Today is [Emily->]’s 13th birthday. We celebrated last night with a small-scale party at The Zone, our local skating rink cum arcade. (Our usual procedure for family birthdays has been to invite lots of people and celebrate in the back yard. After having a great time at friends’ skating parties, Emily decided that this year she’d rather do that, even though we had to severely curtail the guest list to keep it affordable.)

Everybody seemed to quite enjoy themselves. Emily was very happy with and grateful for the gifts she was given; the rest of us enjoyed zooming around the skating rink and playing Galaga and The Simpsons.

Happy birthday, kiddo. We’re awfully glad you’re a part of our family.