December 30, 2009. San Antonio, Tx. Playing.

It has been fascinating to watch and listen to the six girls play. They make up games and activities just from the air. Yesterday morning it rained at the ranch, so the girls built a fort in their bedroom. This bedroom is quite small, especially as it holds three bunk beds and one large dresser. By using quilts and blankets they divided up the whole room into several 'rooms' with a spa in one area and a store in another, a church in one corner and a bank in yet another. Each girl switched from one task to the other, from teacher to student or from priest to parishioner. They just made it all up from their heads, with no one really in charge but everyone adding their ideas. Every so often Mary Frances would go out and check on the fire and report back to the group, but for the better part of three hours they just played.

In the evening at the party, we all went to the Top House for the main course, which was stew made by Ken. The girls sat at the table to eat, while the adults, who came a few minutes later, were organizing their drinks. With no instructions from anyone, the girls asked if they could play upstairs after they finished eating, which they did for the next hour or so. I don't know what they were doing, but I know they all had books with questions and answers to ask each other and themselves. Whatever they did, they kept themselves amused. Then back to the ranch house we all went for dessert, where after a short DVD on the computer, they all came into the living room in pajamas to say goodnight to the adults.

Marilyn commented to Suzanne that mostly she does not enjoy a bunch of children, but that watching those children play and work was a pleasure for her. It is still amazing to me, to see them manufacture and play for long periods of time that they just make up. It has been fun watching these girls age eight to twelve play together.