Rose's birthday isn't until Friday but the festivities are under way. We had a lovely party in the park. We had 13 kids, and we did not worry about getting them all to do the same thing. Rose wanted to play kickball, so most of the kids played kickball, and some of the kids (David!) ran around in the woods playing Star Wars.

I was a little worried that introducing competitive team sports would introduce hurt feelings, but it worked out pretty well. First, everyone managed to kick the ball. That's so much better than baseball where the odds of missing are so high. Second, no one really understood how to play, so the defense was pretty much nil. The kids guarding the bases would stand around and watch the ball go by. They didn't even realize they were supposed to be lunging for it, so no embarrassment there. That let the other team score. Very exciting. And third, once a team had scored five runs, their turn was over. So everyone got many at bats no matter what.

Even though we said it was a drop off party, lots of adults stayed and helped out including the grandparents. I always forget how many tasks there until someone is asking me for water, pens, a cake knife, and a garbage bag all at the same time. I delegated like crazy.

John made two delicious carrot cakes. Rose got thrilling presents--a rabbit puppet that pops out of a hat! walki talkies! books! No one was permanently injured though I was very tired when I got home.