Saturday, July 26, 2014

Can I keep it to 25 for the 25th?

215/365

What a Fabulous Day!  Friday was Christopher's last day at ICC Camp, and they had  a recital.   AND it was also my niece Annie's birthday, she was 6, and she had a birthday party at West Park.  Get it? Annie West's party at West Park.  Ha!  Anyway, it was a beautiful day, summer in the 70s, perfect for some outdoor time.  We took Christopher to Butler for his last rehearsal, they were doing a performance for parents.  So we decided to use the time wisely.


Sam found a Butler water fountain.  
Ah yes, now  that's more like it.  

We were extra lucky, one of my childhood friends, Amy, was in the area, and we met up at Butler for coffee and conversation.  I love when we get together.  We've been friends since we were Sam's age, like 4 or 5.  I remember going to her kindergarten class with her as a guest.  And even though it may be a year or two since we've seen each other, we always pick up like no time has passed.  We always laugh about Mommy's Medical School graduation party down at the little house in the gardens, where the grownups were so interested in talking, they didn't care what we were up to, so we went outside, and played in mud puddles. I remember being  in a pretty dress, and looking down at my feet, and not being able to see my toes the water was so dark and dirty and up above my ankles into my calves.  We played in the rain, ran free in the dark.  Oh man, that was Fun!  Although, you'd think I would have learned by now that I should allow for more than just a couple hours for us to get all caught up.  I feel like we could have yapped even longer! 



A bit after 11, we headed over to Lilly hall so that we could see Christopher and the rest of the ICC choir perform.  You would think that because Chris is small, being in the front row would be great.  Unfortunately, he was front and center, blocked from view by the teacher/conductor, and his stand.  So most of my pictures are of his floating head.

Still, he was very cute while singing. 


Here's a video of the group singing 'Agnus Dei', also known as Lamb of God. 
You can see Christopher under the director's left elbow. :) 


I bet you recognize this one.  I kept asking Chris all week about any songs he was singing, and the only one he told me that he could remember was "Go Down Moses". I thought, I recognized the name of it, but wasn't for sure.  Then they started playing, and I was like, Oh yes, I do know this one. And I almost goose pimply when they were singing.  There was another song that got to me, about Annabelle Lee, based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem.  It was neat, arranged by one of the teachers.  They did about half a dozen songs, and each one was impressive.  My arm was numb from holding the camera for all of them.  But I won't bother you with all of the video snips.  Let's just say, they sounded phenomenal.  Especially for being a bunch of kids that 5 days prior had never met, let alone, sung together.  Quite Impressive! 


When his program was done, he had quite a showing of loving supporters.  
He was pretty happy to see such a crew.  And we were very Proud of him. 


Afterwards, on the way to the car, we took the boys by the bulldog.  
The inflatable bulldog was blown up for a freshman welcome wingding.  After being able to pretty much park wherever we wanted all week, it was strange to have to park by the library and hoof across campus.  It seems like things were a lot closer together when I was young.  Anyway, as soon as he saw the Bulldog, Sam asked if we could take our picture by it.  Sam is usually my least cooperative when it comes to photos,so if he's asking, then I'm obliging!  


I don't think I'd been down and taken a picture in the dead of summer of the carillon.  The trees are all in full leaf, and it's harder to see it, that's probably why.  Still, all that greenery is beautiful.  This is my favorite spot on campus, always has been. 

We went home for naps, and after Daddy got home, we drove up north to West Park, for the West Party.


We found the Birthday girl! 
She's 6 now! 


Jacob was pretty content padding around the gazebo area where we were based.  He's kind of like a boomerang, he'll venture out, but he always comes back.  I had packed my Oily Bug Spray and coated us all, so we were good to go explore a bit and not Get Bit.   Jacob is not too sure about new places.  


This is a great facility.  The Julius girls brought their scooters we got for them for their birthdays a couple weeks ago, and they were able to zip around the playground.  And there is also a waterpark, so some of the kids were able to suit up and go into the splash area and play.  


Here's our area.  My boys are in red and blue Cars swimsuits.  And playing in the giant puddle with friends.  
The girls were running wild and having a completely wonderful time.  
It was casual and free, and there was a ton of space to just play.  


This is one of my favorite pictures of Charlie in the water.  
I love how the water is reflecting the sunlight.  


Turns out Annie is a bit of a climbing monkey. 
I think we suspected that. 


Prettiest birthday climbing monkey of all! 


And Charlie wanted to climb just like the big kids. 
She did a pretty good job too. 


She made me so nervous.  


Sam runs wild through the water. 


Sam and Charlie were playing pretend together.  
They are made of the same things, the same personalities, so they get on quite well.  


We went into the hut to sing to Annie. 
It was a cupcake party.  There were summery themed watermelon cupcakes. 
But it got a little breezy and blew the candle out, so we had to restart it.  


And she made a wish and blew it out. 
Oma had also brought a bunch of her famous chocolate chip cookies. 
They got snarfed down too with the cupcakes.  

After all that sugar, the kids needed to go run it off again. 


Now, because they are moving, and they didn't want to lug a bunch of stuff, Lisa had asked for no presents.  I just couldn't do it.  So the boys made cards with paper we had on hand.  Chris cut out a flower for his card.  So when we stopped for a balloon and a flower (the kinds of presents a small girl can enjoy madly, but to throw them away is not the end of the world) we were able to weave the flower into the card.  


Annie liked her gerbera daisy.  
It is bright and happy, just like her.  
Though, I think, by present time, the strength of the day was wearing out.  
She was still having a good time, but I couldn't get a smile out of her.  


That's ok, I get smiles from the gerbera daisy. 


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