But This One Goes to Eleven

That's a standard line of dialogue in our home...I can't urge you enough to avail yourself of the nearest copy of "This is Spinal Tap" and discover the joy of its usage.

And on with the post.

Eve Westbrook celebrated her 11th birthday with...wait for it...swimming. Standard! For our only summer birthday, it's the perennial go-to party activity, and it never disappoints. What does disappoint, on nearly as consistent a basis, is her birthdate itself - since the move to Colorado, we've discovered that EVERYONE travels in July. And with meets and games stacked throughout our Saturdays, party dates are hard to come by.

We nailed down Friday the 23rd to have a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, complete with pool time and slumber party: should I count my blessings that only two lovely young ladies invaded our home for the night? I daresay that I shall: as far as these occasions go, it was perfect. All personalities meshed, no one was left out, no one's feelings were hurt, blah, blah, blah. Only a few crank calls that we know of. Made from a guest's cell phone. Bonus!
Matt, taking the "Drink Me" challenge. Sparkling apple cider, so don't get your panties in a wad.
Desi and Kaylee, sampling our various tea party pastries: as a kid, I was a regular muncher on such delights as cream puffs, eclairs, tarts and the like, but these girls were just in experimental heaven. Childhood ain't what it used to be. And don't get me started on that.
The ladies decorated their mad hats, went nuts on the sugar, watched Johnny Depp in the newest "Alice" movie (all editions of the twisted tale are beloved in our home, but, well, hello! Johnny Depp!)

The ubiquitous tribute to our 'tween: this kid is heaven-sent in every way. When she's out of the picture, say, for a week with friends at a girly camp filled with pottery painting, amusement park riding, crafting and milkshaking, the shift in family dymanic is tectonic. Eve is my right-hand gal; she knows every domestic trick, can solve every problem, comfort every broken heart, bring anyone to hysterics. A joy, in other words. She's lost none of her muchness.