Our first birthday party in Arlington!

Rachel got invited to the 6th birthday party of a boy in her class named Andrew. Andrew has a twin brother, Blake, so the party was really for both of them. It was at a Masonic lodge, of all places, in a lovely part of Falls Church.

Rachel had a terrific time, as usual. There was a bouncy house outside, and one of the moms I struck up a conversation with was very complimentary. "There were all these boys in the bouncy house, but that didn't bother Rachel!" she exclaimed. "She just dove right in!"

The kids decorated Halloween masks and pumpkins and there was quite a nice spread of food, enough for me to feel sated and enough for Rachel to turn up her nose at and insist on just crackers and goldfish. I let her eat one piece of candy and part of a piece of cake. I believe she burned it all off in the bouncy house, where she spent most of the party.

One of the gratifying things I noticed Rachel doing was whenever one of the kids in the bouncy house got hurt (one nice kid, Trip, got kicked in the head by mistake, ouch!) she sat with them until they felt better. When Andrew was hurt and went to the side and rested, she gently stroked his head and asked him if he was OK. I swear, she'd make a great big sister. Or a nurse. Or a doctor.

After the party we dropped off some library books, ran an errand or two and got home just in time for Ivy to come over for Family Fun Night. I reheated some pizza, and just about the time it was ready, Drew showed up early from the conference in Atlanta he went to late last week. Rachel and Ivy were pretending they were rock stars -- complete with the icky makeup Ivy put on both of them, kids' makeup that made both look like hollowed-out Goth kids, and yes, Dad, I'm remembering how Maria Tetens and I put on blue eyeshadow and you called us "blue eyed monsters" for YEARS after that -- and singing at the top of their voices. Rachel kept sing/yelling "Reach for the STARS!" while holding a Styrofoam ice cream cone she pretended was a microphone. Later she waggled her hips and strutted around in a way that made me nervous. She's not supposed to know how to do that!!!

***

I'm having a tough time getting around Arlington because the roads do NOT make sense, the traffic lights aren't synchronized AT ALL, and there are a lot of people here. So I was very frustrated when my GPS refused to recognize the address of the party. Luckily I found an online map of the place and by the time I reached the main drag into Falls Church, I felt confident enough to say we were fine.


"You still have to get home," Rachel reminded me.
"That'll be easy," I said confidently.
"You don't KNOW it'll be easy," she replied. "You can't see into the future, like Dionysus!"