The Pre-Birthday Party

My parents had their monthly all-day Meeting at church on Annie's birthday, so we celebrated in Nanticoke the night before. I spent most of the day in an argument with my sewing machine, crying uncle only because I had to make a cake before we left. For the second year in a row, Annika requested an elephant, only this year, she wanted a blue one.

For those who don't know, Annie has a love affair with elephants from time to time. One of her top three costumes is her elephant suit, and she sleeps with her blue elephant exclusively when she's in the Elephant Mood.

Here's the cake-- a mite sloppy but quite clearly a Blue Elephant.


Before we left for Nanticoke. She's holding little plastic elephants that John found in a box at work and lamenting the pink one's broken ear.


The party with Grandma, Grandpa, and all the Nanticoke tuzzins (including Johnny and Noah).


I didn't plan this, but her presents from us were mostly elephant-related, with the exception of this stack of library sale books. She was delighted by them all, but this week has revealed Jan Brett's "Annie and the Wild Animals" as a definite favorite, only Annika requests it as "Anka and the Wild, Wild Woods."


Millie gave her an elephant bank she'd picked out at the dollar store. I love this picture, despite its poor quality, because Mildred looks so outrageously pleased and goofy.


We gave her the books, an elephant umbrella, and an elephant family that John impulsively bought for her on the day of her party.


She loves them. Here she is getting ready for bed the night of her party.


And here she is, freshly awake the next morning. She walked downstairs with a curiously stiff gait, and when I inquired about her injury, she grinned. During the night, she had stuffed all the elephants into the right leg of her fuzzies, and the elephantine lumps are somewhat visible in this picture.