Hike with all 5 Es

Birthday (and Easter) Dinner

We celebrated Emerson's Sixth Birthday, as well as Easter, with spaghetti and meatballs and then a red velvet cake, per Emerson's request. Emerson heading into his seventh year is a joy to be around. He is a keen observer, an animated storyteller and an enthusiastic helper whenever something needs doing - especially if he can do it all on his own. He would spend entire days building new Lego sets, probably not stopping to eat, if allowed. He loves climbing the tall cypress tree in the back yard, digging in the dirt (and finding 'crystals' and worms, catching lizards (he actually catches them now! lots of them), swimming, playing baseball, and going to the library to get new books to read. He is a great friend and playmate for his younger brother Ethan. For him the world is (still) full of magic and wonder and I love experiencing life through his eyes. Happy Birthday to my dear Emerson!

Emerson turns 6!

Emerson's 6th birthday party took place at MOSI and featured an hour on the Ropes Course which turned out to be a bit much for many of Emerson's friends but those who enjoyed it raved about it long afterwards. There were some kinks -- Gama had to bring cups full of ketchup from the cafeteria in the other building for the chicken tenders, the pinata had to be held by Eric on top of a chair and Ethan was not happy with how much loot he scored in the mad scramble after the pinata came apart -- but in general it was a success! Soap-encased dinosaurs were the party favors (handmade with love, and scalded hands, by moi) and Emerson got to fulfill a long-held dream of doing the Mold-a-matic to get his very own T Rex. We also benefited from a visiting "Dinosaurs in Motion" exhibit where enormous metal dinos could be moved via levers by the kids. Happy Birthday Emerson!

Visit from G-Pa

Birthday warm-up

We kicked off the kids' Spring Break week with a visit to Legoland with Gama, and we used it as an opportunity to kick off Emerson's birthday celebration, which is less than a week away.

Ski adventure