62. June 27th, 2010 Picture.

The Sunday afternoon after the wedding, we went to my brother Ronny's house for my nephew Cameron's birthday party.  Cam's actual birthday is the 4th of July, but since his parents typically visit Wellfleet for the holiday, and most others have summery plans as well, they threw his party a week early.  The party started at 4pm, which was perfect because there was a post wedding brunch that morning for all the guests that stayed at the hotel the night before, where I drank a lot of coffee and ate a lot of bacon, then we stopped off at a shopping mall to waste some money.


It was a really nice afternoon, and we all sat in the back yard, grilling and sipping sangria.  Chloe and Cameron wanted to play something, so since there was a wiffle ball bat in the yard, I suggested Dizzy Bat.  For those who don't know, the whole point of Dizzy Bat is to pretty much make people so dizzy that they fall down, and then everyone laughs at them as they attempt to get up.  You have to hold the bat, put your forehead on the handle and put the other end on the ground.  You have to spin around 10 times, while keeping the bat on the ground and your forehead on the bat.  Chloe and Cam made it around 10 times, no problem and walked away, completely unphased.  I say it's because they are so short and that the don't really even need to bend over to keep their heads on the bat.  Then it was my turn, and I made it around about 7 or 8 times before I had to stop.  I felt sick.  The whole time Ratty was taunting me, like, 'AMY go faster!  Come on, this is so EASY.  You aren't even trying.'  Oh you best bet I was trying.  Finally it was Ratty's turn and I was dying to see how he was going to hold up.  After all that smack talk, I secretly wanted to see him fall flat on his face.  I think Chlo did too.  He started spinning but was walking really slowly.  He started laughing and said it was a lot harder that it looked.  You bet it is!  Chlo was keeping count and kept yelling that his forehead wasn't on the bat.  "KEEP YOUR FOREHEAD ON THE BAT RATTY!  YOU AREN'T GOING FAST ENOUGH!  COME ON, I WANT TO SEE YOU VOMIT!'  Literally, this is what my little 6 year old niece was yelling at Ratty as he was gingerly playing Dizzy Bat.  It was hilarious.  Finally, he finished his 10 spins and he went right over and collapsed on the ground.  His eyes were closed and he was clutching the ground.  As soon as his eyes opened, Chloe stood right above him and yelled 'IN YOUR FACE!'.  It was pretty much the best thing ever.  So much smack talking from Ratty, and then he got owned by a 6 year old.  


Then the time came for cake and presents.  I think my present was the best, it was a Tony Hawk skateboard t-shirt, this awesome mini-skateboard, and some Mad Libs.  Who doesn't love Mad Libs?!  As soon as presents were over, Cameron went to the driveway to try out the skateboard.  It was actually really hard to use and my mom was freaking out that people were going to fall and hurt themselves.  I think Ratty liked it the best, because once he got his hands on it, no one else could use it.  He came pretty close to killing himself a few times, and when he almost went into the street, there was a collective gasp from the crowd.  He was going all of 2 miles an hour, I doubt that he would have hurt himself that badly.  Once we had each skirted death by riding a mini-skateboard, we played some basketball and did some good old fashion twirling in the yard.

{Cam's homemade birthday cake.  SO GOOD!}

{Opening the BEST.PRESENT.EVER!}

{Testing it out.  For now...}

{Then Ronny got ahold of it.}

{Then Ratty almost died.}

{What Ratty dubbed 'The Evel Kinevel' ramp that would surely kill him.}

{And Chloe lost a tooth!  That stupid mini-skateboard!  Just kidding, she lost it a few days before.  Look how cute she is!}

{Posing.}

I ALSO received my VERY FIRST SILLY BAND!  I've heard and experienced the buzz first hand, but never had one of my very own.  When Chloe heard that I didn't have one, she went running inside her house and came out with one for me.  It was green.  It was a high heel.  Does a more perfect silly band exist?!  I think not.  It's like it was made for me.  Thank you Chloe!

Everyone started to clear out around 7:30pm or so, but not us!  Ratty and I stayed until 11pm, hanging out in the back yard with a fire pit and delicious cocktails.  Sybil is like, a master cocktailier or something, and she is always making homemade basil simple syrups with freshly squeezed lime juice from her vintage juicer, topped with direct-from-France sparkling wine, or something equally as fancy.  Literally, that's what it's like every time I go to her house.  Always a signature cocktail on hand.  The best may have been Chloe's 4th birthday party, on a Sunday at 11am, where sparkling grapefruit martinis in little race car martini glasses were passed out as you walked in.  I strive to be like that when I'm an adult.