Lura celebrated her second birthday in grand style, with a party at a pavilion in Polliwog Park down the road a mile or two in Manhattan Beach. As at her baptism, John Doughty from our church choir was there with his camera, and took many fine shots; most of the pictures here are from him. Here Lura and Mark are greeting Dylan and his parents as they arrive.
Lura had plenty of time to run around and explore before the food was served. Here she is with Iris, her big friend who lives a few doors down from us with her parents (and Mark's colleagues) Mark and Grace.
Iris has known Lura since she was born, but she made some new friends at the party! Here she is with John's wife Nancy Jo.
Lura also went off exploring on her own (well, with Daddy tailing her). She took great delight in grabbing double handfuls of leaf litter from the path and flinging them in the air. She appears to have overcome her previous aversion to getting her hands dirty!
Cheryl's long-time friend Jen drove down from Culver City with David and Emily! This was Mark's first chance to meet the new baby girl.
Here David and Dylan are investigating the cooler we brought for soda and water. Fortunately, they didn't notice the meltwater drain plug!
One of Lura's presents was a box of big sidewalk chalk "crayons," which Lura, Gracie, Dylan, and Iris put to good use on the floor of the pavilion.
Iris, being a few years older, is more attuned to "representational" art than the two-year-olds, and produced a real mural.
Lura had a wonderful time with her friends, kids and grownups alike! Here she shares a giggle with Gracie's mother Carolina.
And of course, she had no objections to a birthday cake, especially one in the shape of Nemo from the Disney/Pixar movie! We surprised her with it, having kept it covered up until it was time to share it, and she was delighted.
Here's a photo (from early that morning, soon after Cheryl finished it) of the cake, along with the bath toy from which Cheryl modeled it. Mark had told Cheryl of the birthday-cake "sculptures" that his mother made when he and his siblings were growing up; she decided she'd like to carry on the tradition, and made this one using a recipe she obtained from Mark's sister Jennifer. Looks like Lura will grow up with the same kind of happy memories!
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