A Trunk, a Market, a Maze, a Party, and a Confirmation

St. Stephen Lutheran Church, United Church of Christ, and Covenant Christian Church got together for their annual Trunk or Treat event last Wednesday.

Can you find Charlotte in this group from St. Stephen?

Here's our trunk. It's not as intricate as some of the other trunks, but we put some effort into it. Daphne was going for scary eyes, but one kid said, "It's Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon!" Ummm... yeah! It is Toothless. Good job, you figured it out!

Actually, yes. We have seen this wizard.

Saturday was the last Downtown Farmers' Market of the year. It was fun to see people dressed for Halloween.

Batman was on the scene.

Here's our last to-go container of poffertjes for Maggie. Bittersweet. 

In the afternoon, we searched the corn maze.

Can you see the hidden marker?

 Char did!

We were invited to a family reunion on Sunday. This group was on Daphne's mother's side, and everyone had a Czech background. The food followed suit.

There were three dogs at the party, and it was fun watching them run around begging for food and attention. They went crazy when the doorbell would ring. The graying black lab was weaving under tables looking for scraps, and the bulldog grunted appreciation when you petted his head. It sounded like a cat's purr.

More than anything, those dogs confirmed that taking Mags to the vet is the right thing to do. She isn't living like that anymore. She's no longer interested in her dinner. She barks out of duty, but doesn't want to make the effort to get up. She spends her day slowly moving from one sleeping spot to the another. She could live like this for another month, but I don't want to put her through that.

Maggie lost her balance last week while eating, and we're worried it would happen when she is near a staircase. We want her to pass away in peace and not in pain.

When our cat Chip died, the vet sent us a card that read, "Sometimes the kindest thing we can do for our pets is to say goodbye." I have parent teacher conferences tonight. We'll say goodbye on Tuesday.

End of a Era...

Charlotte turned nine this month, and we hosted a party for her. The theme? Harry Potter.

This has been a Harry Potter year, so the theme makes sense. We listened to all of the audio books in the car, Char read the illustrated books 1-3 with Daphne and by herself, and we watched all 8 movies together. It got to be a bit much for me. While we were vacationing in the Black Hills, I had a couple of dreams where I was running around doing stuff with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. That's just not right.

Anyway, back to Char's party. 

We "sorted" the kids by letting them blindly draw a house name. I used a YouTube clip to announce the house name for each one.

Each student then received a house scarf and a wand.

They also received a class schedule for the day. 

Charms class had the students practicing the spell "Wingardium Leviosa." It's a basic levitation charm that "lifted" a stuffed animal off the floor with the help of fishing line and me hiding upstairs. Cheesy, but fun. 

Potions class was in the kitchen, and each house had a recipe to follow. Daphne renamed basic ingredients that would produce a colorful and bubbly effect. (Someday Charlotte will realize how much work her mom put into all of this.)

Care of Magical Creatures took place in Hagrid's Hut Tent.

Here's the Flying Lessons (relay race with brooms). Divination class was aided by the help of a Magic 8-Ball.

For Defense Against the Dark Arts, the students drew and colored their own patronuses. 

For Transfiguration Class, we shoved small, stuffed animals into mouse-eared shaped balloons When they popped the balloons, the small animals appeared. I missed getting a picture of this.

Here's our version of the Express Trolley on the Hogswarts Express. Each student had five galleons to spend on candy. Yea for chocolate frogs!

Char received a talking Sorting Hat as a gift. We could have used that earlier!

Daphne even made Char a Golden Snitch cake.

Her party was a success. When the dust settled, Daphne and I gave each other a high-five, and we cleaned the house. Char spent the afternoon riding bikes with her friends who live in the neighborhood. They were all invited to her party, so it was like the event had extended into the dusk.

So, why is this an end of an era?

When Char was younger, it took quite a bit of time to move the guests from one activity to another. Earlier parties ended before we got through all of the games. But these kids are in 4th grade. They can deftly move through an activity list. For the first time, we were out of solid ideas with 30 minutes to go. Daphne did a great job of winging it, but we were both getting nervous.

Charlotte and her friends are also a lot bigger than they used to be. As the only adults, we were outnumbered and outgunned. With 15 minutes left on the clock and a rock in my stomach, I told Daphne, "I think this is our last party like this. Can you imagine this place full of 5th graders?" She laughed, but later wholeheartedly agreed.

Next year we can take a few of her friends to a movie or maybe Adventureland. Our big party days are over.

Flashback 2011: 

Here is Char at her first birthday party opening her first gift by herself. Back then I couldn't believe she was already a year old. When I took this picture, I thought she looked so big.

I had no clue what I was in for.

I still don't.

8th Birthday Party: Before and After

I was so surprised to see Charlotte vacuuming before her party today. She told Mom she wanted to help, and she followed through. Whoa! Charlotte is growing up.

I'm not comfortable publishing pictures of other people's children, but I can say that everyone was exhausted after the party.

Pre-Party Glee

I've only throw a few parties in my life, but I was always worried sick that no one would show up. Charlotte had a birthday party on Saturday, and she showed no signs of stress ten minutes before the party began. I would love to be that confident. 

This is What Fun Looks Like? (part 3)

Charlotte was invited to a princess party at Pump It Up last weekend. She went as Princess Elsa, and the highnesses bounced all over the inflatable attractions.

Other highlights included a snowball fight and meeting the "real" Princess Sophia.

You can't bounce on it, but here's an attractions that is also full of air. In a few moments it was also full of my daughter's screams.

See if you can spot the moment when fun turns into abject terror.

After they ran out, one little princess told her mom, "I don't ever want to go in that room again!"