A post in which it is Ava's birthday party

Mom and I got up and took our time this morning.  We didn't have to rush, which was nice.  We had coffee and made breakfast.  I cleaned up the kitchen while Mom relaxed, and then we got cleaned up.  We were ready early, but it was such a nice day I wanted to go out and do some stuff.

We started off at Big Lots.  Mom had a mouse that I really liked on her computer, so we went to get me one.   Then it was off to Target.  Mom got me the Greenpan wok I wanted (yay!) for my birthday.  And we had a rummage 'round.  We had just sat down to relax with a drink when Mom got the call from Lisa.  The party was underway, and Cole was supposed to be there to video, but hadn't yet shown up.  So I was on deck. We went on over to the party about the time for the runway to begin, and I was assigned the camera.  Lisa, of course, had 8,000 things going.

Ava at her pink princess birthday party - she's 5

The party was at Snip-its. I had never been in one before. It's a child's hair salon. As a salon, I'm sure it's nice. They had chairs in each area for Mommy to sit while the child had a haircut, etc, but as a party venue, it was pretty small and cramped. There were eight girls at the party. I don't think they could have wedged another child in there with a shoehorn. Parents weren't allowed in the party area because it was so small, so all the parents and other guests were up front in the waiting area of the store. They did get to see the girls go down the runway. I think they may have been a tad too young for the party, because most of them didn't seem to be too excited about actually walking the runway - even Ava, who has a healthy dose of showmanship. One little girl refused to walk down at all.

The cake

Then all the children went back to the party room to eat lunch while the parents continued to hang out in the waiting area at the front of the store.  Ava opened her gifts back there too.  I got to see because I was back there taking the gift list, but again, most of the parents were left in the waiting area at the front of the store.  Dad and Eve had brought a beautiful cake which had been left in a storage room through most of the party - there was no place else to put it.  They did bring it out and cut it for the girls, but most of the parents didn't even get to see it.  Ava and her friends seemed to have fun - I think the real focus of the party was getting made up and stuff - but for the families the party left a lot to be desired.  For this, I might add, Lisa paid a hefty party price.  If Ava had fun though, that was the important part. 

After the party, it was off to Ruby Tuesday for the adults to eat.  This was a smaller group, and mostly family.  Cole and Zack rolled up in time for that.  But lunch took a while (we were a large party), and we had cake again afterwards (not everyone had cake at the party).  By the time it was all over, I was ready to go home and be comfortable for a while. 

We went back to Mom's house to relax for a bit.  I got to visit with Lisa.  Ava got out all the birthday presents and made a huge mess while making herself up like a small whore.  Interestingly, she was coming to me to ask for makeup advice.  Not that she was listening - hey, she's 5.  It was all about putting more and more on, not about how it looked. 

Ava playing with her birthday presents

It was a nice, laid back evening, and I ended up having contoured cheekbones, to boot.

Additionally, Carolina was playing, and ended up pretty much humiliating the UAB Blazers 49-6.  Too bad it wasn't a conference game....