Happy Birthday Mark!

Well, my little boy is 11. sniff.

He had a really great day today. I gave him a bunch of books on how to draw comic strip characters, how to write a novel, etc., along with some notebooks, pens, pencils, ruler, protractor, etc. He loved it. Kira gave him a dragon egg with a little dragon inside to build (he got another one at the party from his friend Eddie). Loved that, too. My parents gave him an incredible mask to hang on his wall, it's carved wood with a coyote jaw bones above and below the face, deer antlers, rabbit fur, fox tails, and turkey & pheasant feathers all around it, done in a Native American style (I don't know if it's authentic Native American, but it certainly looks it). Really hard to describe, but it is very striking. They gave it to him at the party, so the boys all saw it, too, and they were all VERY impressed with it. [ok, apparently it is a "warrior mask"]

Around 11 he rode his bike up the road to meet Eddie, who hung out here a bit before we headed to camp, where the rest of the kids were coming for the party. There were 5 boys altogether including Mark. They went swimming, then my dad organized "canoe racing," then cake and ice cream and presents, then the boys played two-hand-touch football in the road with my dad as coach/referee. They didn't have an actual football, so they used a soccer ball that Mark got as one of his presents. Mark played the entire game wearing this funky dragon hat that his friend Luka gave him....it was a beanie-type cap with big stuffed spikes sticking out of it, and a long pennant/tail hanging down the back, also with stuffed spikes. Really funky, cool hat. Can't see Mark actually wearing it out in PUBLIC or anything, but still fun.

When it was time for cake, I took a vote and the boys said it was geeky to sing "Happy Birthday." So I told them they were doing it anyway, but that they had to sing it AS LOUD AS THEY COULD. Boy, they took THAT challenge right up!! Not often that they are *encouraged* to be loud. :D

The canoe racing wasn't really official races or anything. Dad got out the beater canoe, and the boys took turns pairing up and paddling out to the float and back. At first, until we were sure they could all handle a canoe (they were using kayak paddles, which actually made it easier for them), we had a rope tied to the back of the canoe so we could haul them back to the dock if need be. Then we untied the rope and changed the "race" so they had to paddle around the float and back to the starting point. We had some hilarious moments during that, I'll tell ya.

After the party was officially over, two of the boys left pretty much on time. Eddie's mom was going to be an hour or so late, which I knew ahead of time, and Mark S. is spending the night tonight, so we had three boys left for a bit. First they went back out to the float and were showing off for the girls across the pond (Margaux is in their class, and she is a little beauty). Then they decided they wanted to canoe. Once they got going (and Margaux & co. departed back for their house), the boys ended up pretending they were pirates or something.

What a great day.

Got home, and the computer memory I ordered was here!!! Hurrah!!!!!!!!!! I've just finished installing it (holy COW was the inside of my computer case DUSTY--gross), and I am tickled to death. I have tripled my total memory. I didn't want to order the max amount of memory until I knew that this would work, but I will be ordering another 256MB at some point. I am just so pleased, my computer is actually working like it should, I am able to have more than one thing running at a time. :D

Also got in the mail today the ring I ordered, that is supposed to be engraved with "markira." Well, unfortunately, they capitalized it, so it's "Markira" instead, which is NOT what I wanted (and not what I ordered). So now I have to return it and get them to re-do it. Sigh.

Kira's got a playdate tomorrow, she's going to Fiona's cottage and go swimming. Kira's been swimming every day of vacation so far. :D She'll be gone about 4 hours. Hope she has fun. Then on Thursday Kira's going to India's for an overnight. Boy, she's quite the little social butterfly. It'll be nice to have an evening just me & Mark. Usually it's me & Kira while Mark is at an overnight....I very rarely get a chance to spend time with just Mark, and this week I'll get to do it twice! Nice.

OK, I have really got to go to bed. It's almost midnight, I'm exhausted, it's been a loooooong day, and I bet the boys get up early. sigh.

off I go.