Emmy's 11th Birthday Party

Emmy celebrated her birthday with her friends at Mahoney Park. We hadn’t been here in a couple of years, but this place is always so much fun! We started with ice skating, and it turns out Robb and I were the best skaters in the group, so we were tasked with helping keep the girls from falling. Alice was a bit hesitant, so we held her hand to guide her. Emmy and Audrey eventually gave up trying to stay on their feet and were perfectly fine spending half the time on the ground.

After ice skating, the girls moved on to sledding. There were a few hills that were good for sledding, though they were a little icy. The girls piled onto one sled and tried to go down together. After a couple of failed attempts, they finally made it to the bottom, though their butts were sore from all the bumps. Abby was a great sport and joined us. She brought her friend Maggie, who was up for all the adventurous activities too.

Last but not least, we headed to the climbing wall. Abby and Maggie had both tried it before and said they remembered it being easier when they were younger. It was a slow start for most of the group, but they slowly started to get the hang of it. We also discovered that some climbing routes were much harder than others. Robb, the forever kid, was the first—and only—one to make it to the top. Once he was up there, he was too afraid to trust the pulley system to lower himself, so he ended up climbing most of the way down.

I was surprised that not only Emmy and her friends but all the girls wanted to play at the play center before we left. In my head, all I could think was that it was the biggest petri dish of germs, but they didn’t seem to mind. Abby and Maggie even joined in. They chased each other and screamed for a while before we headed back home. This place is always a great spot for a party, with plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained.

Emmy kept her party small this year so she could have it at Mahoney. We told her that if she wanted to do Mahoney and have a sleepover, she’d need to keep it small. Honestly, she’s narrowed her friend group down to just a few girls she really enjoys hanging out with, and that’s perfectly fine. These girls were sweet and fun to have over.

At home, we had pizza, followed by cake and ice cream. Emmy had requested a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I told her that cream cheese frosting is hard to decorate with, but I would do my best. The cake turned out pretty cute, and she was happy with it. Emmy and her friends have reached an age where we don’t feel the need to supervise the sleepover too closely. They were tired enough that they didn’t stay up all night, so we went to bed while they hung out and watched movies until about midnight.