So, so tired...

Just finished sending off the last of the young ladies who were here for my eldest daughter's 13th birthday party.

Oi...

Nine girls total (six friends, three daughters) makes for a remarkably loud evening at times.  They used fabric paint to make their own tee-shirts, had a Mario Cart competition, then went outside to play games like "capture the flag" and "run around like little maniacs until you collapse in a heap, giggling."

Before it got too dark out, a friend of ours - a Marine armorer - came by with a couple of his .22s and a pile of ammo.  We added in our own .22s, and had enough that the girls could take turns plinking at targets we set up. [1]  It turns out that Danny's semi-auto with bipod, scope, and 30 round banana clip was absolutely perfect for demolishing the unusually large (and completely unexpected) harvest of decorative gourds that decided to try and take over our garden this year.  We must have destroyed about two dozen of the lousy things.  There may have been some slight cackling involved.

Dinner was uncle Sean's hamburgers [2] by special request, with cake and ice cream for dessert.  Following that, we retired (well, the girls got to retire) to sit around a camp fire for a while.  S'mores were planned for, but we didn't actually seem to make it that far.

All in all, it was a loud, boisterous, and busy evening.

It was also pretty darn fun.

Happy birthday, kiddo!

[1] Bitter clingers, and all that, y'know.  Got a reputation to uphold.

[2] The IPH is my brother Sean's place.  He's quite a cook, and his hamburgers are delicious.