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The kids and I spent our fall break in Idaho, coming home on Monday to a whirlwind of laundry, unpacking, jam, applesauce, and general insanity. We’re back, though, and we loved spending the time with family; we even got to give my 7-year-old nephew a lift to visit his Idaho grandparents, which was icing on the cake. (Seriously. He was GREAT in the car!) Despite the vomit–which I discovered in my still-mostly-sleeping son’s bed at midnight when we were due to drive back to Utah in 9 hours or so–it was a pretty great trip, with yummy food, beautiful trees, and lots of cousin time for my kiddos. We got to see my niece and nephew’s Primary program on Sunday, and the Lord answered my very specific trip-related prayers perfectly. (No vomit on Wednesday to keep us home, no vomit in the car, and no traumatic sickness on the trip. My son barely seemed to register throwing up; he was mostly enraged that I wouldn’t let him gorge himself on warm cinnamon rolls 8 hours later!) After last fall’s trip-of-grumpiness, that blessing cannot be overestimated, believe me. My family fed us and played with us and loved us all. You can’t ask for a better trip than that!
Incidentally, I finished one book the night before we left for Idaho, and I’ve been planning all along to review that one tonight. It’ll have to wait until Saturday, however, because I’ve been reading Laurel Snyder’s Penny Dreadful to my two older girls for weeks–more like months, really–and we finished it less than an hour ago, after a marathon reading session before bedtime. My oldest gave it 3 stars–it’s less her kind of book, and she was mad that the ending didn’t resolve the vague tangential mystery–and her sister gave it 4. I’d probably go with 4.5, because I thought it was delightful–whimsical and unexpected, with an emphasis on friendship and initial impressions that can only be good for its intended audience. The illustrations gave off a slightly different vibe than the text (my oldest agreed), which was odd, but they were charming, and Penny’s journey from bored, lonely city monotony to life in the country with real friends for the first time is punctuated with a subtle humor that I appreciated far more than I would have thirty years ago. If you’re looking for a well-written tale of imagination and friendship, look no further.