It's the first of our April birthdays today! Twenty-five years ago, Alison made the scene. Here I will try to fit a completely random selection of photographs to a spur-of-the-moment idea for a post. (Because the well-planned blog this is mostly not.)

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Give me an A!

There was a very prominent "balance beam" in our yard for a couple of summers! It was like she couldn't keep her feet on the ground. These days, she's more active -- and athletic -- than ever! Walking, biking, and even running!!

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Give me an L!

There was a time when you could say that there was no love lost between these two. I always wonder what difference a 2-year rather than a 4-year gap would've made! We all survived, and I'm so happy that my daughters are all such good friends.

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Give me an I!

There are benefits to having a tall, narrow container vs. a low, wide container when playing Drop The Clothespin In The Bucket... but it doesn't look like she was interested in strategy and the finer points of the game, does it? I'm not sure what Katie's container looked like -- she's obviously getting plenty of "help" from her other cousin.

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Give me an S!

A smile that lights up the room.

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Give me an O!

The creativity is in their genes, plus they grew up surrounded by objets d'art, in addition to so many objects for making art. I can't tell what's in her hand here, but the cigar box is full of colored pencils. One of our best finds ever was a huge roll-end of paper, and I think there are still dozens of life-size tracings of the kids stuck between the basement joists.

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Give me an N!

What does it spell? ALISON!

Happy Birthday wishes to the N^th degree to my beautiful second-born!!

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