Eighteen

Last spring The Banana had an idea of having a real genuine birthday party to celebrate turning eighteen, since she had never really had a true birthday party with all the trappings, including party favor bags. I said, “Sure! Great! You plan it!” Henceforth, to celebrate turning 18 she invited a gaggle of friends for the party of a lifetime. She originally planned to have the party the night before her birthday, but a school choir retreat was scheduled for that date, so the party was moved to her actual birthday.

We missed breakfast in the bathtub because The Banana was still at the choir retreat. When she arrived home at noon, she opened gifts from our family and immediately started putting up decorations and making party food. The theme of the party was sea creatures. There was an octopus balloon in the corner, and all sorts of sea scene decorations on the walls. All the party food was sea themed, like crabwiches made from croissants with cute eyes, kiwi/grape turtles, grapes and candy on kabobs to look like seaweed. It was very creative. Mr. TOF and I helped with the party prep (and the housecleaning that needed to take place the day before when The Banana was at the choir retreat). Because The Banana doesn’t always estimate timing accurately, party prep lasted right up until the guests arrived, and The Banana actually took a shower AFTER the first guests arrived. We never did quite get the watermelon carved into a shark, but that’s OK!

The first activity was a collaborative art project. Everyone got a canvas, and after a few minutes of painting, the canvases rotated so that each person contributed to each canvas. It was terrific. At the end each person ended up with the canvas that they started with and told a story about the artwork and what it meant. The Banana has creative friends. I enjoyed watching this so much! In the middle of the painting Grandma Kathy and the cousins called to sing happy birthday on the phone, which was, of course crazy. I’m so glad they called because the actual singing at the end of the party was far too calm and nice!

Right before sunset everyone drove down to the sandy beach for a photoshoot that involved photographs of the whole group. However, The Banana had an additional plan to take an awkward photo with each person at the party, and it was hilarious and so much fun. Because we live where we live, and half of these people are on the swim team, of course they couldn’t be at the beach and not get in the water even though they were dressed up, so some of them did! This is how The Banana went for a birthday swim in her fancy dress (that I had even broke down and ironed for her!).

Upon arriving home and changing into pajamas, there were snacks, and my favorite part of the evening, a shark piñata hanging from the swingset. The Banana had three choices of piñatas picked out and told me to make the final decision. I was so glad I picked the shark because it looked so ominous dangling from a chain in the spotlight (by then it was dark). The piñata breaking was sidesplittingly hilarious, and when it broke, it was filled with all sorts of treasures chosen by The Banana: lip gloss, whoopee cushions, and candy.

The Banana managed to stick 18 candles into a singular cupcake, and the house did not burn down.

Some of the guests needed to leave at that point, but some stayed to watch a movie before they headed back home.