In January 2000, Dwayne and I had our first date. I was in my last few quarters of grad school, and needed to do some research at UW main campus library. Dwayne met me there to work on what was probably his Exotic Auto Club LLC, and then we had a late breakfast at a local dive.

Twenty-five years later, the products of that first date cooperatively grimaced on the steps outside that same library. Piper and Wes are feeling dragged around as we do dorm and campus tours (Kyla’s not the only one heading to college in the next few years) but I’ve enjoyed “enough for all of us” exploring biggest and most prestigious campus in our state.

Dwayne and I have conveniently celebrated Valentine’s on Feb.13, even before our little Sweetheart was born. This year, I surprised him with tickets to see a local evening light show– with only a tiny bit of snow. Dwayne manages to open his semiannual List of Reasons to Love Dwayne with chopsticks– a new feat.

Piper spent her birthday party helping her friends to Nugget to play simple board games.

We took her out for Italian for her 17th birthday on the 15th to avoid crowds and Dwayne and Wes made Piper flan from Grandma N’s special recipe. Then Piper got the next week off of school, so that’s really the best gift. 🙂

Piper has a sense of humor that delights me, an inability to finish the hundred creative projects that infuriates me, a brain that amazes me, and a cuteness that amuses me.

Big Sister is pretty much a pipsqueak compared to her Little Bro, hands down.

I bought a box of condoms today, even splurging on the variety pack. I had been threatening to for years, to some justified eye-rolling from my teens. But during dinner, I brought out the box, explained how condoms work and how they can fail and then we played with the “weird balloons”. This was not our oddest family dinner, I should make clear, and if I didn’t have pictures, I probably wouldn’t have even remembered this one.