Birthday boys

July was party central around here, and fortunately, I got a new lens to replace the broken one before I missed out on these terrific photo ops. My camera has always been like another appendage for me, something I feel almost useless without.  And as odd as it sounds, taking pictures helps me enjoy things more. It's how I "see" things and how I process my surroundings. Being able to snap a few special ones for the friends we adore is just my way of saying thanks for the party. So when Riley turned five a few weeks ago, I was glad to be there and see the kids enjoying themselves with face painting, balloon swords and shapes and a dancing/magic show that kept the kids entertained. The decision to bring in the clowns was a wise one, I think. This is the perfect age to let someone else do the heavy lifting when it comes to party entertainment, though it isn't cheap. But I think these kids got every penny's worth out of them.  It takes a lot to command a rogue bunch of 4 and 5 year olds, and these clowns did a fantastic job.  Elisa even jumped on the face painting bandwagon (a first!) and I promised I would let it stay for as long as it lasted. She was definitely in her element that night, dancing and spinning and laughing with friends. And I was only sorry we had to cut out early to head to NJ for dinner and miss what I heard was an amazing pirate ship cake. But such is life when you've double booked yourself. Oh well, the party played on...

The next weekend was a party for Bix's fifth, and this time, the venue was the entertainment--the AMF bowling alley on 34th Ave in Woodside. We hadn't been bowling with Elisa since our trip to NC a year ago, so I was looking forward to seeing how she liked it this time around. The verdict: still not a lover of the lanes, but man, sometimes she lucks out.  She ended up with a strike and several spares, and scores that would have put my younger bowling enthusiast self to shame. A little known fact is that I received the "Most Improved Bowler" in my 3rd grade after-school bowling group. Yeah, Strike-n-Spare in Kansas City, MO--the bowling alley of my youth--was not far from my mind during the party. From the stale air inside perfumed with wax and old shoe leather (with hardly a note of years-old cigarette smoke) to the beaten up checkerboard metal lockers, I was transported back to my childhood and hanging out on a Saturday night while my parents rolled.  

Unfortunately, Elisa has yet to inherit my love of the lanes, but when she does, I'll be sure to bring her back. For now, I think having friends to bowl with was somewhat good and yet distracting. The kids had trouble keeping their focus while they waited out their turn.  Even a couple of minutes between each turn felt like an eternity to them, and there was lots of shouting for kids to come back and play while they hung out on the railings or played games under the birthday party tables. I also had to keep telling Elisa it was not time to go play video games since she'd seen some cool motorcycle game on the way to the bathrooms. Nevermind that the game was way too advanced and graphic for her. No, she was determined to play and pretty much wanted to quit bowling and forego cake in order to do so. But I said not so fast, and we made it til the very end before sneaking away to see what the video game fuss was all about. Several teens were playing and Elisa was easily intimidated by their presence, and for good reason. She waited until they left and then jumped on the bike for the photo op. Then a kid returned and motioned to her to buzz off, and she happily complied. Yeah, we're a little ways off from really owning our time at the bowling alley, but with friends and pizza and birthday cake galore, who cares? Happy birthday to both our birthday boys and let's see what the next five years bring...