birthday second round, mother's day first round

When one of your children lives in a different town, you have to be flexible about family celebrations. You can't always come together on the bull's eye date. You move things around, because a few days in one direction or the other isn't going to matter. The point is to celebrate together. When the stars are aligned.

My younger girl is coming up from Chicago with her family today to do some celebrating. My birthday, Mother's Day. I am so psyched for it, possibly because I love both days, all the more so because they fall into this awesome window of seasonal magnificence. 

 

 

 

I do wish I was better prepared for it, but things have been rather hectic lately and so I'm only sort of ready. Meaning, the farmhouse is clean, but you wouldn't want to do surgery in any of the rooms. Tidy, but it wouldn't win contests for that either. No matter! We are celebrating!

After the morning farmette routines...

(apple blossom snowflakes!)

...Which include the walk, the breakfast (on a porch scented with lilac blossoms).

And now it's time to meet up at the downtown Farmers Market. A good starting point for our family weekend!

(they're here!)

(and so are the local cousins!)

(all five!)

(the very rare candid photo with all nine young family members)

(the market in May: flowers, asparagus, rhubarb)

(hand games)

Afterwards, some of the cousins play, others nap, then work on a construction project, then rest.

(build)

(build for real)

(rest)

(presenting, unsuccessfully, an argument as to why the hose water should be turned on)

And in the evening all 11 of us come together at Sardine. Yes, same place as last year. No surprise there -- I like Sardine! And we are celebrating!

(I asked Ed for this group photo. It's never easy to take one of a long table at a busy restaurant)

(oh these two... the oldest of the grandkids)

(and the youngest)

(drawing...)

(dessert)

(total love, for the whole bunch of them)

Happy birthday indeed!!

with so much love...