Alaina's 7th Birthday Part 2: A Special Friend

Imagine...8 birthdays in one year. Three are during the week of Christmas and two are during the week of Easter. One is always near Valentine's Day or Chinese New Year. One is in the summer and one is in the fall. We have every season and all the special holidays covered.

So you would think that we would combine parties. I would be smart to do so, right? I always promised myself that I would always have each child's party ON their birthday...the Family Party. And...then...they can also have a "Friend Party." Yep, that is normally TWO parties per person, per year. I know. Call me crazy. But, I LOVE doing them. I love the themes. I love the smiling faces. It's once a year that each child really feels special and it's their special day.
This year, for Alaina's "Friend Party," she wanted to celebrate with one special friend, S. I encouraged simple this year and she was happy with that. (But...I did promise American Girl in the next few months..and she was very happy with that idea as well.)

As you can tell, the girls had so much fun. I tried to talk them into going to a nearby restaurant. They said they wanted to go to this restaurant because it gave them more time to talk in the car. And that, they did. They talked and talked...endlessly. Very cute.

Alaina and S were best friends last year in school. Since Alaina now homeschools, she has missed S so much. On the way to the restaurant, S asked her if she remembered this person and that person. Very cute.

Alaina had a guy friend, M. Apparently, M thought that Alaina had "moved back to China." LOL I laughed so hard in the car as I was driving. S said she told him, "No, Alaina still lives in her same house" ...and she quoted the address. It was even funnier because Alaina thought it was soooooo funny. All three of us were laughing. Awww...reunions.

I love this restaurant. Christian music. Good food. Wonderful sweet tea!! And the sweetest managers ever. This nice manager stood Alaina on the chair and very loudly announced to the whole restaurant that it was Alaina's birthday...and then began to sing. Alaina pretended to be embarrassed.

I think I had the most fun watching these two enjoy being together.

After returning home, we enjoyed a movie and popcorn...

and P*lly P*ckets...

Lots and lots of P*lly P*ckets...

I asked Alaina if she enjoyed her party and she said she wanted to do the exact same party next year with S. Very cute. I think it's time we did play dates with S and schedule them more often.

I would like that.