It isn’t everyday that you get to hold a real, live owl — or even pet it for that matter. However, Ryan Shove’s life is full of all sorts of random and fun experiences, and so now he can officially mark “Be bird of prey’s master” off his bucket list. ;)
Here’s how that happened: Our friends, Heather and JP, throw all sorts of fabulous parties, and when Heather mentioned that they were thinking of getting a live owl for their baby girl, Peyton’s, first birthday, I was like, “Um, yes. Please do that.” Once the owl was officially booked, I started talking up the idea to E.V. and Cricket so that they wouldn’t be scared. A few days before the party, I dragged the girls along to my LASIK check-up appointment (still working on getting 100% clear vision, but better than before), and to entertain them in the waiting room, I reminded them of the special guest of honor for Baby Peyton’s upcoming party. Well, perhaps that was a mistake, because it spawned a game of pretend where both girls had imaginary baby pet owls (Noola and Pimmy, who were light blue and light pink respectively). The girls proceeded to take care of their baby owls quite loudly and boisterously, encouraging all the other waiting patients to pet them. Emma Vance was even kind enough to inform everyone that “Baby Pancake” was going to have an owl at her party, and that she was going to hug it. (A fact which I’m sure everyone was so excited to hear about.) The weirdest thing happened, though, the next morning. The girls both ended up in our bed in the pre-dawn hours, which had all four of us awake and silently snuggling together when, for the first and only time ever, we heard two owls hooting at one another outside our windows! NOOLA AND PIMMY!!! How strange is that??
Anyway, Peyton had an amazing owl-themed birthday party, which was the highlight of the girls weekend for sure — and Ryan’s, too. ;) She’s a major cutie and was the perfect little lady for such a sweet party! Happy birthday, Baby Pancake!