Happy 4th Bday!

Tina turned 4 this week. Yea! I get the feeling that she seems very proud of it as she always looks forward to being considered as a grownup. Undoubtedly, she does mother her younger siblings. In fact, Mindy -- our 2nd oldest -- calls her 'mommy' when they're playing together.

We celebrated Tina's bday early on July 4th with my wife's and my families (or should the grammar be "...my wife and my families" without the possessive in wife?). The town fireworks are held right across the street in the park so we get a great view from our backyard just by looking almost straight up. It's that close as well as loud. (Note that this year's show was aweful as it was cut short due to some likely mishappening -- we heard fire trucks halfway through and the cumulative showy ending never happened.)

Nonetheless, we still had our traditional Carvel icecream cake (with bonus crunchy chocolate sprinkles in a cup).

I miss my daughter.

My oldest one is on vacation away from her immediate family (ie, me and my blood posse). She's staying with her relatives, a half hour's drive south of our home. She's been gone for 2 days and I do miss her very much. I see it as a sign, though, to focus my love on my other 2 kids. So tomorrow we'll go shopping, visit the playground, and get some nice edible treats.