We're not in Kansas anymore...

...but we were! For 10 days, the Joneses stormed the Midwest. And the Midwest stormed us back. The thunderstorms were a total perk for me, because I'm not a farmer and my crops aren't in danger. It was pretty funny, though, when a particularly loud thunderclap woke Mazzy up from a dead sleep and she popped up and said, "Mom! Did you hear the funder and the lightming?" And then fell right back asleep.

Aside from the memories and the photos, I brought back three things:

1) A deeper understanding of my Grandma, and therefore of myself.

2) A renewed respect for my Kansan kinfolk and their ways, which are so unlike my own, especially when it comes to their kids.

more on these two when I have more time, but here's number three:

3) Soulja Boy!



We managed to miss this movement when it happened, probably because we don't watch TV and I hardly listen to anything but NPR on the radio. So we had to go all the way to St. Louis, "The Lou," to catch up on the latest dance craze. You can see little Aiden's already got it down.

Anyhow, there's no place like home.

Fab Four

We set the bar fairly high at her first birthday party, what with the Mariachi band and the pinata (for a one year old?!). Every year since "Viva la Mazlyn" has had a costume theme. There was Mazzy Gras for birthday number two, and the third was a Luau.

We had to wait until she was four, though, to have the "Mazical Mystery Tour." The ultimate costume party, where everyone dressed as a Beatles song. And even though some weren't that familiar with the Fab Four's repertoire, they all came through in fine style.

Take your own tour of the Mystery Tour on flickr.

Mostly we just use her birthday as another excuse to dress up, but come on, it's a brilliant party theme. I don't know how we're going to top this next year.