These party animals went to see the animals.You would think that a wedding would be enough excitement for the Tates.  You would be wrong.  We are party-all-weekend kind of people.  We went to Chicago for a wedding, but we weren't leaving until we went to a surprise birthday party...at the ZOO!

 The cousins love to be together.  I love to see the cousins together.

 Okay.  By the end of it, we were tired.  Our family friend, Ruth Solomon, was too wonderful a lady to overlook, and it was so nice to be present for her big surprise.  The kids loved the trip, and the Brookfield Zoo was really wonderful.  It was my first experience with an indoor zoo- in California, the animals are mostly outside all of the time.

We left right after the zoo, and made it to Ohio that night.  It seems like years ago now, but it was just a week and a half ago, really.

The wedding was crazy, lovely, and emotional, all in parts, but Job Tate is officially off the market.  May he and Lisa find a safe place to be themselves in each other.

 Right across from the lovely homes that we were guests at was the Middlefork Savannah, which seemed more like a swamp to me and was full of lovely creatures and grass, and unfortunately, ticks.  We found seven on our party before we left.  Here is Uncle Josh talking about something ridiculous, I'm sure.

 We were tired from our flight and the little boys just wanted to be held.

The wedding was wonderful, but the best thing about Chicago was how it brought our Tate family together.  Here is my super-pregnant Lisa...look at that baby!  She is due June 8th!  I can't wait to meet her!

 Jack, who is four and a half, recently learned how to pump his legs and swing himself. 

He swings now every day.  He loves to swing.  And I love how much he loves it.  Swinging is one of those childhood joys that are irreplaceable.

My camera is funking out. Outside, the shots are great...but inside....ah, well. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong. This is why I am not a photographer. But WHY, then, is my blog so picture heavy?

Because I think that you can see, even through the bad grain and the poor light, that face. I sometimes put this chicken up on the counter next to me, and we visit while I cook, or make tea. I don't remember the occasion for taking these- at all- but I looked at them and thought,
"This is such a perfect age."

I meant Miles' age, not this age- this age of cloudiness and confusion that surrounds our world.

Two and a half is a wonderful age. He's fun to talk to, interesting in his observations, and small enough to hug all over- he's still an armful.

And I realize, too, that this is why the youngest child is babied. With chickens and children, time flies by. Now that Miles is soaring through these years, I am better at seeing what I so fleetingly enjoyed with the others.

Whenever I look at him, I think of my other two-and-a-half-year olds, and I enjoy him more for that.

I would give up many things to be able to physically relive holding my two year old Jack or Lucy or Bowden...it wasn't so long ago that they were two and a half, but it isn't getting any nearer.

Sometimes the chicken's silence means trouble.

Sometimes it means a drum circle ready to erupt in the kitchen.

(Why are these pictures so awful? I need a better camera. Or some camera lessons. Or a photographer to follow me about. I will pay in meals with my family.)

Umbrella!

The sun really is too much for our lily-white skin.

My sister, Rosie, posted! Go to her blog for some beautiful baby pictures- of a very P-W baby!

On Monday, it was Bowden.
On Tuesday, Jack.
Wednesday, we kept Jack home from preschool, but it was really Miles' day.Today- really since last night- Lucy has been aching and fevered and a little congested, and my eyes feel like they're burning up.
I can hear Josh coughing upstairs.
That's all of us. Bowden and Jack are better already, so hopefully this thing will be conquered in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Guess what we got for Christmas. And guess who gave it to us.

I just had to post them all. We love these shirts.

What do you do in the snow? Look for tracks.

I sent Bowden and Lucy out with my camera.

Put unsweetened kool-aid in water bottles and send the kids out to color.

Pretend that you're living in the Big Woods and try to make "candy" from maple syrup.

I was bummed after I let the kids do all this- instead of some school- and when we really got going into actual school, they were cranky. So sad. At least their cute, even when they're not grateful.

(Just so you know, when I was a child, after reading Little House in the Big Woods, I tried to make maple syrup candy with table syrup- not real- and ice cubes. That's what we had. Really maple syrup was something I did not experience until I went to college. And I didn't like it. Too thin and sweet. Not buttery. Poor Sarah Paulson.)