a proper birthday for june

so we did finally properly celebrate june's birthday yesterday. we went to trimble hot springs in durango. then i told june she could pick any restaurant at all for lunch, and she chose subway. after that we went for a nice long walk and went to some friends' house for dinner. the evening culminated with banana splits.

this is evan;

hazel adores him.

hazel and sweet maya

yum!

before i had children, my mother put the "i-hope-you-have-a-daughter-just like-you-someday" curse on me. i can only assume that she meant that she hoped i would have a daughter who would drive me as absolutely crazy as i drove her. and i am quite certain she got her wish. i believe that junebug is very much like me. and yes, she drives me crazy. she is headstrong and willful and stubborn and determined and single-minded and often relentless. just like me. but this is no curse. she challenges me everyday. she forces me to breathe deeply and accept. and as much as she frustrates me, she is also just the sweetest little thing. they say that the things you struggle most with in others are the characteristics you'd like to change in yourself. well, if that is true, having a little mini-me running around the house is bound to be a bit discouraging at times. (incidentally, hazel is very much like her daddy, calm and mellow.) and i've found that the times i get most frustrated with her are the times when i am trying to rush her and she is really only trying to say "hey, slow down. appreciate me in all my little three year old glory."

this is supposed to be a tribute to her and it's sounding more like i am complaining. i am not. june is spectacular. she has the most incredible little imagination and will tell us things like "boone (her penguin) eats termites and doesn't like to be cold." or she'll come home from her daycare with elaborate stories about where they went and what they did that day. "kim left all the kids home alone today and we went to telluride for lunch." she will scold the remote control and put the frying pan in time out. there is truly never a dull moment when she is around.