I'm really really tired and so are the kids, but I think we survived ok.

The girls started making noise at 6:15. I went down and told them they could do whatever as long as they didn't wake up David. At 7:30 Rose came crying upstairs. I guess there had been too much whatever. It was small as dramas go, various hurt feelings. The other girls coped by all curling up with books on the couch. I didn't try to solve the precipitating cause; I went for the underlying cause and got breakfast going.

We had chocolate chip pancakes, lots and lots of pancakes. The best part was when the girls burst into song. They did Simple Gifts, Erie Canal, and a song I don't know about the months of the year. Rose tried to teach them coffee by the Short Sisters. It made me so happy.

Pick up wasn't until 10:00, and I knew we needed to get out of the house, so I took them all to the park where they played wild girls rescuing hurt animals. I was drafted to play the part of the wounded doe. David was my faun and kept running over to give me reassuring hugs.

The kids and I have been tiptoeing through the rest of the day trying to accommodate the inevitable let down and exhaustion. Of course, then we had the promise of Miriam's family birthday dinner which was lovely. So, the fun just keeps coming.