More annual anomalies!
Nov. 12th, 2006 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsToday there are birthdays for two of my favorite people. Last night we celebrated ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shemayazi's birthday at her place, with a roomful of wonderful, colorful people, good cake and pizza (not at the same time), and an excellent collection of wines and beers. I can't begin to count the number of people there; suffice it to say she has many good friends, most of them almost as beautiful as herself.
Today it was Kouryou-chan's birthday. Since she's currently going through a My Little Pony phase, we decided to actually rent a pony. It was my job this morning to hurtle about: run to the donut shop and get breakfast, then go to the grocery and confirm the cake, then run to the office supply to get the birthday poster printed, then to the party store to get the balloons started, then do this circuit a second time to pick up everything I'd ordered.
We rented two ponies, actually, and they came with a lovely family that did this for a living. I'm not much of a farm boy but both horses looked to be well-kept and the family members that brought them were friendly and cheerful. The birthday girl got to go first, and then her sister got to ride, along with the dozen or so other kids that showed up. Despite the cold and the wet everyone had a great time and those that wanted got to ride twice, so all in all it was an excellent investment. Even better, the we got rid of the damn rabbit hutch that's been haunting our backyard; the woman in charge of the ponies wanted it! And her truck bed was empty. Most excellent.
After the pony rides, the younger girls played with the gazillion and a half My Little Ponies that Kouryou-chan already had while the older girls conspired in the back rooms. After a while, it was time for pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, balloon races, and cake. There were minor spills of orange and ginger ale punch, one or two momentous childhood tragedies when a younger one doesn't get what she wants (Kouryou-chan's a Montessori kid so her "friends" group has an age range of ± 2 years: at seven, that means that her youngest friends are five, and I remember five being a crazy age. The cake was very popular, and Omaha even got to slow down long enough to have some.
And then it was time to open presents. Of course, what did Kouryou-chan get but more and more and more My Little Ponies. Along with a carrying case to keep them in. We also got her an MP3 player so she'll stop borrowing mine, but the big deal really was the ponies. My house is inundated with pink.
After that crescendo, it was time to say goodbye. The house isn't too much of a wreck, blessed be, and we still have a good half-dozen balloons. Toward the end of the evening, Omaha was showing ominous signs of burnout, and Kouryou-chan is obsessed with this ridiculous, cheaply animated DVD of My Little Pony music cartoons. At least this one isn't voiced by world-weary, cigarrette-worn London-accented women in their mid-40s.
Omaha and I played a round of Quake 4, wherein she managed to kill me with a lucky shot. Yamaraashi-chan did her homework, and I'm trying to figure out what I can cook for dinner. Burgers sound good-- and easy.
shemayazi's birthday at her place, with a roomful of wonderful, colorful people, good cake and pizza (not at the same time), and an excellent collection of wines and beers. I can't begin to count the number of people there; suffice it to say she has many good friends, most of them almost as beautiful as herself.Today it was Kouryou-chan's birthday. Since she's currently going through a My Little Pony phase, we decided to actually rent a pony. It was my job this morning to hurtle about: run to the donut shop and get breakfast, then go to the grocery and confirm the cake, then run to the office supply to get the birthday poster printed, then to the party store to get the balloons started, then do this circuit a second time to pick up everything I'd ordered.
We rented two ponies, actually, and they came with a lovely family that did this for a living. I'm not much of a farm boy but both horses looked to be well-kept and the family members that brought them were friendly and cheerful. The birthday girl got to go first, and then her sister got to ride, along with the dozen or so other kids that showed up. Despite the cold and the wet everyone had a great time and those that wanted got to ride twice, so all in all it was an excellent investment. Even better, the we got rid of the damn rabbit hutch that's been haunting our backyard; the woman in charge of the ponies wanted it! And her truck bed was empty. Most excellent.
After the pony rides, the younger girls played with the gazillion and a half My Little Ponies that Kouryou-chan already had while the older girls conspired in the back rooms. After a while, it was time for pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, balloon races, and cake. There were minor spills of orange and ginger ale punch, one or two momentous childhood tragedies when a younger one doesn't get what she wants (Kouryou-chan's a Montessori kid so her "friends" group has an age range of ± 2 years: at seven, that means that her youngest friends are five, and I remember five being a crazy age. The cake was very popular, and Omaha even got to slow down long enough to have some.
And then it was time to open presents. Of course, what did Kouryou-chan get but more and more and more My Little Ponies. Along with a carrying case to keep them in. We also got her an MP3 player so she'll stop borrowing mine, but the big deal really was the ponies. My house is inundated with pink.
After that crescendo, it was time to say goodbye. The house isn't too much of a wreck, blessed be, and we still have a good half-dozen balloons. Toward the end of the evening, Omaha was showing ominous signs of burnout, and Kouryou-chan is obsessed with this ridiculous, cheaply animated DVD of My Little Pony music cartoons. At least this one isn't voiced by world-weary, cigarrette-worn London-accented women in their mid-40s.
Omaha and I played a round of Quake 4, wherein she managed to kill me with a lucky shot. Yamaraashi-chan did her homework, and I'm trying to figure out what I can cook for dinner. Burgers sound good-- and easy.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Cheer up!
Date: 2006-11-13 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-13 03:45 am (UTC)~E
Who honestly wishes that Kouryou-chan enjoys her ponies as much as she did, and that she had a most wonderful birthday.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-13 03:47 am (UTC)i was wandering through Target the other evening with my sweethearts... As we passed by the toy section, there was a pony. about 4' tall.. plush, animatronic... pony. (for ~$250, i think i heard one dismayed parent exclaim) It seemed to be reacting to the kids clustered about, petting it.
While some part of my inner child shriveled up and died at that, the pragmatist in me thought, "well... it's cheaper than the real one a kid usually asks for..." Dunno. Not quite sure how i feel about that overall. Still, it is nice to show them the real thing, now and then.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-13 04:21 am (UTC)~E
...sorry couldn't resist
no subject
Date: 2006-11-14 02:46 am (UTC)