the (three year old's) simple life.

we had our dear friends visiting from california this weekend.
most of the time, it was blissful chaos... exploring the city, relishing in dear friendships, feeding ourselves and seven children on our favorite portland foods.

one hawthorne pizza place we dined in thought for sure we had intended to be at chuck E cheese instead.
(it was wishful thinking on their part.)

one sweet moment over the weekend, among many, was this:
elliot and sweet lila kate going up the winding slide.

and up.

and up.

and up.

and up.
giggling.

knowing that DOWN was coming any moment.
any second.

the effort was totally worth it.
elliot was bound to plow into sweet lila kate and they would both go tumbling back down the slide.
in sheer joy.

most good things don't get old.

old friendships certainly don't.

and new little ones either.

this morning, i woke in my bed listing to these two discussing our dog's name: STELLA.
(neither can quite pronounce her name.)

here is how the conversation went:
e: her name not "TELDA, it's STELDA."
lk: no! her name is not "TELDA, it's TELLA."

over and over (like the slide) they were happily correcting each others' mispronunciations.
one not able to say the "s" in stella, the other not doing the "ll" sound.
all in all... the sweetest things.

perhaps children are with us in the world to help us.

things can be so serious.
dark.
painful.

but not on a winding slide holding two wobbly bundles of joy.

in this moment,
everything is colorful and clear.

and falling down is actually a part of the plan.
if only we could get up and giggle like they do.

(thanks for visiting~ we love you guys!)