Timewarp

The kids have birthdays very close to six months apart- Huelan's is Dec 27 and Vansen's is July 3. Perhaps more significantly though, their birthdays are both very close to major holidays. The effect is that they both have birthday parties that last over a week long. 

Though we had a big blowout for Vansen the weekend before his birthday, this year, on his actual birthday, Vansen got to celebrate with a full-on street parade. We invited ourselves to celebrate with the Reichards in Benecia (the one time capitol of California!) where they have an old-timey 4th of July parade down Main St. (on July 3). 

Going to downtown Benecia is like stepping into 1954- the kitschy, Back to the Future parts (complete with a DeLorean!), not the bad segregation and McCarthyism parts.  There were community floats, classic cars, and a Boy Scouts color guard, but the highlight had to be Stella's preschool "float." Vivien pulled a wagon with three preschoolers in it, and when they came by our spot, they wrangled Huelan and Liz to join them. Not that it was difficult to get Huelan into the action- she sprinted into the thick of the parade, enthusiastically patriotic,waiving her mini-flag and grinning ear to ear. Huelan. In a parade. She was unstoppable.

When we caught up to Liz and Viv at the end of the route, however, everyone was wiped out. But a couple of corn dogs and masubis perked them up a bit. 

The next day, Independence Day proper, the Lee clan come to the house for some smoked tri tip. Laurie made some kind of deliciously magical berry trifle for dessert. And Vansen finally got his cake, and we got the obligatorily adorable frosting face photos. 

I recall that we were in a much more reflective mood when Huelan turned one; as we're finding with a lot of things, the second time around affords a little less time for reflection. Nevertheless, One is definitely a milestone, and as always, it feels like it's gone by super quickly.  Though that feeling is kind of confused with the sense that he's been with us for much longer than a year. All of a sudden he's one, but at the same time, it doesn't seem possible that just 12 months ago he wasn't part of our family. I guess it's all part of the weird warping of time and perception that happens as we grow older ourselves.  

Some pics from the long weekend: Pics here