Shiny

Saturday was Special Edition's birthday, so the bunch of us got together to celebrate. First, we drove to the Gettysburg Battlefield, where we met up with Special and Mr. Nurse, her fiance, and toured around there for awhile. Middle usually spends Saturdays with her BFF, and Special didn't mind, so MBFF

Pennsylvania Monument

joined us for the day.

We actually had a very nice day to be out walking around. I suppose it would have been nicer still if spring had sprung a bit more, and trees had begun to leaf and everything didn't still look quite so dormant, but this was a great way to spend the first day of spring and Special's birthday. 

She and Mr. Nurse had been there since nearly dawn, since Mr. Nurse is quite an amateur photographer in his own right and he wanted to get some photos of the battlefield at sunrise.

Hubby was in his element, talking about some of the places we

High Water Mark

visited. He's a big fan of Michael Shaara's book The Killer Angels, which tells the story of the three-day battle that turned the tide for the Union at Gettysburg. (Dad read it and urged Hubby to read it, and they both think it ought to be recommended reading before anyone visits the battlefield.) There's a certain sacredness about touring a place where so many men--brothers and friends--died. MBFF really enjoyed it, and we made plans to come back at a later date with her so that we can all go to the Visitor Center museum together.

The view from Little Round Top

Then we visited a few shops around town. Middle was delighted by all of the tumbled rocks she found at a crystal shop Special wanted to visit--Middle collects rocks--and we let her buy about a dozen specimens. Youngest wanted to stop by her favorite shop in town, named after her
favorite animal, and so she found something there. MBFF picked up souvenirs, too.

Now, I told you all of this to tell you this story. Middle bought herself a pair of handcuffs at Youngest's favorite shop. They are toy handcuffs, but not magic ones, and they do lock. I was not aware of this until we got home (Hubby paid for the purchases at that store).

We've had dinner and dessert and Mr. Nurse took some really nice family photos of us before I rounded up Middle and MBFF to take them back to MBFF's house, where Middle was spending the night for some campfire fun. 

That's when I saw Middle with my craft glue. You know, the stuff she's not supposed to use on pain of death, without permission.

Which she didn't have.

Which she'd painstakingly put on both cuffs in a particular spot.

I knew I was going to regret it, but I asked anyway, despite the screams of "Rule #2!" from somewhere deep in my brain. "Why did you put my craft glue on your handcuffs?"

"Because I need them to be shiny."

I stopped short of asking how glue makes her cuffs shiny. "But . . . why?"

"They have to be colorful and sparkly."

Allrightythen.

When she came home the next day, she proceeded to color over the glue on her already-silvertone handcuffs with a silver Sharpie, then draw hearts with a bronze Sharpie. Why?

"Because I need to personalize them."

I should have stuck with Rule #2.