The Brookston Family Blog
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During Tuesday’s birthday party at Montesspri, Alice discovered the bounce horse in the playground. She hopped on and rode around for quite some time. Will she develop her Mother’s love of horses? Who knows, but she’s certainly loving the bounce horse.

“Giddy-up, horsie!”

“Come on Bullseye, faster!”

“They’re gaining on us!”

“Yeah, we won!“

Here is Alice’s comedic debut in an outdoor film in a castle. It’s a heartwarming tale of a girl, a door and a window known as the Laughing Castle.

Here are some stills from the film:

Lauging at the door.

At the window of the castle.

Reaching out to her audience.

Laughing at the window.

Taking her bows at the end of her award-winning performance.

So without further ado, here’s a Quicktime debut of Alice starring in the Laughing Castle. You can either download the movie to your desktop or just click on the link to play it in your web browser (assuming your web browser has the quicktime plug-in installed).

P.S. - To get your own marquee from the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland, visit Red Kid.

This is another later tailgating trip to the stick. I say that again based on the fact that Sarah is in the picture. This picture was sent in by Nikki, who sent me in a few choice pictures she found. It looks like we were there either very early or stayed very late after the game. Or perhaps the parking lot is empty because it was raining?

Bottom row: Andy. Second row, from left: Michelle, Christi and Pat. Third row, from left: Mark, Zenobia, Suzanne, Jenny, not sure who that is in the dark baseball cap, Sarah and Mike S. Fourth row, from left: Shmare, Karen and Nikki. Fifth row, from left: Don’t know and I can’t remember her name although I remember she went with us on a trip to San Diego once. Top row, from left: John S., Sheldon, John L., and Nate.

Here’s a bonus picture which I think was taken at the same game as the photo above it. I have two questions about this photo, bonus points if you can answer them. 1. I’m in the red cap. What the hell am I putting in my mouth? 2. Whose lap is Sarah sitting on?

Danielle’s birthday party on Tuesday also included a pinata in the shape of a cake. All of the kids lined up to take a turn whacking it three times. But it must have been made of cement, because not only didn’t the kids break into the pinata but none of the adults who tried could break it open either.

Porter’s friend Parker tries his hand at the pinata.

The kids lined up to have a go at the pinata.

Alice whiffs.

Even Danielle’s mother couldn’t break the pinata.

Eventually they broke open the pinata manually so the kids scrambled to scoop up the candy and prizes inside.

Here’s a Quicktime movie of Porter whacking the pinata. As you can see, Porter didn’t stop at three but hit it two extra times. You can either download the movie to your desktop or just click on the link to play it in your web browser (assuming your web browser has the quicktime plug-in installed).

When we arrived at Porter’s Montessori on Tuesday there was a birthday party. It was for Danielle, who is the daughter of one of the instructors at the school. She turned four and they were having a big party. So Alice and I stayed for about an hour rather than ducking out right away, as we often do.

Porter natutrally gravitated toward the cake, like a moth to a flame.

The birthday girl Danielle (in red) examined her cake, with Porter’s friend Parker on the other side of the table.

As usual, Porter manages to get close to the cake action as Danielle prepares to blow out her candles.

While the kids are off playing and the cake has been cut, Alice sneaks back to sample some cake.

“Ummm, cake.”

Alice has the cake table all to herself.

Until finally the rest of the kids join her at the cake table.

Where Porter wolfs down his cake.

And Alice picks at her second piece.

Here’s a Quicktime movie of all the kids singing happy birthday to Danielle. Notice Porter is helping her blow out her candle. You can either download the movie to your desktop or just click on the link to play it in your web browser (assuming your web browser has the quicktime plug-in installed).