Pony Rides

Saturday was a day full of t-ball and birthday parties. Since Dale was here this weekend, we decided to attempt to attend all 3 events: T-ball from 8:50a - 9:50a, Violet's birthday party at 10:30a, and Caroline's party at 3p.

Turns out we might have bitten off more than we could chew. Or more than Ivie could, at least... T-ball was great; Ivie even put on a non-UNC batting helmet! And after hitting the ball the second time, she took off running even without Dale jogging next to her. Never mind that she made a beeline straight for second base - at least she's running somewhere! So we're making progress in that arena, though she still gets really upset when the ball doesn't come to her in the field.

Violet's party was at a park in Apex, which turned out to be about a 40-minute drive from the ball field. Ivie does not do well in the car. She loves to talk. Incessantly. And loudly. And the more you ask her to quiet down, the louder she gets. Poor Macie - if she does manage to fall asleep (which she did on Saturday), it's certainly not a peaceful sleep and it doesn't last long.

So by the time we got to the playground for Violet's party, Dale and I were already worn out and had threatened to turn around more than one time. But we made it, and Iv had a great time with the pony rides and playing on the playground.





We hoped that the party would wear her out enough that she would behave on the way home. And she did, partly because she was chowing on her cheeseburger and fries. By the time we got home and got her upstairs for nap, it was 1:15p.

Which meant that her afternoon nap was going to have to be a short one, because Caroline's pool party started at 3p. So, at 2:40p (the absolute longest we could wait), Dale went upstairs and gently woke her up.

And what he got in return was the craziest thing we'd ever seen. We should have predicted it, really, given the tiring morning she'd had. Apparently we'd have been better off just letting her sleep. Because she woke up sobbing and delirious, and literally didn't stop crying for 30 minutes. It was unbelievable, really. Words can't even describe it. I should have pulled out the Flip to document it. Nothing worked. Macie just kept looking at her like, "who is this kid, and what did she do to my sister?!?" By the time she pulled herself together enough to get into her swimsuit, it was 3:20p. Thankfully, the pool party was only about 10 minutes away, so we made it in time to play in the water a bit before the cookie cake (yum!). As it shook out, playing and swimming with her friends was all Ivie needed to turn her afternoon around. She had a blast, making the ordeal of getting there worth it. Or so I can say now, at least, since the day is over and we all got a good night's sleep...