Happy 10th Birthday Anna!

Anna, Ellie & Anna preparing for cake
Anna officially turned double digits on September 3!  After much deliberation, she decided to mark her 10th birthday with a karaoke sleepover with five of her friends.  We were also joined by former neighbor Anna who was recruited to help with the evening festivities.  It is safe to say that little sleep occurred, but a good time was had by all.

It just so happened that Anna's birthday present this year was a karaoke machine (this took care of the entertainment for the party).  An additional piece of the gift was a series of "tween hits" cds to sing with.  Imagine six 10-year old girls belting out various Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Megan Trainer songs (among others).  That was a large portion of the evening.  The singing stopped when someone got the idea to climb the tree in the front yard.  At one point, five of six girls were at various locations in the tree.  They were willing to come down from the tree when Joe's pizza's were ready (fortunately Joe's arm recovered enough to make his famous pizza at Anna's request).  Pizza was followed by more tree climbing...until the ice cream cake (which Anna helped make) was ready.

Anna, Ellie, Sofia, Petra, Ruby & Banaue
The rest of the evening was followed by flashlight tag and a movie.  The girls did not really go to sleep until around 1 AM......after Theresa threatened to come and sleep with them.  It is no surprise that the girls starting getting up at 7 AM (there is nothing like 7 AM karaoke in the basement).  After a big breakfast (note that bacon was the most popular item) and more tree climbing, everyone headed home around 10 AM.

The most traumatized from the party was Storm the dog, who suddenly found himself surrounded by more attention than he knew what to do with.  He tried to retreat to the quiet underneath the guestroom bed.  At one point, we lost two girls during flashlight tag, only to find them giggling under the bed with Storm, who could not escape.  As a special treat for his patience, Storm was rewarded on Sunday with a car ride and special walk on a new trail. We decided that Storm loves other dogs and a maximum of 3 girls at a time.  Beyond that, he needs his quiet space.

How many girls can you find in the tree?
Anna's celebration continued into the rest of the weekend.  The highlight of Sunday was a Face time session with her aunts (Loren, Mary, Lucy & Terri) wishing her happy birthday - complete with a rendition of "Happy Birthday to you" from James and all of his friends.  Anna also got to enjoy a neighborhood barbecue followed by fireworks and sparklers (leftover from July 4th).  Labor Day weekend concluded with one final dip in the pool before it closes.  All in all, a great birthday weekend.




A big thanks to everyone who made Anna's 10th birthday special!  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Swimming with the Lakevale Dolphins

Image
The Swim Gang - Leo, Aidan, Megan & Anna Tonight Anna completed her third season with the Division II Lakevale Dolphins.  It was a great season for Anna as she improved her strokes and her times and made it to the "A"team to compete at Saturday meets.  It was an educational season for Joe and Theresa, who learned the ins and outs of life as swim team parents. The neighborhood swim team is the hub of neighborhood social activity in the summer.  There are events throughout the season, including Friday night pep rallies, and Sunday night fund events that include such things as the neighborhood scavenger hunt, laser tag night, bingo night, and even a team night at the Washington Nationals game.  In between the fun is the seriousness of the swimming, and there are definitely some top notch swimmers on the team. Anna with her lollipop for getting a "personal best" time Kids are motivated by different things. Some kids love to race.  Other kids try to beat
Read more

Camp Coles Trip & June Birthdays

Image
Anna at Girl Scout Camp Anna just returned from a fun-filled week at Girl Scout camp.  This year she was old enough to go to Camp Coles Trip, which is on a bay area off of the Potomac River.  This is a water camp, so she spent her days on the bay learning to paddle board and sail along with kayaking. Girl Scout Camp is definitely roughing it.  The camp is in the woods and girls stay in platform cabins with screens.  Anna shared a cabin with 4 other girls.  Mosquito netting is very important at night.  The only electricity is at the dining hall, health center, and activity building.  The girls are also responsible each day for doing "kapers" or chores.  They take turns helping serve meals, cleaning the bathrooms, and general clean-up.  They are also responsible for keeping track of their own things and carrying their bags. Anna had a fantastic time, despite the lack of modern conveniences, and is already planning her return next year.  She made new friends and her favo
Read more

Thanksgiving in New Jersey

Image
The Fagella family (or part of the Fagellas) celebrated Thanksgiving this year in Northern New Jersey thanks to James.  Since James was house sitting for his boss, they were very generous in letting us use their large home in their absence for a Thanksgiving celebration.  We joined Aunt Loren, Aunt Mary, James and Sundance for a Thanksgiving feast.  We could have easily fed another 20 people with all of the food, which meant lots of leftovers.  We also celebrated Aunt Mary's birthday (November 22) and Aunt Loren's (November 27) with a homemade coconut cake courtesy of James. Joe carving the turkey with his assistants. The festivities continued the next day when James hosted 22 of his high school friends for his annual Friendsgiving dinner.  Anna was kindly invited to attend the event.  Since she has attended previous dinners, she already knew many of James' friends.  Once again, the amount of food was staggering with everyone bringing a dish. Aunt Mary and Aunt Loren have c
Read more