Eight the Fashionable Way

On my previous post I mistakenly quoted Tess as having chosen the theme of "Fancy Girls". It was "Fashionable Girls". This is, I am told, a distinction with a difference.

As usual, Beth took inspiration from her child's wishes. In the living room she set up the "Stop Sign Design Shop" (the octagonal icon signaling eight). Here the kids created doll clothes and Beth sewed each girl a custom purse.

In the dining room we created the Octopus Cafe. The menu was legit. One of the girls who came, Rosie, being older than the others sort of gravitated toward the adults and ended up serving tables like she'd been doing it for years.

The rain which had been falling all day, abated, so I took the three boys outside to shoot some hoops for awhile while the girls made outfits. Later, with the sun shining brightly, we all got together in the back yard for a May Pole dance. Every year this time we give this a try. Every year we get a few seconds further around the pole before we experience a May Pole train wreck. This year was no different; see for yourself here. Far from being a catastrophe, it simple serves as a pretext for giggling and then a lot of running around playing freeze tag. One day we may witness something resembling an elegant rite of spring, as my lovely daughter and my beamish boy joined by other sprightly youths weave demurely among one another and festoon the May Pole with delicate rainbow colored ribbons...I'll probably be nodding off in my rocking chair when it happens.

Then it was time to eat in the Octopus Cafe. Rosie took orders and pretty much commanded everyone's awe and respect, which in a perfect world is as it should be. A couple of kids got up and showed off a tune on the piano. Nobody stood up and recited poetry...maybe next year.

Everyone had pizza and icecream. We sang happy birthday to Tess. She opened her presents and thanked everyone without any prompting from us...I so love watching her grow.
K