birthday bonanza and the zoo

we've had a busy couple of days. we celebrated 3 birthdays this past weekend, and took a trip to the zoo with friends on monday. harper loves to sing happy birthday and help to blow out candles, so she was a happy camper. the subsequent eating of cake doesn't hurt either.

we celebrated auntie jen's birthday a little late, since she was out of town for kelly's celebration. and with it, uncle jeff's birthday was celebrated, too! we dined at one of those cook-the-food-at-your-table places, which provided for some good entertainment and a delicious meal. happy birthday auntie jen and uncle jeff!

mallory and harper

grandpa and grandma

pat and auntie jen

kyle, jeff and megan

a kitchen dance party ensued after cake. when asked if she would dance, harper got ready to, but then looked at grandma pleadingly "i want music please, grandma." girl knows it's better to dance with music!

on sunday, we celebrated our friend, anna's, 2nd birthday at a pool party. the weather was a little overcast, but that meant we had the club all to ourselves (and it made for some really great photos. overcast light is the best!). the kids got to swim for a bit, before another downpouring of rain. so we just wandered inside for dinner, cupcakes and presents. seeing all these littles enjoying some fun with each other, and the awe on their faces with the pool, presents, cupcakes and balloons is such a treat. happy birthday, anna!

harper was a little reluctant to head inside when it started to downpour.

this girl and her ice obsession...

i loved anna's oohs when she opened a new present. such pure joy.

happy and beautiful little girl

drama and tantrum followed this picture 5 minutes later, when harper decided that she wanted the blue balloon that someone else had. we knew then it was time to head home.

on monday, we visited the zoo with our friends colleen and brendan. another friend of ours, laura, from college and sorority days also joined us, as she is in town from china with her husband, paul, and their daughter, keoki. it was hot, hot, hot! (and colleen is 7-and-a-half months pregnant, so she's a trooper!) but the veteran zoo-goers (being colleen and brendan) knew their way around, provided us information as to what animals were coming up to keep us distracted from the heat, and found the perfect picnic lunching spot under the shade of some trees. we had a great time, and also purchased an annual membership, so we'll be veteran zoo-goers ourselves before the summer is through.

such a looker

there is a giraffe in this picture, but the bokeh is so...what's the technical word, christina? my depth of field is very shallow.

difficult to wrangle a 2-year-old to take a picture together

which way do we go? colleen??

paul, laura, keoki (in stroller) and brendan

at the end of the day, after the polar bear exhibit, harper kept asking to hold brendan. being that he's close to 15 pounds heavier and 6 months older, we didn't see how this would work. so, i suggested she hold his hand instead. she went for it, and so did brendan. turned out to be a cute photo moment. (don't worry abbey, we're not stealing your mendan from you, but you have to admit, he is pretty adorable. )

my version of paradise

ahhh, heaven. sitting in my backyard, watching harper go from the pool to the water hose and back. relaxing on my chaise lounge with a book. feeling the warmth from the sun, yet shaded by the children's kiwi umbrella. our vegetable garden flourishing behind us. this afternoon was my idea of paradise.

ok, ok, i'm still begging michael to take me to tahiti for our 10 year anniversary (and i do mean begging. i've been asking since we got back from our honeymoon...) and that is my absolute idea of paradise, but this runs a close second. an impromptu afternoon with my girl when it appeared that nap at home was not happening after her snooze in the car ride home from the zoo. her love of playing with water and being outside is evident, so i'm thankful we have the entire summer to enjoy both.

and don't despair- the inside of my house is a wreck. we have yet to put everything away from our few days away for my uncle's funeral. the laundry is half-done. there are crumbs on the floor that irritate me every time one clings to the sole of my feet. there are a half-dozen shoes strewn by the front door. there are dishes in the sink and toothpaste on the bathroom counter. but, i can leave all that behind to step outside and enjoy the sunshine and time with harper. that is paradise to me.

and her paradise today was filling a bucket with a hose, then dumping it out. over and over and over. to see that something so simple makes her happy, well, that makes me happy, too. and makes me look at the worthwhile things in my life, and reminds me to cherish the beautiful little things every day.

and borrowing an inspirational picture from my friend, kellie, i stole away a few minutes with the next book club book while we chilled outside. i'm nearing page 150, with only 450 more to go in the next 2 weeks. i feel like i'm back in school!

if i closed my eyes briefly, i could picture myself in bora bora, climbing down the stairs from our hut into the crystal blue water to swim to breakfast. ahh, only 4 years away. but for now, i am definitely enjoying our own little piece of paradise in our suburban little world.

welcome to twoville...

population: harper elizabeth.

where the heck am i?! this is not where i was supposed to go! i was doing fine on my road of compliance and togetherness and listening and sweetness. and then, we were detoured. we somehow crossed over to a path of unfamiliar territory. the signs read rough roads ahead. and we have to go through it, there's no way around it. we have entered...twoville.

it seems the terrible twos really do exist, and they began to show up in our house last week. where one minute she's sweet as pie, and the next a new voice, what i've coined the poltergeist voice, shows up with a loud and stubborn no mommy. i can only be reminded of the poignant scene in that movie with the little girl staring at the television and in her sing-songy voice informing everyone who's listening they're here. yup, those terrible twos are here. who knows how long they'll stay. and really, they had to show up at the start of our summer vacation, when we'll be spending loads of time together!? this girl will school me so thoroughly in patience, tolerance and acceptance that i'll have my phd by september.

here's a brief synopsis of twoville. in twoville, this is the best family photo we can get...

notice how she's pushing daddy out of the way?

in twoville, no mommy i do it has become a mantra and is said many times a day, but not just in a regular voice. oh no. in a scream that becomes louder as the phrase goes on. where you just have to back off completely for fear that people will look at you and wonder what you are doing to that child.

and on that (high-pitched) note, screaming is fun! even when mommy reminds you to use your inside voice, the screams ensue. and the goal is to see how long it takes to make mommy laugh (because otherwise i'd scream with her).

in twoville, it's fun to decide that you don't want to eat anything anymore. before breakfast, just two little cookies becomes the daily plea. for lunch, just yogurt. for dinner, only some rice. and maybe a few grapes.

in twoville, it becomes normal to cry and whine from the second you wake up until something is so distracting that it takes your mind off the crying and whining. until that thing isn't distracting anymore, and you remember that you were crying and whining.

oh, it's exhausting.

but then, there are always blue skies and rainbows and beautiful places that you only dream about. and these do exist in twoville as well. when even after a long, trying day, when mommy mentions walking to the coffee shop and gets a no, i don't like the coffee shop, i instead offer up the chance to take some pictures for mommy (when really that was my goal to begin with, but the coffee shop with toys was supposed to be the enticement) and that one takes the cake. we get dressed, we walk downtown and i snap away. and i am shocked that she follows my directions. she listens. she uses her indoor voice (outside). she doesn't say no. she even smiles. and i just adore the photos that i captured. so much so that i couldn't just pick a few to post. (and i only lead her in the direction of where i wanted her to pose. i did not pose her arms or legs or face at all. that's all harper. a photographer's dream.)

so i guess twoville isn't so bad. this detour will hopefully prove to have some beauty intertwined. and it won't last forever. so, for now, every night we pray for good dreams. and every morning, we wish for love and happiness. and harper has plenty of love and happiness to share. and that's all i could ever ask for.