The Little Party That Could

...Continued from yesterday: 
  The finale of my daughter and grand daughters' visit was a party to celebrate the fourth birthday of my younger grand daughter,

...here practicing her piano a few days earlier.

     Celebrating our grand daughter's summer birthday during her summer visit has now become a tradition,

...that starts off with transforming the living room into a balloon forest,

...awaiting the girls when they wake up.

    And by the way, I've said it before and I'll say it again: the place to buy helium party balloons is The Dollar Tree.

    The balloons are only a dollar and they stay beautifully aloft not only for the duration of your event, but for months afterwards,

...randomly floating all around  your house if you allow them to, as did these Dollar Store balloons from last year's birthday balloon forest.

      Then, as always on party days, we hit the ground running,

...with me supervising the food preparation.

       In order to feed the  approximately 20  kids and grown-ups we were expecting I pretty much stuck to the the same kid/grown-up fusion menu - with just some minor variation - as I'd used at last year's party:

         Kid/Grown-up Fusion Party Menu:
         Ham and cheese stromboli
       Chicago-style hot dogs (grilled hot dogs topped with tomatoes, onions, marinated peppers, relish, celery seed, and a pickle spear)

  Macaroni and cheese

      Tater tots   
      Stuffed mushrooms
     Pulled pork in wine sauce

    Guacamole and chips
     Veggies and dip
     Potato chips
     Blueberry shooters
     Peanut Blossom Cookies
     Blueberry Bars

...and, that without which there cannot be  a birthday,

     And while the kitchen hummed with culinary activity,

...Tom supervised the outdoor set up,

...with the help of his dependable assistants,

     Then, finally, at three o'clock, when the food and fun were ready,  

...no guests arrived. 
    Three o'clock, three-thirty, three-forty-five, four o'clock, and still no friends, aunts, uncles or cousins, except for Cousin Randy and Uncle Tommy who'd come early to help.
      But what the heck, we decided, we had the food, we had the fun, we had each other, so we let the festivities begin.

...including singing "Happy Birthday," blowing out the candles, and, most importantly.

...finally being allowed to play with the cake princesses.

     Then, surprise!

    The guests began arriving!

...including the children,

...who'd had to wait for their baby sister to wake up from her nap.

     Of course, then the partying began in earnest.

     Still we wondered:  Where were Uncle Donald, Aunt Mary, and Cousins Luke and Ava?
     Then it hit me: O mon Dieu!  I'd forgotten to invite them!
     Tom quickly called them.
     And they came over.

     And they even forgave me.
     (Ava and Luke, here with Emily, who came  after work).

     So it turned out to be a great little party after all.
     Then early the next morning Maria and the girls returned to Los Angeles.

...leaving us with the left-overs,

...the memories,

...and the eternal Dollar Store balloons.

  "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
                      by Patti Liszkay
is available at
http://www.blackrosewriting.com/romance/equalandoppositereactions,
amazon.com, 
barnesandnoble.com,
Kindle Edition, and
Gramercy Books in Bexley, Ohio