steps, but once I got on the bike I couldn't help but let out a sigh of great contentment. Even if bedtimes call us home sooner than we'd like, it is so worth it.
**Regular life. Through all of this activity there is regular life. Story reading, dish washing, chicken wrangling, tooth brushing, PB&J making, fighting, playing, garden watering, working, dog walking, and of course, more fairy food making. This morning I saw Echo shaking up Bella's blue, teen, face astringent to make bubbles and tell herself an imaginary story of some sort, and I thought this is life. A colorful mix of ages and interests, of seasonal delights and ordinary chores. A patchwork quilt of goodness.
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