We hosted a birthday party for Abigail over the weekend. Unfortunately, a lot of the people we invited didn’t RSVP. (You know who you are! Feel guilt! Feel shame! Feel remorse!) However, we still had a good turnout, and Abigail had a marvelous time. I was particularly proud of Emily, who instead of being petulant that she wasn’t the center of attention, did everything she could to make sure that Abby’s party was special. I learn something from these kids once in a while.

Anyway, we grilled, swam, opened presents, and ate ourselves silly. I made 2 pounds of my favorite salsa verde. [Mom McMains->] picked up a Barbie pinata for us, which was greeted with a certain amount of dismay until we realized that it would afford us the all-too-rare opportunity to beat Barbie senseless with a large stick. One of the neighborhood children, who apparently had a lot of pent-up Barbie-related anger, had to be pulled off the pinata so the other kids could get at the candy that was spilling out.