Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year was full of gifts.  More presents than normal because it was also Ivy's birthday (and birthdays are the new Christmas around here ever since the pandemic started)... but also just a gift of a day.  Perfect spring weather and stretchy hours that just expanded to hold so many of my favorite things.

Started off nice and early with my sweet Sunday run group.  These young moms make sure I push my pace!  And its kind of fun to be the wise older mom, offering sage advice from the other side of toddlerhood. I mean, it is my 15th (!!) Mother's Day so I guess by now I ought to know a thing or two.

Talked Nat into a walk around the block in the perfect sunshine when I got home.   Our neighborhood just glows in the springtime.

Had time for a shower AND time for coffee at the sunshiney table before church.  Today it was just me at church but I am ok with that.  It is a meditative hour of my own-- especially on a sunny morning when I can sit by the window and bask in the stained-glass light and sing and think...

After church I picked up my mom for an "all the holidays" special day brunch, prepared by our breakfast chef extraordinaire.

Present time with this girl.  Hard to get a posed, smiling photo of her these days. Unless she has a bow on her face, that is.

She was excited to get this portable turn-table.  She has no records to play on it, nor does she know what albums she might wasn to get, but she still wanted this.  Because, you know, her brother has a turn table...

... and so of course he is the expert on them, and had to get his hands on her new toy within minutes. These two show that they care about each other in interesting ways. 

My Mother's Day treat was a trip to Stan Hywet with Nat and Win.  It was also the Mother's Day treat for every other mother in the tri state area, I think. I have never seen the place so crowded. 

But it was still pretty great.

We managed to explore a few new paths along the perimeter of the estate that we had never seen before, continuing our recent tradition of discovering new places each time we come here.

We couldn't have asked for a lovelier afternoon, 75 degrees of sunshine with a slight breeze. And tulips!

Back home for more celebration, with birthday dinner (noodles, the birthday girl's choice) and cake to celebrate the actual hour of Ivy's arrival. 

Closed out this gift of a day with cocktails at the porch fire... and so much gratitude.