Party Girl

THIS GIRL:

DESERVES A PARTY!!!!!

And here is why:

I walked in after work one day to find that she had singlehandedly created this whimsical little St. Patrick's Day craft, from a picture she saw online.  You can't see it, but there is gold on top of the hat, and the little sign says, "DO NOT CLIMB THIS LADDER".

And then, she scored 100% on her states and capitals test.  What is a states and capitals test, you might ask?  Well, see this map?  With the little numbers on each state?

She had to write the name of the corresponding state and capital city on this paper:

And she got all 50 states and all 50 capitals right on.  Sorry the picture is sideways, but crane your neck, its worth a look.  This is standard 5th grade stuff, but still, all 50 right.....I'm impressed.  If I started in the west and worked my way east, I would be okay on this test until I got to somewhere around Ohio.  Then I would start getting my New Jerseys mixed up with my Connecticuts.  Those northeastern states always threw me off.


So, in celebration of our eleventh St. Patrick's Day as Audrey's parents, we threw a big party.  We had food and candles at home

and jumping, laser tag and arcades at the fun center with about a million 5th grade girls.  Okay, maybe it only SEEMED like a million, and only at certain points in the evening.   This was the silly version of our group picture.  It may be hard to tell from this shot, but these are some good girls we got here in Syracuse.  One friend won 1,000 tickets from the arcade, which is a huge, miraculous, nearly unheard of windfall of good luck.  We are talking a once in a lifetime win here.  She could have gotten a cool big prize for herself, but instead she got a little ring for each girl in the party.  How cute is that?

And as if that was not enough birthday for one girl in one day, later that night we headed out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa.  They came up to help chauffeur girls at the party, and as usual, were lifesavers.

Unbeknownst to Audrey, there is yet more birthday fun awaiting her this weekend. Hey, when we go overboard, we REALLY go overboard.  And in my defense we really have not done a big bash for her since she was about seven.  And she deserves it because after all, she is our one and only Awesome Audrey.