May Day and more

Dancing around the May pole!

 We have had a very busy May so far. Too much to write about in one blog post, but I wanted to share some photos and give a little update from the Sprague/Jeffries clan.

We have been taking full advantage of our Spring weekends lately. It's been so nice to have some sunshine and to have Alan home for such a long stretch. May kicked off with us attending our first ever May Day party hosted by a friend in town. It was so nice to socialize with friends, share some good food and see so many kids running around catching tadpoles and scooping up frog eggs. The highlight was the much anticipated pole dance - which included a procession of kids being ushered to the homemade poles by a fiddle-playing father! Such a nice tradition to start.

We have also been exploring our Valley surroundings - a trip to the Oaklawn Farm Zoo, a Mother's Day hike along waterfalls in Keji National Park, and more time beachcombing with the kids. Caleb asked if I would share my beach glass and pottery collection with him, so I think he's officially hooked!

Odin's daycare held a Mother's Day lunch and invited all mom's to attend a special celebration on Friday. I felt terrible when I realized that I would be out of town for meetings that day. I could just see how disappointed Odie would be when he realized that all the other mom's were arriving except his. Thankfully, my wonderful hubby stepped in to save the day and he offered to attend the lunch on my behalf. I called Alan later in the afternoon to check in and he reported that the lunch was great and he was proudly wearing a 'Super Mom' medal as we spoke!

And to top it all off, we bought a house! Much more to come on that front, but for now we are just beginning to process the fact that after all these years we will finally have a home to call our own. We are officially planting our roots and it feels so, so good. Closing date May 31st, so packing/moving fun begins soon. At least we know we won't be doing this again for a LONG time. Eeeekkk!!!

Odin loved the animals, especially the big cats and the monkeys at the zoo. This was a big and mind blowing day for him!  

I can never resist the cut-out photo op! 

Our little animal lover meeting a friend during a family walk. Caleb is already concerned that Odie is going to want lots of pets and wild animals in our home when he grows up. After I read Caleb 'Owls in the Family', he wanted to be reassured that we would never have more than two pets, and no snakes, gophers or spiders! He loved the book though!

 Snack break on the Red Chairs in Keji

Mother's Day beach finds. I love this teeny, tiny whole glass bottle. Maybe it once held perfume? 

We've also very recently experienced some loss in our family. Alan's grandmother Kathleen McEachern passed away peacefully yesterday. She was a wonderful lady who whole-heartedly welcomed me into the family from day one. We will certainly miss her. I look forward to hearing stories from her 91 years when we get together with family to celebrate her life later this week.