Girls' Day Out

My friend Colleen is getting married next month (it still feels a little funny to say "my friend Colleen" - she was my student thirteen years ago, but I still catch myself saying "my former student, Colleen"...) and her bridal shower was today.  We got a beautiful invitation addressed to "Edith and Caroline Salvatore" - that's right! Caroline got her first invitation to a ladies' lunch out!

So, we had to get her an appropriate outfit, obviously:

and, of course, she had to accessorize:

This was Caroline's first outing without her brothers, and I think they were a little annoyed by it, since their previous solo-journeys had all been for doctor's appointments when they were super sick!  The shower was outside in a lovely sort of courtyard/patio in Redwood City and Caroline enjoyed visiting with all the young ladies, even if her expression didn't always show it:

Here she is with Sara

And with the bride (Caroline always pouts when she has to take a picture with a pretty bride, it seems)

It was sunny and warm in Redwood City, so Caroline was really happy she brought along her new sunhat:

She was a perfect little lady, enjoying the salad and finger sandwiches, though she was sorry nobody brought her a mimosa.  She watched intently as the games were played and couldn't wait to get her hands on a sheet of the questions to read up on all the info.  And when it came time to open presents, she was engrossed in the tissue paper!

After a few hours, though, she was ready to head home to the fog (and so was Mommy!).  Daddy hadn't gotten a chance to see her pretty dress before he left for work in the morning, so she kept it on for a bit longer so he could check it out:

While the boys were still asking questions about this whole "girls only" party idea:

I didn't have the heart to tell Max it was all to make up for the time he put her in the leg/headlock the other day.  Being the good mother that I am, I jumped to grab the camera rather than to extricate her from her brother's "embrace" - luckily, she was able to get out of it, and I earn points for encouraging her independence, no?

And, thanks to another of the party guests, there actually is a picture of me with Caroline,

(even if she's blocking her face with the prize from her winning quiz entry!)