Back to Normal (or something like that)

Just back from a long weekend at my parents' house up in the northernmost reaches of NY state. We had a 3rd birthday party for Grace - a bunch of my aunts and uncles, cousins, my gram, and a few friends came up for the afternoon on Saturday, and we had a wonderful Beatrix Potter-themed party, accompanied by party hats decorated with animal ears and tails; a phenomenal obstacle course ("Peter Rabbit's Garden Maze") designed by my dad; dozens of balloons blown up by Carl and one of my uncles (they were wheezing all day afterward); an egg hunt ("Jemima Puddle-duck's Egg Search"), and lots and lots of food. We went through gallons of lavender lemonade: I spent half the day making refills.

Then we had a cookout for anyone who wanted to come back that evening, followed by a campfire and guitar music provided by two of my cousins (listening to my two twelve-year old boy cousins sing, in their beautiful sopranos, "Folsom Prison Blues" was probably the highlight of the night).

Sunday we lazed around and recovered from the party, had another campfire for just our family and Gram (she lives just across the driveway from Mom and Dad, on shared property, which is really nice), my parents gave Grace her birthday tricycle (we'd figured if she'd gotten it at the party, she would have forgotten everything else, so we saved it for the next day), and then Monday we packed up and drove back home. And nobody got carsick, even on the windy roads through the Adirondacks with the sun beating through the windows!

All in all, a weekend made of win.

Meanwhile, I've been working on some short stories and novellas, trying to teach myself brevity in writing (HAHAHAHAHAHA), and I'm also working on a detailed outline for an MG fantasy novel, to be written at some point in the future after I've finished all my current projects (again with the HA). I've set aside this summer for the shorter pieces, and come fall, I'll start work on the next edit of my Maia book (working title, Magic and Mayhem). The plan will probably fall to pieces within a month, but I like at least starting out with one - it makes me feel so organized.

And in other news, my not-yet-five-year-old decided this weekend was a good time to stop with "Mamma," "Papa," "Mommy," and "Daddy," and is now simply calling Carl and me Dad and Mom. It is so weird. I really must be getting old - my baby is three, and my big girl is calling me Mom!