That is One Pink Bike
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

(cross posted from Trapper Markelz’s Blog)

She is growing up fast. We celebrated Hannah’s fifth birthday this weekend. She received a lot of fun presents from family and friends, but her “big girl bike” was the main event and she spent all weekend riding it. Given that the Boston weather has been fantastic lately, it meant a great weekend spent almost entirely outside enjoying the sun.

It seems crazy to think that my oldest daughter is about to start school. I was lying there in bed reading both Hannah and Lucy a bed time story… and it is in those simply moments that it always seems to come crashing in that you are actually a real parent. It is hard to explain… and to all you other parents out there… I don’t know if you experience the same thing… but you just get these moments of extreme clarity where all of the expectation of what you thought it might be like to be a parent someday becomes particularly acute and you realize that this is is… right here… I am doing it…

We made lots of memories this weekend. Moments of excitement where she came down to a pile of presents at 6am… Moments of surprise where the staff at her favorite restaurant came out with a stuffed moose puppet singing happy birthday… Moments of accomplishment where she found the confidence to speed up and down the road without feat of tipping over… Moments of satisfaction when the last guests left the ice cream party on Sunday and the birthday weekend was at an end.

It was good knowing that she is still at an age where Maureen and I can still make her smile so much, so easily. Hopefully she never grows out of that.

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