It is officially summer vacation here. 

Tall One is off at her first sleep-away camp and I’m here to say that I did not cry
and cling to her ankles when we said goodbye. 

Well, okay, I got a little lumpy in the throat, but all-in-all you would’ve been proud of me.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Small One’s been a bit under the weather again. 
Which does not a jolly vacationer make. 

We have been reading books, snuggling, reading books, watching the Kenneth Branagh-directed Twelfth Night, snuggling, and reading books. Yesterday, in the midst of all this, she declared me "time consuming." Which apparently is a good thing because she appreciates my time-consumptive techniques. Especially the reading books. 

I’m ever-so-grateful to those of you who write really amazing books for Small Ones like mine. 
(In particular, at the moment, Laura Resau, Ruth McNally Barshaw and Rick Riordan.)