Elevencies (oh, and Father's Day. . . but not really)

Kris, hard at work in her office.

What's up, Internet.

So Kris and I have managed to keep a child alive for eleven years now.  I feel that's pretty impressive.  Honestly, though, Alayna's been sixteen for the last four years, so really the 'number' aspect of the whole birthday thing isn't really all that big of a deal anymore.  I mean, eleven isn't all that crazy of a birthday anyway - I guess if this were a Harry Potter movie, we could expect an eight-foot-tall, bearded, hobo-esque giant to randomly show up at our door in order to wisp Alayna away to wizarding school.

Alayna requested an 'emoji'-themed birthday.  Whatever you say, kid. . . 

Alas, it is not, and Alayna will have to make do with seeing Hogwart's at Universal Studios next week.

Anyway, Alayna - like her sister before her - had a low-key birthday this year.  She hand-picked an assortment of friends (one of which no-called/no-showed after RSVPing - always classy), had some pizza and a sleepover, and the next day she opened up a couple gifts from us.  Simple.  We're not reinventing the wheel this close to our upcoming Florida vacation, folks.

Oh yeah, and today was also Father's Day.  But, you know. . . whatever.  Just sayin'.

So here's a ridiculous amount of pictures. . .

Setting up the kitchen, the day before the party.

The mooch.  Consistently underfoot whenever there's food prep going on.

Abby had her friend Ella over the day of Alayna's party, which isn't surprising at all, really, since Ella has practically lived here since school got out a week ago.  If Ella isn't here, Abby's over at her house, around the corner.  This weekend the girls decided they were going to build 'a treehouse' in our backyard.  Regardless of the fact they had zero building materials, and there isn't really a suitable tree in a backyard to accommodate a treehouse.

And they carved their names in my tree.  Way to go, kids.

What kind of Blair Witch bullshit is this?

They also broke a limb off the tree.  I frickin' hate kids.

The squad, chillin' on the trampoline.

Decorating balloons, awaiting pizza (which Yours Truly later picked up on my way back from Midland's Tapped.)

Drawing emoji faces on blank yellow balloons was Kris' idea.  She's far better at this shit than I am.

Later, after the arrival of pizza from Good Times. . .

I don't know if jumping on a trampoline is what I'd personally want to do after chowing down on a bunch of greasy pizza. . .

Courtney came over later in the evening to pick up Abby and Ella for a sleepover at the Johnson house (we didn't want Abby and Ella to take away from Alayna's big night, so this worked out really well.)

Still in the frickin' tree. . .

Cake time.

You can never get a normal picture with this kid.  After eleven years, I can't believe I haven't thrown in the towel yet. . .

Singing Happy Birthday (Kris neglected to take a video of this.)

Thinking about what to wish for. . .

Candles extinguished.

This Neapolitan ice cream Kris bought from Kroger freezes like a brick - you practically need a chisel to dislodge ice cream.

After eating their weight in sugar, it was gift-opening time. . .

Alayna scored the usual stuff from her friends this year - a few toys, but more jewelry/craft sort of stuff, as she's currently at the phase where she's playing less with toys and is getting more into tween crap.

Another donut pillow.  This kid loves her donuts.

Watson, oblivious to the birthday chaos surrounding him.

More trampoline.  A crowd favorite.

Opening gifts from us, the next day after her friends all left.

Her main gift from us this year was cash to take down to Florida (we did the same for her sister, too.)

We threw in a couple side gifts, though - like this Manic Panic hair dye (she's been asking to dye her hair red for awhile, so Kris finally relented.)

And a hair dryer.  Believe it or not, she's been asking about this lately, too.  I don't get girls.

Whatever makes you happy, kid.

Happy Father's Day Birthday !!!

- Brian