Tea Party

All 18 Babbels (18!) are in PA now for Christmas.  We gussied up the older grandkids (ages 3+) and took them to their first tea party.  This wasn't a Michele Bachman tea party-- it was an English tea party, complete with scones and crumpets, and specifically with an Alice in Wonderland theme.  It was held in Philadelphia's Four Seasons hotel, and it was FANCY schmancy.  

My mom (I mean mum) took us here when we were little kids, and she's been waiting for decades to do this with the next generation.  About 60 other kids were at the tea party, along with their parents.

This is a far cry from the usual happy meals our kids get at restaurants.  We each received a plate with sandwiches, scones, fruit, fresh cream, delicious spreads, and of course bottomless hot chocolate.  Later on we all were served dessert plates, which came with not one, but five beautiful, fabulous desserts-- ooh yeeaahh.  

Here's Quin, Alice in Wonderland, Caleb, and Alistair.  Yes, Alice wore a ton of makeup and a bad wig and kind of looked like a cross dresser, but she was a huge hit with the kids (she even remembered their names), and we all liked her.

"Please pass the lemon curd, Chase."

"Ah, allow me to assist you with those marshmallows."

Some children from a Philadelphia ballet company came in and wowed us with dances from the Nutcracker Suite.

The tea party also offered ballroom dancing.  While all the little girls in the room daintily twirled and flitted their poofy dresses, our boys just cut loose.

After two hours, the kids' etiquette and propriety had reached its limit, and the sugar-induced frenzy had reached its max.  I can't imagine the tea parties across the pond ever getting this out of hand, but the kids all started acting totally bonkers.  And that is when we conveniently made our exit.

Cheers then, Alice.