Birthdays are, decidedly, the best days of the year. I, Winona, am especially fond of celebrations marked by road trips, 

adventures and yummy treats. 

Mom's birthday weekend was exceptional on all fronts.

 A weekend at the Oregon coast is good for the soul. 

 Hot cocoa with a view. 

 "If ever oh ever a Wiz there was, the Wizard of Oz is one because...because because because because beCAAAAAUSE!..." ...because he lets mommy and daddy nap....do do do do do do do. do do.

 Not sure if she was forever emotionally scarred by Lucy's 6 week disappearance or if she just really likes leashes, but this kid gets distraught when the dogs are running free and not at the end of the leash. Distraught, I tell you. 

 She recovered quickly, determined to take the matter into her own hands.

 I'm taking the leash, mom. Someone has got to care for these animals.

 Let GO of the leash, mom.

 Got 'em. You can thank me with ice cream. 

 Only now can I relax and play in the sand.

 Hi Mom... 35!!!

 Some may think "beach" and think "swim suits." Those people don't live here.

The sun did come out, and we soaked it up. 

 The trees are all twisted and bendy from the coastal winds. 

Or from the magic of the tree fairies. You decide. 

 I'll be out here wishing SOMEONE would just FOCUS and build me a sandcastle. 

300 of them, actually. 300 would be great. 

I think we officially have a Julie Birthday Tradition... That's three years running and I don't think any of us see any reason to break with such a good thing.

To celebrate the idea of wishing that maybe sometime soon spring will perhaps begin to think about possibly maybe sticking around..just in case... anyway: we went to MAY FAIRE today. 

It was cloudy and cold, but we danced around the Maypole, blew bubbles, played games, had our faces painted, watched the Youth Ballet troupe, ate some cookies, and pretended that it felt like spring.

Then, because the momentum was there, we came home rode bikes and did some sidewalk art. (The sidewalk chalk art is a "mother's day card" from Winnie... :) Tonight she told me at bedtime that she was my "Mother's Day Fairy and going to make all (my) wishes come true." :)

Something Wicked This Way Comes

We saw Wicked today--a musical extravaganza with exhilarating stage sets and costumes--and a creative bent on a story that left me feeling jealous of the guy who thought of that (Gregory Maguire). The life, perspective and tale of Oz's witch. Brilliant.

Brilliant, too, is this idea of Wicked--Nature or Nurture? Real or perceived? What is happening or what we are told to believe is happening? If it's hard to hear, hard to look at, hard to understand, is it wicked? Or is it beautiful, and up to us, to do as Elphaba's lover did and just look at it differently?

I put the girls to bed, logged onto Facebook and learned that Osama bin Laden is dead. On a very real level of who I am, I am glad for this. I am grateful that tomorrow the sun will rise on a world inhabited by one less person hell-bent on perpetrating anger and hatred. Yet, I read "Proud to Be an American" status updates and heard the fireworks down the street and found myself crying. Sobbing. Not mourning bin Laden's death, but mourning the life we spend celebrating what I believe in my soul to be wicked: the perpetuation of Them and Us, Right and Wrong, Good and...Wicked. 

It's a sobering night for me, because I have two little girls sleeping soundly in the next room who look to me to teach them right from wrong and I wish wish wish it were as easy as saying, "The guy who died was wrong. The guys waving the flags are right." But it's not that easy for me because there's a mom out there tonight who sees that waving flag as a symbol of the people who murdered her son. There are thousands of those moms. 


So I'll tell them to look at things differently; to always question what they're told is True. And then ask again.  I hope I can teach them to celebrate life, never death. I hope that somehow, I can get over my self-righteous, indignant, opinionated self and teach them that there are "moral ambiguities" everywhere, all the time, and to be at peace with them. Dear God, give us a generation that's at ease with the gray areas... 

Some lyric's from Wicked's Wonderful: 

Elphaba: You lied to them.

Wizard: Where I come from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it history.

A man's called a traitor or liberator

A rich man's a thief or philanthropist.

is one a crusader or ruthless invader?

It's all is which label

is able

to persist.

There are precious few at ease with moral ambiguities.

So we act as though they don't exist. 

Ok, really, mom? I know the sun's out, but it's COLD and this water is FREEZING!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...just smile for the camera and say 'Happy Spring!' 

 In one of those "I have to get out of the house immediately" moments, I loaded the girls into the car and we headed to a place where we could stick toes in the water--or they could anyway; too cold for me--sit by the river's edge, climb a few trees and soak in some sunshine. This was my first "post-op" day that I've felt up for such an outing, and as soon as I realized that, there was no turning back. Granted, a tad chilly, but it was a fun afternoon.

A shot in which Winona Lou shows off yet another gap in her smile... lower (her) right taken by the tooth fairy last night in exchange for a Fiver since the tooth fairy had no change in the house. When will these modern children accept debit cards, I ask you?

There is something oddly relaxing and joyous about throwing rocks in the water. Between the three of us, we drastically altered the landscape of this bend in the river today with all the rock displacement we did. After a rousing game of "sink or swim?" (find an object, guess what it will do, throw it in, cheer), we went back to throwing rocks. When our fingers were numb, we decided it was time to call it a day...

There was a wedding on the grounds and we had to walk across a footbringe in front of the Bride and Groom getting their pictures taken--and Winnie was smitten. "Why aren't we invited?"
"They're strangers. They don't know us, so don't invite us."
"Can't we just have a wedding then? I love Connor. I could marry him right here tomorrow."
Gulp.

Found one! And then I found 17 more....

Then dad made egg salad while we had hard-boiled eggs for snack. 

After getting rained out of the bike ride/ scooter ride @ the park, we came home to have a tea party in the fort. The sun came out just as we got under cover. Ah, Oregon spring, we love you, we do. 

 We stayed in the fort long enough to weather a pretty decent rain storm, which was the highlight of my day. My camera had run out of batteries by that point, but it was pretty cool to be cuddled up in the fort, with hot cocoa and the wee girls for the four and a half minutes it lasted, before the sun came out again. 

For a fun change of pace, we tried to go au naturale this egg-dyeing season. 

Beets- Red

Tumeric and Yellow Onion- Yellow

Coffee-Brown

Hibiscus, Red Wine and Purple Cabbage- Purple

The results were mellow, earthy colors; not the brilliance of the Paas Pack, but worth repeating (and improving).

The pictures don't quite do justice. The blue/purple was my favorite, since it turned out sort of silvery, and although they all look like deeper shades of the original brown egg shell in the pictures, the colors were more purply and bluish than represented here. 

In other news this weekend: a birthday party at a fun, new park...

 and Family Fun Night at the Y! 

The highlight of this Friday night adventure was Winona's Swim Spectacular. Winona and her 4-5 year old friends swam the width of the pool and back (W chose the breast stroke one way and a version of the butterfly for the return trip). Then they jumped off the blocks and swam to the side.

Learning to swim is a pretty awesome pre-school perk!!

And here's one of Jez on dry land, although she tried her darndest to get off our laps and show us her stuff in the pool, as well.

 It's all enough to wear a girl out. 

I love pockets. And I love water. Seems a cryin' shame

that the two aren't more compatible.

Most things--and believe me, my specimens are many--

go in the pocket...

and stay in the pocket.

Not water.  

A few "reflections" on our weekend. HA!

The ladies in the family (sans Lucy) headed up to see some fab friends and meet the newest addition: wee Coletta, who is by every measure, perfection.

So, that would be Kiva, Julie, Roberta, Ione, Winona, Linden, Jezebel and Coletta. You do the math. Roberta aptly named it Girl Pandemonium. If you've read Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, you're starting to get the idea. 

Welcome, wee Letty. 

You are spectacularily (no, it wasn't a word before this child, but it is now) scrumptious.

Have you ever seen such studious looks accompanied by tiaras and boas?

Me, either.

These three play so well together, all things considered (ages, three's-a-crowd, distracted mamas, inevitable sleep deprivation and late meals --see "distracted mamas" etc.) 

Off to the science museum! 

First thing I found was the Chipmunk Suit. If they're not going to let me be naked (i ask often and try frequently), then I might as well be dressed up as a rodent. 

I want to pet the fish.

Don't tell me I can't pet the fish.

You know how I feel about not being able to pet the fish.

You don't? Well, let me remind you.

The best part of this was the Proud Big Sister exclaiming,

 "LOOK, JEZ! You're as tall as mama's HAND!"

"Hey, Nona, can you smile like Fred?"

Gammijas Winonie and Ione. J'adore...