Wow, time is really just trucking along. Here I feel like most days its a lazy stroll or at best a power walk but when I look back its like I was screaming along in a race car.
My baby just turned FOUR!! I can hardly believe it! On top of having to celebrate her birthday (more on that in a moment) she had her very first dance recital (same weekend of course). She did the "Boogie, Woogie Piggy" dance and was ADORABLE! They put her front and center because she did so well. She barely looked at the teachers standing offstage and only missed a few small switches (like left foot tap to right foot tap). It was a tap dance though her class was tap/ballet/jazz. The car was out of commission so I rode the max and asked Mom to ride with me. I am glad she was there, as I had no idea how difficult I could make a simple two max switch. Got off too early and walked 2 blocks no big deal, but coming back I couldn't find the tracks going the opposite direction (up a block for the one way streets) and did a big square to find them just missing the max so had to wait 15 min for the next one, THEN was watching for the stop for the train going the other way which meant we missed ours (different street, different name) and had to walk 5 blocks uphill. Got to our station to catch the bus up the street and found the buses had quit running so we had to walk the 1 1/2 miles to my house. It was 11:30pm by then and Mom still had to drive an hour home!!! SHEESH! Glad I had my Mom with me on that adventure though, and glad she is used to walking! Rachel says she wants to continue the ballet though I think tap would be better as she loves to put on her dress up shoes and stomp around the kitchen. LOL. Maybe both, though we are going to do it somewhere else (probably the local rec center) from now on.
Rachel's party was Sunday afternoon. It was supposed to be cloudy but only morning showers, of course we all know how that goes. Picked a park on the bus route with a sheltered picnic area (our van broke down and while the estimate was for $2000 my hubby and dad fixed it for less then $200) but when mom and dad got there (before us since of course we were running late) the shelter was reserved and tables full, all except one excluded tiny table down the path a ways (out of site of everything else and very quiet). It was sprinkling but rather then drive around finding another park (Matt got the car fixed right before we had to leave) Dad pulled a tarp and rope out of his van and with James climbing the trees and Brittney under the tarp and Dad tying knots they rigged a pretty nice little shelter for us. There were even a family of ducks that came visiting. Something that Eric found so fascinating he tried to follow them right back into the pond! We fed the ducks some chips that had decided to slide off the plate of my young children. My parents, Eric, Brittney, James, Violet, and Jon were all there. Love small family parties, no pressure to please everyone and time to visit and just enjoy. Rachel got lots of presents including MORE from Grandma Bailey who was ill the day of her party so we got to see her today. We went to a park in Oregon City and had pizza, opened presents, kids played on the playground with a just made friend (Isabelle) and we visited. It has been a beautiful couple of days weather wise and I am soaking it up.
All in all, a good fourth birthday (though it breaks my heart some times to see her all grown up). My little Tasmanian devil that keeps life interesting and challenging.