Life: Idiotropic

Today was Arianna’s birthday party at the AFNorth pool. The pool is indoors and very nice. The little ones spent the first half of the party in the shallow pool so the adults and big kids got to swim for a while without worrying about them. Eventually they all moved over to the big pool and played. Arianna was so excited! She can touch the bottom of the pool in the shallow end! So, for the first time, she was able to be in the big pool without anyone holding her. She had the confidence to swim around a little with floaties too, observed, but not hindered by an adult. She loved it. Luci was still nervous. She held onto me and her kickboard. Elise loved the kickboard too and we floated around a lot. It was a really nice party. Small, but fun.

After two hours of swimming we all went outside to the playground in the shade and had sandwhiches, chips, fruit, and, of course, cake! The kids played and ate. The cake was pink and Arianna loved it. I put a completely frosted cupcake on top, so she got that piece. We couldn’t light the candles because of the wind, but the wind also kept us cool. She loved opening her presents (what kid wouldn’t?) and was very gracious. Her special friend, Nevan was so excited to give her his present. All the kids crowded so tightly around her at first, it was hard to get pictures. Neven kept trying to shove his present on top of the others. Finally, he got his turn… Arianna tore off the paper to find a small wooden box filled with bracelets that Nevan had picked out for her himself in Mallorca. It was so sweet. His mom wanted a picture of the first time that he bought a girl jewelry. They had to leave right away, so he left and Arianna called out her goodbye to him from the playground, “good-bye, Nevan! I love you!” Without skipping a beat, Nevan called back his reply, “I love you, too, Arianna!”