Family Fun

We went to Rhode Island this weekend for a farewell party for my sister in law Paula, and her family. They are a NAVY family and will be moving on this winter. Paula knows how to throw a party. We have all agreed that she should be a party planner. There was a fiesta theme, complete with limbo, homemade tortillas, Margaritas, music, and sombreros. We had a blast. There was also a bounce house, which for anyone expecting many children at a party, is a sanity saver. You always know where the kids are, and it saves you from the dreaded "party chase" of your youngest mobile child. They live right on the water, so the beach was also a big draw, and Uncle Jon took the kids on multiple trips around the water in their row boat. The weather was perfect, and everyone had a great time. Maya didn't have as much fun as the rest of us, as she sustained two injuries. The first one was definitely a first. She was eating fruit on a skewer, and directed the pointy part into her mouth. Being the helpful Mommy that I am, reached for the skewer as to save her from injury, and instead stabbed her in the back of the throat. Not good. I have never heard her cry (after the longest silence of unbreathing scream build up) like that before. Nice. Maya's first popsicle of the day. After that episode she crashed for about an hour and a half, probably hoping her luck would change when she woke, but that was not the case. After her nap, she decided to jump some more in the bounce house, and promptly put her two bottom teeth through her top lip. Blood everywhere. Will was carrying her, running to get me, but because of the layout of the party in relation to the house, her was running and I was chasing behind, he couldn't hear me yelling for him because of the screaming and the festive music. It would have been comical, except it wasn't. Finally I cut a corner and sort of jumped around him, and he starts saying (once he sees me)" it's worse than it looks! It's worse than it looks!" Which freaks me out because she has blood streaming across her face and down her arm. I looked at him and he must have realized he misspoke, because he quickly said, "it's not as bad as it looks." Okay, we can deal with this. We mopped her up, and discovered that she had put her bottom two teeth through her top lip. Lovely. Another popsicle for Maya. After a while, we went back to join the party, and to try and get all of the cousins to pose for a picture. It wasn't easy, but I managed to get a great shot where all seven kids are; looking up, smiling, eyes open, generally looking amused. It took about sixty attempts (thank god for digital cameras)and Will spitting mouthful after mouthful of water into the air, but I am very happy with the results. It was a great weekend, and the girls are already asking when they can go back.