Eight is super Great

I'm just a few weeks behind - that's all.  

Little Lou turned eight in June and we had a great time celebrating.  In the morning before Dave had to leave for work, she opened a few gifts from the family.  Dave found a picture of a brother with his arm around his sister and bought that for her.  Lou has two older brother just like I do and and my hope is for them to be as protective and loving as my own.  

 We bought Lou a 20 inch bicycle since she had been riding around on a tiny 14 inch one.  She looks happy in this photo about the bike but just a little while later she took it around the block and came back saying (screaming) that she hated it (how is that for gratitude?).  It scared her because it was bigger than she was used to.  Just a few days later though she was a pro of course.

She got dresses for her dolls thanks to a good friend Lynn who is an amazing seamstress of small apparel.

Later in the afternoon we had a water party with a ton of little girls.  We started out with a water gun fight.

 Raycito is giving me one of his crazy mad scientist looks.  He and Little D commandeered the trampoline and had all the girls going wild.

 Next we played "Drip Drip Splash" which is a type of Duck Duck Goose only with drips and then splashes.  It was a favorite.  If you have kids you should try this version some day.  We used warm water to minimize the trauma from the splash on the head.

 I think bobbing for apples is more appropriate in the summer with a swimsuit on.

 Slip 'n Slide was next.  As a kid I don't think this ever went very well but I put the slide on a slight slope in our side yard and it was a hit.  Even after the party was over, 5 girls stayed to play for about an hour or more on the slide.  What I didn't realize is that our grass under the slide was getting burned.  It took about 3 weeks for the yellow stripe of straw to go away and now it is like new so no harm done.

Happy Birthday Ellie-pa-Lou-la

What a cool thing to have this many little girls just within a block or so from our house!  I look forward to seeing how all the drama plays out as these girls grow older.  I hope they can have as much fun and be as sweet and loving as they were at this birthday party.  Lou is a lucky girl!