So, when we moved from Jordan to Sri Lanka we were sure to bring with us one of our favorite events and what is sure to be the biggest event on the kids' social docket this year...the Mini Marine Ball!
This year, the kids' got to bring a guest with them called a "Plus One". Sam invited his friend, Victor, and Peter invited his new BFF, Ryan.
This year, the kids' got to bring a guest with them called a "Plus One". Sam invited his friend, Victor, and Peter invited his new BFF, Ryan.
It is moving into monsoon season here in Sri Lanka, so -- as if on cue-- the skies opened up just as we were about to leave the house, and Elise and I drove five tweeners to the ball in a literal monsoon.
As Elise was shuttling the kids from the car up the sidewalk under the umbrella, Clementine fell into a drainage hole in the sidewalk. Her entire inner thigh had a giant strawberry on it. After I made it inside, my first task was to search out the first aid kit, so as partygoers were straggling in, laser lights pew-pewing everywhere and the bass thumping, Elise and I were in the corner with Clementine, looking for bacitracin and gauze bandages to patch Clem up with. She would eventually recover. After spending the first half of the party as a wallflower in the crook of her dad's elbow, the rhythm would soon be too hard to resist.
The party was different than the one we attended in Jordan in all the best ways. Elise told me the kids' school doesn't really have a formal dance, so for the ninth-graders in attendance, this was going to be the closest thing to a school dance they were going to get to experience. The ninth graders' "Plus Ones" were legitimate dates in prom dresses and corsages.
The actual ceremony was appropriately solemn and respectful. In the Marine tradition, the oldest attendee, 14 years' old, served a piece of the Marines' birthday cake to the youngest attendee, a year and a half old, so so, as a symbol of the older generation passing their wisdom down to the younger one.
Sam and Peter were party animals from the very get-go.
Everyone -- even Clementine -- ended up having a fantastic night. They can't wait until next year!
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