The Party Lasted Two Weekends

We had big, big plans for Elise's 10th birthday.  Double digits!  The plan:  a sleepover with friends Friday into Saturday, then a family party Saturday afternoon (the day of her birthday).  I bought groceries for the birthday dinner (tacos) plus snacks for the sleepover and breakfast the next morning, bought a cake for the family party and ordered a decorated cake for the sleepover.  Then Mother Nature did her thing and dumped a bunch of snow on us, which shut everything down for several days.  No sleepover.  We would NOT let the weather stop the celebration, though, so we took Elise out for lunch on Saturday and had both cakes back at the house that evening. 

Celebrating with lunch (and presents) at
Elise's favorite restaurant.

There can never be too much cake on
one's birthday!

This cake was supposed to be for the sleepover.  Oh, well!

By the following weekend the snow was gone, temperatures were in the 50s (gotta love Virginia weather!) and the rescheduled sleepover was ON!  Friday night we celebrated with more cake, then sleeping bags and DVDs in the family room.  

Elise and her besties ready for a sleepover!

Saturday was a fun-filled day and it was all girls, all the time.  Elise got her ears pierced, we ate at her favorite restaurant for lunch (Italian),  had Rita's Italian Ice for desert, then went to paint our own pottery!  It was a truly awesome day.

Getting her ears pierced.  She said it hurt a
little, but not too bad.  She did much better
than I did when I got my ears pierced in 4th
grade, passed out cold and ended
up on the floor.

Beautiful!

Two weekends in a row with lunch at Castiglia's.  They are getting
to know us there!

Rita's Italian Ice!  I didn't think it was
 warm enough for a frozen treat, but these girls
love Rita's no matter the weather!

Painting pottery with these creative girls was a pleasure!

Elise's First Basketball Season Comes to an End

Elise and Anja played basketball for the first time this winter, and it was a ton of fun.  Anja was in the youngest group and they did skills building, with some scrimmages but no games.  Elise's age group practiced for a few weeks, then had games twice a week against other girls' teams in her age group.  They did very well, especially considering about half the girls on her team had never played before.  During the regular season they lost only two games, which meant they made it into championship play.  In the semi-final round they played a team they had previously lost to, and won by one point!

After the semi-final game, they were pretty excited!

In the final championship game they played the other team they had lost to in regular play, and hung in pretty close until the end, but could not pull ahead.  Elise was pretty sad they lost, but she did make a basket in the game and felt good about that.  We all think coming in second of all the teams in her age bracket is pretty good!

You can a short video of Elise making her basket here.

An Interview With Anja

When we did Elise's birthday interview, Anja told me we didn't do one for her birthday.  I said "yes, we did!" but looking back, I see we didn't.  So, here, we go, Anja's 7th Birthday Interview, 4 1/2 months after the fact.

Birthday Interview

What is your name:  Anja
What is your favorite color:  Black
What do you want to be when you grown up:  a dragon scientist
What is your favorite book:  How to Train Your Dragon
What is your favorite show:  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
What is your favorite thing to do outside:  play in the snow and do a snowball fight
Where is your favorite place to go:  waterpark in Thief River
What is your favorite food:  apples
What is your favorite restaurant:  Panera
What do you think is your greatest accomplishment so far:  studying dragons in dragon books 

Happy Birthday, Elise!

Yesterday our adventurous, smart, strong, independent girl turned 10.  Double digits!  She is growing up fast.

Birthday interview

What is your name:  Elise
What is your favorite color:  Pink and black
What do you want to be when you grow up:  librarian
What is your favorite book:  Wings of Fire
What is your favorite show:  Avatar the Last Airbender
What is your favorite thing to do outside:  play and do whatever
Where is your favorite place to go:  petting zoos
What is your favorite food:  tacos
What is your favorite restaurant:  Mimi's Cafe
What do you think is your greatest accomplishment so far:  being nice to Anja