It’s the Summer of Birthday Parties, and the Shoves are loving it! Tonight we celebrated our dear friend, Emerson’s, fifth birthday at the Art Barn. It. Was. Amazing. Seriously, how have I never been there before?!? We genuinely had the best time (all four of us, for real) playing with animals, running wild, painting in the sunshine, eating cake, riding horses…gah.There were two standout moments for me, though:
The first was a friendly, grown-up conversation being interrupted by E.V. interjecting, “Hey mom! I caught a chicken!” Huh? I looked over and was totally caught off-guard — she wasn’t lying! I laughed and immediately pulled out my camera before asking how in the world she had managed to wrangle on of the wild chickens. (Even a passing employee did a double take and exclaimed her disbelief when she saw my tiny girl hugging that white ball of feathers.) I had been dying of curiosity to feel what a chicken’s comb felt like, so I rubbed that terrified little chicken on the head and then asked E.V. to drop it. Future Dr. Dolittle, perhaps?
The second moment happened while we were eating in the barn. A chicken snuck in, and managed to elude the farmer-on-duty while it did a lap around the party table, and was finally caught by one of the dads. It was hilarious — a chicken-nugget dinner with a real, live chicken!
On the way home Emma Vance begged me to have her next party there, and I can’t blame her. We love Emerson and the Engerts, and tonight was the perfect way to celebrate her!
