summer's cowgirl extravaganza

my five year-old friend, summer, and i have the same birthday, the same wild, curly hair, and the same craziness about us. so every year we give each other cards and gifts and sing happy birthday to us. this year though, summer turned five, so her mom pulled out all the stops and threw her a cowgirl birthday party. she even arranged for a pony named mr. whitey to visit for a little while...

have you seen this outlaw? summer's big brother, william and his friend jonathan dressed up as outlaws, and all the party guests had to capture them to get their loot.

summer and mr. whitey say, 'howdy!'

throughout the party summer kept coming up to me, and taking my face in her hands would say, "can you believe that mr. whitey came all this way to my party? i just can't believe it..." as if somehow mr. whitey knew that it was summer's birthday. i like that she is still so young and trusting and innocent and is fully convinced that a small pony knew it was her birthday and made a point of coming.

william really wanted some photos of himself with his guns.

william and summer's little brother, henry, is two. he was much more interested in sneaking mints out of the cowboy hat filled with candy than anything else at the party.

william, summer, and henry's dad... cowboy steve.