Childrens'
Parties
We have had quite a few parties for the children, but find surprisingly few
photos, perhaps because a child's party is one of those moments when the
parents
do not have a lot of leisure time!
In December 1996, this intent little group was listening to Father Christmas
when photographed by Marie-Hélène. Only a few of the ten-year olds here
clearly knew that it was someone in costume: the seven-year olds were old enough
to have their doubts and have asked their questions, but here in the instant
that Father Christmas appeared, they were all hooked!
Daphné is on the far left in
red, half hidden, and Tom and Alban
in green in front.
Below in the first row are another from the same party at La
Bellanderie, with the girls clearly taking charge (on the right) and a
non-party visit of a couple of the friends who were also at that party.
Nick is in both and Daphné
in the one on the left, still in red. The boy on his back, Gael, was dressed up
as a baby, complete with a pacifier in his mouth and a scrunchie in his hair, and the children asked for
the photo to be taken. There's a lot of fooling
around in this household!
On the second row is Charles' first
party for children outside the family, which he held in the fall of 2001 at the minigolf on the
Boardwalk. Five already! Then comes that rare photo from 2005, of
Alex's 7th birthday party, held at Watsonville indoor
soccer central (Alex is on the right toward the rear). It's darker than the one
next to it because the photographers have yet to acquire a flash appropriate to
the quality of the camera!
On the third row are two of a party where our
children
celebrated alone: there are more than enough of them to do that. The first
was at Charles' party in 2004 and the second Alban's
party in 2000. Because there are so many siblings, a party at home without
guests from the outside is not at all a letdown.
Finally, we celebrated Daphné's
17th birthday at La Grée with
Grand-père. As he feels too old to travel to
our home in Santa Cruz,
he doesn't see too many of our family celebrations any more (although he
sponsored Charles' and Alex's christening). He did
enjoy Daphné's party and the baptism. Grand-père is with
his four blood grandchildren in our family, Daphné,
Alban, Charles and
Alex, and his favorite son-in-law. That's right: he only has one!
And once or twice, the parents have partied too. Here is our
wedding, and here
Ian's 50th birthday party
