19 October 2008

Sophie turned 11 today! We've been celebrating her birthday all weekend. This was Sophie's year to have a friend party (our rule is no friend parties until you're 5 and then only every other year) and Sophie planned a terrific party. She invited her friends to come at 3 pm and they worked on a play for a couple of hours. Then, the friends' families came at 5 pm to watch the play and eat dinner afterwards. All of her friends were excited to create the play and quickly got organized. They chose parts, worked on their costumes, made scenery and rehearsed the play a couple of times. At 5 o'clock, they were ready to go. The photo shows the girls making wreaths to wear on their heads.


Sophie chose the classic Greek story Demeter and Persephone from a book of plays she borrowed from her teacher. Becky made simple togas from sheets she got at Walmart (one queen size flat sheet makes 4 togas.) The play was about 10 minutes long, a good length since 2/3 of the audience was under 10. About 40 people came. The photo shows a dramatic moment when Hades kidnaps Persephone. Sophie, the narrator, is reacting to the action.


The girls take a bow. They are all excellent little actresses. Persephone, played by Mandy, was especially good. She coached the other girls on how to deliver their lines effectively. From the left, the girls are Emma, Riley, Payton, Mandy, Sophie and Ellie.


Next came dinner. Putting on a play is hard work and the girls worked up an appetite. We set up several tables on our patio and still had people sitting on the grass. We had rain earlier in the day, but crossed our fingers and everything dried out in time for the party. It would have been a tight squeeze to fit everyone inside. Dinner was lasagna, salad and rolls. The biggest hits of the meal were Italian sodas. Everyone liked customizing their drinks and trying new flavors. Pink grapefruit is a new favorite. Abe likes to mix things and is drinking a blackberry/raspberry blend.

The grown ups talked and talked and the kids ran gleefully amok. They played tag for a long time, with the big rock as base.

Sophie's birthday celebration continued on Sunday. Sophie enjoyed funnel cakes at Drue's birthday party this summer and Drue and Maggie sent her a funnel cake kit for her birthday. She was delighted to try them again. We're so glad to have Sophie in our family- she's smart, sweet, original, practical, fun, enormously talented and delightful to be around.

We tried cooking wheat/egg/milk-free funnel cakes and they were a big success with Abe and Helen. Drue and Maggie also introduced us to Cool Whip in a spray can and that was another special treat.

Abe said, "Take my picture, too." So here is Abe digging into his dessert. No photos of Gibson tonight, though. He's completely exhausted from the weekend and went to bed at 7 pm.