My brother Brian and his wife Anne celebrated FIVE YEARS of marriage this weekend!
Anne? The whole family is totally impressed with your stamina and perseverance. I lived with Brian the first 17 years of my life and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO ME.
John and Sam stayed home to fight the menacing, wild blackberry canes which were intent on pulling down our fence line. (They were victorious but Johns arms look like he was attacked by rabid cats) While Josiah, Caleb and myself drove over to Portland to watch the cute little preschool results of the said,happy marriage and give the tired couple a weekend to reminisce. 
They did raw oyster shots and karaoke, instead. But hey, we all celebrate in our own way…
Once the grownups were out of the house the kids all started in on the fun. Playdough is like riding a bicycle in that, no matter how long it’s been, you remember. It was funny to me that the first thing Josiah grabbed was the little barber set, because 10 years ago that was his favorite too. He doesn’t recall, but I do, how his favorite playdough activity was forcing green dough into long strings through those plastic scalp holes, making giant strings of Medusa hair. Than gleefully snipping it with safety scissors and starting again. Why won’t he let me cut his shaggy head, now? Hmmm…this might be the root of that mystery…
Aunt Anne always gives Josiah (the most willing employee of my three boys) jobs. He mowed the lawn for $5. Picked up trash for $1 and walked the dogs for $1. Added to the money he had been saving, he was pretty happy at the Lego Store on Sunday!
Cody won’t be two until October but he has no fear. None. This gives his Aunty some. I spent most of the weekend remembering all Sam’s tricks at this age because he had the same adrenaline addiction! Reminding myself that Sam is not dead or maimed (yet) helped some, but I was glad to have Josiah’s extra pair of eyes with Cody. He throws himself off the couch, face first. (not Josiah. Cody.) and he rides the plastic Flexible Flyer horse like he is doing job tryouts for the Pony Express. Seriously, the first time I saw this little blond baby scramble up the sides and start rocking that horse, nose to the ground, I about died laughing. 
We walked over to the park and Caity was proud to show off how well she rides her tricycle. Caleb loved pushing the stroller and being “the big kid”, for once. Each time we got out the stroller out, Caleb was quickly offering to push Cody and did a very good job. I know Cody was probably very disappointed to have all four wheels stay on the ground!
Caleb and Caity at the slide.
Saturday I packed two strollers, four children and a huge bag of snacks and we all went to the Zoo. We managed to see all the indoor exhibits before the cold drizzle turned into full on freezing rain. As my hands were full, I let Caleb take all the photos that morning. So we have a digital camera full of shots just like this. It could be a sea lion? Or it could be me, at the blue concession stand, paying $11 for lukewarm coffee. Not sure.
I love this little girl. We had fun baking brownies the last day, as a treat for her Mom and Dad. We colored, we blew bubbles, we read books and did playdough and discussed the merits of unicorns and rainbows and how pink is the best color, ever but purple is very, very close.
sparrow journey 
Thanks again Brenda! You are awesome.