Six Years

Time to celebrate. Oh and there will be a celebration. Just you wait. Tomorrow is Dave's dissertation prospectus defense. After that it all comes out. The carpets will get cleaned, the paper piles will be sorted and our anniversary will be celebrated. This is the deadline he's been working all summer for. A very big hoop to jump through.

You can do it Dave...

Happy Anniversary to us...

And I'm not ready to talk about next week's deadline yet.

Day at the Lake

We had Dave all to ourselves this weekend. I love when he says yes to questions like "Grand Haven?" at the start of a day.

This was right before sweet Noah let go of the string and I entered myself into the 100 meter sprint to catch that kite. Luckily (?) the handle got stuck on a sunbather which slowed it down.

Dear David,

It's been four days since I kissed you goodbye at the Detroit Metro. Four days since Noah and Gage watched your plane head off for California. Did you remember to bring your sunglasses this time?

We've stayed busy with a few playdates and our usual trips to the library and the park. We haven't hit the pool or the lake yet, its been rainy. Maybe tomorrow.

We went blueberry picking today at Nan's. Two bucket fulls. We'll save you some.

Gage was in the backpack and as long as I stayed close to the bush with my knees bent a bit he was happy gobbling berries. I should have handed him a bucket.

Noah picked and picked. Then he found a happy dirt hill and I didn't see him for awhile.


Good luck with your presentation tomorrow. Everyone will be impressed with your brilliant empirical research and your charm. Remember to smile nicely at the people from Oregon, they might be on the hiring committee. And when you see the people from that one state with the really long winters, please remember to slouch a little bit and maybe slur your speech too.

I'm tired and off to bed to cuddle with my pillow.

I love you,
Jessie

WA

Its so nice to be around people who love your kids. Traveling is hard on these little ones. They get cranky. Tired cranky, airplane cranky, hungry cranky. So my heart swells when these sisters of mine love em up anyway.


We spent a whole week in Washington at my parent's house letting these babes get loved up. Grandma and Grandpa eating macaroni and cheese for lunch and checking adventures off their list. We covered it all: Howard Amon Park, the wading pool, Art festival, canoeing on the river, the Playground of Dreams, snow cones, the children's museum, the library, splash pads, not to mention the endless fun to be found in that crannie and this nook at the house.


At the end of the week I wasn't ready. I could have stayed all summer. At least let me take some of it with me. Stumpy the elephant? He could find a great hiding place in our basement. Kate and her play dough snack shop? Noah would sit at the table for the rest of his life. How about just Dana's lap? Gage would sit there with a big fat smile for the rest of his.


To spend so much time with my mom was wonderful. To see Noah and Gage lovin their Grandpa was wonderful. Talking to my Grandma and Grandpa Brown getting a glimpse of my aunts and uncles was wonderful. And someday I will tell you the story of my frappucinno lovin sister and our crazy night out in Finley. Maybe on her birthday...