The 林 Family: Birthday Girl

Ashley is a full-fledged tween now turning 12 years old and there is no better way to celebrate than with a bunch of her friends doing a scavenger hunt, hair & make-up, cupcake decorating, question/answer on Ashley, movie, and of course, lots of talking!

Street Art
(Sitting left to right): Azu, Donatella, Brandon, Sonya, Ashley
(Standing left to right): Eli, Mrs. Tessitore, Isabella

For dinner, Ashley asked for a make-your-own pasta bar, so Kevin made 2 types of pasta to choose from (elbow or spaghetti), 2 sauces (Alfredo or marinara), meatballs, and salad which was well received. Brandon and his friend, Eli, did a great job of taking orders and serving the girls (as well as dressing up for the occasion). It was so nice to see them doing that and the girls were really appreciative for it and made it somewhat memorable actually. They also had to guess how many pieces of candy were in the Mason jar with the winner taking home the large one and the other girls getting a smaller version of the candy jar.

Servers extraordinaire:
Brandon & Eli R.

Cheers!
(clockwise left to right): Kate, Azu, Eli, Bo, Brandon, Sonya,
Kevin, Donatella, Ashley

After dinner, the girls went upstairs while Kevin and I got prepared for the next round of activities. Brandon and Eli quickly scarfed down their dinner and then elected to play a well-earned Wii time.

Beauty School

Rules of the Game

Contestants finished cupcakes
(left to right): Azu, Kate, Sonya, Bo, Ashley, Donatella

After we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate the cupcakes, it was time for a game where Ashley asked the girls questions about herself and tried to see who knew the answer. We then prepared to get them ready for bed and since it was near 10:00pm, it was a challenge to get them de-wired. Earlier in the day, Ashley and Donatella hit Redbox and picked out "Oz the Great and Powerful" to watch at bedtime which was a hit with the kids. The morning came all too quickly, but everyone had fun and no one was fighting - a success at any age!