Sophie's First Slumber Party

My sister, Sophie's Aunt Michelle, LOVES babies. Not like a normal person, cause let's face it, who doesn't like to hold a baby? But she's crazy about them. My parents take Sophie to watch Michelle and her daughters Tara and Brooke play volleyball together, so you'd think she'd get her Sophie fix every Wednesday night. You'd think. After some coaxing, Aunt Michelle convinced me to let Sophie spend the night at her house. In addition to Michelle's girls - who are teenagers now in high school and are beautiful little ladies - Sophie's cousin Lauren (also starting high school in the fall and becoming quite a looker herself - Congrats on ditching the braces!!) and another little girl from the volleyball stands were coming over, too for a pool party. I made Michelle promise to take lots of pictures so that I could commemorate the occasion of her first slumber party.

The exchange happened at the weekly volleyball game. Michelle and the girls went to get ice cream with G-ma and G-pa afterward. Sophie sure loves her G-ma...and ice cream.

Aunt Michelle's air conditioning was on the fritz, so the majority of the time spent in the house was spent unclothed. The girls all slept together in the living room to keep Sophie company...and cause that's where the fans were.

The night went pretty uneventfully, thank GOD, and she woke up in good spirits. After breakfast it was time for the pool. When they first put her in the pool she looked a bit apprehensive.... But warmed up mighty quickly to the situation! Since my daughter is so fair skinned, Aunt Michelle decided to put her jammie top on her after a while to make sure that her little shoulders didn't get burnt. She came home un-pink, so good job Michelle! Here she is with Brooke, lounging on a float... And noodling with cousin Lauren....

Finally, Aunt Michelle gets into a picture. Yes, she's the only one in the family who got the tanning gene. Sophie practically glows next to her!

They had to fight to get her out of the pool. Clearly, they wore her out.Revived from her nap, Sophie was ready for the next adventure. Sophie would you like to go to the park?I've been away from home for as much as four days at a time for business in Sophie's 17 months, but nothing was harder than roaming around our house, seeing her toys, smelling her blankies, and folding her clothes while she was away. It was even harder on Daddy who had only spent one night away from her (and that was when she was really little and didn't sleep through the night so he was glad for the break). Thanks for taking such good care of her Aunt Shell. I may just tag along for the next slumber party....