The Big Sleepover

The last 11th birthday bash was a sleepover. In the end we had eight girls, including our two. They arrived yesterday about 4:00 p.m. to a barking Holly. Within one-half hour we had a house full of girls, sleeping bags, shoes, gift bags and overnight bags. It was loud and chaotic. It was the perfect way to start a party.
All the girls wanted to play with Holly, but we made them wait until she calmed down a bit. Just like an overstimulated child is an unpredictable creature, an overstimulated dog is the same way. The girls drank punch, played games and settled into the party. Right after Daddy lit the grill, we put the piñata on the front tree. The girls lined up with the bat trying to break into the sweet pink flower dangling from a tree branch. The girls swung with intent, really smacking the poor piñata. As the candy started flying they all started running. By the time the piñata actually broke into two pieces I think most of the candy was already claimed.
After dinner we went to see Maleficent. The local community college shows movies outside during the summer. Most of the girls had already seen the movie at least once. They still wanted to go, probably for the free popcorn. The girls brought a soccer ball and played in spurts during the movie.
When we got home it was cake time. The cake was a masterpiece of sugar and chocolate. If you can picture it in your head, imagine a double-layer chocolate cake with Kit Kat bars on the sides and topped with M&Ms. The blond twin beamed as she picked out this masterpiece.
Holly calmed down nicely and was the main attraction. The girls kept stopping their activities to play with her. When they put out their sleeping bags, Holly plopped down in the middle, as if to claim her spot. We took Holly upstairs when we went to bed, but she wasn't happy about it. Throughout the night she let out a short yelp once in a while, as if to remind the girls that Holly was supposed to be sleeping with them. We kept her upstairs, though.
In the morning Holly ran downstairs to wake up the girls. Some girls were already awake. The rest woke up to Holly sniffing them and smacking them with her wagging tail. Several girls had to leave by 9:00 a.m., so it was a quick breakfast and out the door.
We couldn't have planned a more perfect ending to the girls' 11th birthday month. The girls all had fun, ate too much junk and didn't get enough sleep. Holly had all the attention she could ever want. It's quiet here now, but we have lots of pictures to remind us of the fun.