#bergen_county

Dagmar refuses fuss. She's holed up in the corner, bouncing CJ. "Who is gonna be a yearling? Who?"

Tove raises a brow, noting how her daughter is using CJ as a shield against her fussing Well played, daughter of mine, well played

"Yes he is," Tove smiles as CJ laughs at his sister "And we have a cake and some pressies... and I am goingg to use that magic camera if you let me, Dagmar?"

"Sure! Just remember it needs a break after a dozen shots."

"I'll use a reggular camera for a few, and limit myself to 6 for the magic one" A pause "8"

Jaymes raises a brow "I'll keep count" (Becuase you need an intervention to stop there)

"You do eight, I'll do four."

"Deal" Tove smiles

"I'll keep count" Jaymes repeats

"Your father doesn't trust my sense of restraint" Tove tells her daughter

"Nope."

"I may pamper him as revenge" Tove observes "want to pamper you too, but at least you're polite" She kisses her daughter's forehead, then smiles "What would you like for dinnner tonight? "

Anything but appricot flavored things, CJ declares

"Um. Well, this weekend is Burger-fest..."

"I saw this thing - you ever hear of a Juicy Lucy? It sounds like something awful but, like, that's just the name..."

"Yes... I think I saw it on nthe food network... two patties with cheese embedded?"

"Yeah! I wanna try making them."

"But we could use, like, pepperjack and cheddar, maybe? And then make a buffalo aioli..."

"It's a deal, we'll learn it together... " her eyes brighten "I was thinking of Pepperjack too" Indeed, the war on bland continues

"I'll help.." Jaymes grunts

"Well, sure. It involves the grill."

"mmph" Tove grunts ("Want to spoil you both make you take it easy but I suppose you'll fuss")

"mm" Jaymes nods ("I would")

"But I want to try it? And potato salad, too. And what about those fancy things with the berries in red white and blue?"

"We'll do it all" Tove nods "You and I will try some new stuff, some old stuff, and be proud concordians" It's kind of interesting. A lot of Changelings seem to be dubious about America the country living up to it's dreams, let alone Concordia, but Tove is actually rather patriotic. Nothing like an abused life in Thyle's dredges to make one value what IS good in the set up.

"Oh yeah. And maybe set off fireworks? I think Tiff said something about a show over the lake.... but.. pooka..."

"Oh dear" she ponders "We'll have to make sure it's not too dry... but... otherwise, sure. Annd.. I'm quite certainn Margilita and Tiffanny will celebrate their love of the land by blowing up a small part of it" At that Tove gestures with her hands much like the Scarlet witch, and trails of flame dance along her fingers.

"We HAVE had a lot of rain..." Hopeful.

The flecks of fire dance in a halo over Dagmar's horned head "Fine. We shall try fireworks ,, if our resident park ranger and Chief doesn't warn us not not to. But we will practice safety too. Okay? Oh, do you want to invite some friends? I know Lupe and May have thier own families but they might be able to drop by for a bit"

"I can ask. You know Lupe'll always eat, Ooo, maybe she can bring flautas."

"Invite her whole pack if you like" she offers "They're friends of the lodge and of us"

"True! We'll need more food..." A little crease of her eyebrows. "Though it might be Dolly and Lulu's first time with a Fourth of July..."

"How can we help make it more fun for them?" She asks

"She just told you, more food" Jaymes observes

"Well, maybe we can cook up a mess of hot dogs, too."

CJ claps at the word hot dogs

"Ohhh, somebody likes those. Do you want lunch?"

CJ's brows are not troll brows (Maybe one day they wil lbe) but they shoot up hopefully

"Looks like a yes to me."

"He's quiet sometimes, but so expressive" Tove observes "I'll make something for him"

Jaymes raises his own brows "Quiet?" (Seem to recall some loud nights)

"He's a good baby." Bounce bounce bounce.

"Of course he is, he's a King" Tove insists

Soon chopped up hot dog bits prepared fit for 1 year old consumption

Twobit and Browndog look suddenly famished.

As if they have not been fed in years

oh.. suffering

Dagmar sneaks them a hot-dog coin apiece.

Tove turns suspiciously "Did you just feed the dogs food under the table again?"

"Hm?" Innocent look.