I've FIVE!!!

Our incredibly sweet, always curious, spunky and funky little monkey is five. June of 2009 seems like only yesterday in many ways  (click here for a little stroll down the first months of wee Jezebelly's life. :)

Breakfast for dinner-- waffles with whipped cream and cherries to be exact-- was the birthday girl's request. Delivered! 

On Sunday, we celebrated with a few 5 year old friends at a local park. I wasn't very good about taking pictures that day, but we played "Pin the banana on the Monkey," bubble wand games and balloon games... the simplest ones are always the most fun!! 

The girls and I went out for a fun night on the town...

 ...including a stop at our new and COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY AWESOME skatepark. There were a LOT of kids there when we "dropped in," so the wee girls were a little intimidated, but we'll go back some early Sunday morning and really hit it, because man oh man, this place is amazing. Built under a bridge where there had been a long and sordid history of drug use and transient living... now a vibrant and welcoming recreational center. Love it. 

I may not win any half-pipe competitions (yet) but I've got the stylin' award in the bag, my friends. Show me the skater with coordinated animal prints to rival this and I'll yield my prize...Yup. Didn't think so.

 One of Jezebel's presents was Simon...now a family favorite. Mike holds the record... but not for long. :)

May!

May is always a fun month around here; for me, anyway! My birthday AND mother's day. In short: I am Queen for a Month. 

Ah, yes... I'll be sad to June arrive. ;) 

The month started off with a wonderful visit from Grammy and a fantastic production of Annie Meets Oliver! which both wee Grossmans starred in, but mama had lost her camera at a restaurant on that day, so no evidence exists for posting here... :( Take my word for it: they. were. great. :) 

 On Mother's Day proper, the girls set up Mama Spa-- and what a great afternoon it was. 

 I mean, these two lead such stressful lives, it's nice to see them able to kick back and relax a little. :)

Then, onto my birthday! Mike raided a local bakery for everything that had lots of chocolate and no gluten, and mama was one happy birthday girl. 

 ... and the girls provided live and incredibly fun entertainment! 

 This was not part of the birthday night's entertainment. 

This is just a regular Tuesday night. 

Saturday Market is in full swing, 

making our hearts and souls and bellies very happy. 

And welcome the newest card-carrying member to the Eugene Public Library! 

This three-day weekend was mostly spent around the house and yard, but today we headed out for a coastal adventure and found the Oregon Coast in rare very warm and sunny form. 

 We took a tour of the lighthouse: the highlight was the staircase. 

Sailors can see the light from 21 miles away...and no further only due to the curvature of the earth, not because the light isn't bright enough! Fascinating. 

We flew a kite! 

...and everyone except the driver slept on the way home. :) Back to it tomorrow, and the school year wind-down begins in earnest. Whew! 

Singing and Biking!

"Let it go, let it go! I can't hold it back anymore!..." If you have not seen Frozen, fear not: we saw it for you. A lot of times. I lost count somewhere after five, but the girls are still counting...and still singing. Who gets to sing what song from that movie's score is the most highly controversial topic in our house these days, as if there are a finite amount of times that "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" can be sung and IT HAS TO MY TURN NOW! I assure you, the number of times these songs can be sung is, in fact, infinite. We have proven it in our living room, at school, on the bikes and in the car...

The sun came out so we left the movie theater just long enough to see a few innings and hug the Duck. About 14 times. The Duck was the only redeeming part of the baseball game as far as Jez was concerned. 

And the Cracker Jacks weren't so bad. 

Tumeric, Blueberries, Beets... Easter Egg dying! We sort of pushed right on past Easter this year without much fanfare. I love the celebration of Springtime, and coloring eggs is always a good time, but that pretty much covered it for us this year. Since there was chocolate involved, everyone seemed okay with that. 

 The bunny was kind enough to bring chocolate, 

even if he did disguise it as a carrot...  

Then we found the eggs... 

and then it was 8 am... 

and not much left to do besides eat a lot of egg salad.

 ...and go for a bike ride, because I CAN DO THAT NOW!! Winona is rocking the bike, at long last. And she is loving her new-found freedom. 

And what's the first taste of spring weather without a trip 

to the ice cream store? 

Yum. 

Spring Break and a Birthday!

Our spring thus far...

First, last weekend, a walk through a city park to enjoy the science factory and the great, blooming outdoors:

Then, despite mom's last minute hesitations based on her resistance to leave the weather illustrated above for a snow weekend, we headed into the mountains for what turned out to be a super fun weekend of play--in the snow AND the sun! 

 Bodhi LOVES the snow and turns into a three year old puppy as romps and rolls in it. So cute!

 When the stormy weather blew in, we did a lot of this...

And, sometimes, even when the weather was not stormy, we did this... Jezebel is not a huge fan of bundling up and heading out into the elements just for nature's sake. We had to have something enticing at the end of the line to get her into her layers and snow boots. :)

 When it cleared up, we ventured out to explore the beautiful Cascade Range...

Winnie on skis! Look at that form! She was a real trooper and loved it (despite the fact that gravity seems to be, ahem, a bit more persistent when on skis). 

 

Our cottage was right on this lake--Odell. Beautiful and so very dramatic this time of year. In the morning, clear as glass and light blue... then stormy and dark... and back again. 

 

Our morning hot cocoa. Lakeside.

 

A gorgeous day for a xcountry ski! 

 A stormy night brought us to the main lodge for some live fiddle and guitar music...and marionberry cobbler. There may have been a hot taddy or two involved for the parents. 

So, you know that thing they say in baking recipes about elevation having a potential impact on the outcome of the recipe? I have always wondered about that. Now, I know what it does to pancakes: takes the "pan" out of them and makes them just straight up "cakes."

 What happened? How did this get so BIG? 

Winona wants to move to 5,000' elevation. 

 

The best part about the weekend was that it was a celebration of Mike's birthday! What better present (for all of us :) than four days together...uninterrupted. Pure bliss. Home today... and back to school tomorrow. A GREAT spring break!