We've been so incredibly busy...and we only have one child! I can't imagine what it will be like to have two...
Larissa turned 5 on September 4th. Although I had promised Roger that we would just do a small party with Larissa's closest friends, it ended up being the most elaborate party we've done thus far. We did have a small gathering on her actual birthday, but the larger party was done the following weekend. I hired a party planner who decorated the table, (I decorated the house a bit in the preceeding weeks...just to add some embellishment), ran all the activities, and brought in the entertainment. The theme was Cinderella's Ball, so of course, Cinderella attended. The girls dressed up in pink princess gowns, and ate from real china! I had little tea sandwiches for both the adults and the kids. The cake basically looked like Cinderella's castle. (Photo shows the cake without the spun glass castle that was eventually placed on top of the white clouds).
I know what you're all thinking...you see those pictures above, and you think, "...but there's only 9 kids! I've seen parties where there's 30 kids". I guess that's where the timing of Larissa's birthday works in our favor. Early September birthday: if you haven't spent much time over the summer with your friends from the previous year, (and you don't think they'll be playing much together in the future), then do you really need to invite them? And for her current classmates, she didn't really know any of them yet. I'm sure that as she gets older, we'll be throwing those parties where her entire class is invited. For now, a medium sized party at home was ideal.
Five is somewhat of a milestone age; we probably won't do another big party until she turns 10.) Then again, you only turn 6 once...
After getting the entire house painted a few weekends later (yes...the painters finished in one day!), we celebrated Grandpa Richard's 79th birthday on September 28th. Had a wonderful Sunday brunch in San Francisco at the Carnelian Room, with an amazing view of the entire bay. It has become our 'go to' place for special occasions. Exquisite food, wonderful service, and a breathtaking view.
Larissa and I have taken up Bollywood dancing. Her kids class will be performing in a show in November, but mine won't. (Apparently not enough adults were willing to go on stage. Not me...I was looking forward to performing!). Anyways, it should be fun. Between her ballet/tap and Bollywood dance classes, and her twice weekly taekwondo lessons (by the way...she's now up to a Yellow Advanced belt), we're always on the go. I guess keeping ourselves busy distracts us from the waiting. We are two LID months away from being matched with Daisy...
