Today is officially Ava's fifth birthday.  Hope and I were talking about how today is especially nostalgic for some reason, probably because it feels like a milestone birthday.  But in particular it seems like time has gone by so fast.

I remember when Ava was born, and how it changed me.  It was like a switch was flipped and I became a different person.  I don't know how else to describe it.  As she grew, Ava showed us that she's an imaginative, humorous free spirit who isn't afraid to express her emotions.   Her affection is what I live for and what I can't live without.  I love coming home from a long day at work, opening the door to Ava running full-speed for a giant hug.

You've changed so much in the last five years, baby-girl.  It's with equal amounts of excitement and sadness that I welcome the next five yerars, and the five years following that.  Your mom and I are so proud of you.

Ava has turned out to be quite the fan of Star Wars.  She's watched Episodes 1 and 2, we've seen the Clone Wars movie and have been following the series ever since.  It's our time to bond.

Ava was in the bathtub last night and she held two donut-shaped toys to her ears and thought that was hilarious.  I told her she looked like Princess Leia.  She had no clue who this was since we hadn't made it that far in the series.  I told her she was Anakin's daughter.  This led to an explanation of who Luke was, that they were Amidala's kids which naturally led to the question of how Anakin and Amidala managed to have kids together.

Realize, I'm telling this story to a five-year-old.  This twenty minute process generated many questions and required numerous re-warmings of the bathwater.

When I got to the part about Anakin becoming Darth Vader, there was a long silence while she processed this information.  The mood became very serious.  She knew who Darth Vader was and the process of connecting those dots was troubling because Anakin in Clone Wars is a good guy.

I've hesitated to show her the third episode, but she seems to want to see this whole thing play out.  I'm curious to see how this goes.

Voters in the Detroit Metro area are going to the polls today to approve or reject, among other things, a new millage to help fund the Detroit Zoo.

I asked Ava in the car this morning if she wanted to go with me to vote tonight.  She said, “Like on Big Brother?”

What are we doing to our child?  Her only frame of reference for the democratic process is from a reality TV show.

We spent the extended weekend at my parents house up north enjoying the beautiful weather.

Actually, it was somewhat of an extension of last week.  Mom and Dad spent the week babysitting Ava at our house, then after a brief break they took her up north with them while I finished out my work week prior to the 4th.  After two weeks, I think Ava, Mom and Dad really bonded.

Friday we went into Traverse City so Hope could meet her friend for lunch.  Ava and I walked around downtown, watching the crowd get ready for the Cherry Festival.  That night we went out on the pontoon and watched the fireworks from the lake.

We won't talk about Saturday, except that after I thought we could fight the crowds at the Cherry Festival in time to see the Blue Angels fly and failing miserably, we spent the remainder of the day relaxing.  Relaxing - except for the part where we played Rack-O and my mother and I nearly came to blows as a result.  There is some serious psycology going back to my childhood that makes me so competitive with my mother while playing board games and cards.  We need therapy.  Until then, there will just be more Rack-O.

Sunday we were able to pass through Midland and see the progress on Jay's house after the great flood of 2008 as well as see my grandma's new diggs in Bay City.

It involved a lot of driving, and we're glad to be home.  But it's always nice to see family, and to have sunny breezy mild days to boot made things wonderful.

Frozen custard?  Bah!  This stuff is frozen like my dog is black.  The result?  My kid is covered in chocolate, and come Monday morning I'm still finding miscellaneous drips in Mr. Elephant.

Evidence:

Ava and I had our first philosophical difference of opinion yesterday.

Tool was on the radio, and I explained to her that Tool was in fact the best band in the history of forever.  She agreed that they were good, but that she preferred Fergie.  I tried to remain calm, that she couldn't possibly compare Tool and Fergie.  She stuck to her guns.  I tried my old trick - trying to convince her that she knew she liked Tool better but just didn't realize it yet.  She disagreed.  I compared Fergie to a turd with vocal cords.  This was quickly rejected.

I gave her props for not backing down.  She's still wrong, though.