A few weekends ago, Emily was invited to two back to back
birthday parties. Originally, Todd planned to come with us, but since he got a
new job where he works on the weekend, I had to endure the birthday parties
solo.
Now I don’t mind taking Emily to parties, but I’m an
introvert and a geek. It’s hard for me to make normal conversation with people
sometimes. So the whole afternoon was really tiring – it made me think of the
episode of Hercules where Xena has to go through the gauntlet. Of course, with
less hitting and pain than she had to endure.
The first one was an outdoor pool party. It’s been
unseasonably cool for August
in NC, so it was I wasn't sure if Emily would want
to swim. She did and ended up having a great time splashing in the pool and
tossing water balloons. Though she would stop playing every little bit because
she want her towel and want me to hold her. My pants got a little wet.
I talked with the other parents. The mom of one of the
birthday girls and I talked about Disney since they are going a few weeks after
we are. The same birthday girl’s grandmother is someone I know from church so I
talked to her a bit too. I also took a lot of pictures on my phone.
As the time when on, it got even more overcast and Emily got
cold. We got her changed and then it was time for cake. They had a bunch of
food to munch on plus hotdogs so we were able to have a good lunch. There was
cookie cake too which Emily liked, but was more interested in getting more
fruit.
We left with just enough time go get across town to the 2nd
party. At this point, I was starting to feel tired. I hadn't slept well the
night before since Todd had been working all night and it was starting to catch
up with me.
The 2nd party was a Dora themed party at the Little Gym. The
kids got to run around and play on gym equipment while the Dora theme song
played over and over. This was the most painful part of the day because I don’t
like that song even once. But dozens of times got to be very grating on my
ears. The guy running the party would stop the song o’ doom to do some
activities with the kids. They played with a bouncy mat, got to run around
after bubbles and had some fun with a parachute.
Emily’s best friend, William, was there so she spent most of
her time running and playing with him. Once it was time for cake and presents,
I was really tired. We stayed long enough to watch the birthday girl open her
presents and to have some cake. Then we headed back home.
Even though it was tiring for me, I was glad we went to both
parties because Emily had a great time. It was nice for her to see her friends
since she didn't have a whole lot of playdates this summer.
