This girl is always taking another little piece of my heart

Okay...can I do it?  I am getting a tickle of interest to start blogging about family life again.  Mostly, I am driven by Emi's irresistibly sentimental nature.  Already, at age 5, she questions me daily about her baby years, Sen's baby year, my baby years...you get the picture.  When looking back on some pictures from a few years ago, I was somewhat startled, yet not surprised (okay, I know those words mean pretty much the same thing, but you just have to trust me on this one), at how many of the details have already started to blur.  

My goal is to keep it short and sweet, but to use this space, in its infinite awesomeness of multi-media ease, to begin to keep track of it all again.  It's a perfect time for Emi to be growing up in.

So for today - with Dada out of town in Eugene, we enjoyed a beautiful day of winter warmth and sunshine in Portland, packed full to the gills with friends and fun.  A lovely brunch at the house of Emi's best-friend (and her former preschool), a trip to Arbor Lodge Park to celebrate a kindergarten friend's 6th birthday (the astroturf hill was all the rage at this place, with Sen blazing the way of speed-sliding down it to the bottom), and some special time for Sen with his Seanny-Beep-Beep (aka Uncle Sean) while Emi and I had a lovely, well-planned date at Petite Provence.  We feasted on grilled cheese, sauteed spinach and mushrooms, and tomato fennel soup.  I had coffee, while Emi opted for hot coca, and finished things off with some lovely French desserts.  

We arrived home to the boys starting Spaceballs, so Emi was lucky enough to get in on the action.  Earlier in the week, I had started to get nervous about how full today was shaping up today.  But when the kids passed out, right after bedtime, I couldn't have been happier for such a full day!