Memories of 'The Greatest Night Ever'

Last night was one I won't soon forget. We were having a girl's night. It was me, Miss Fussy Pants and three four year old girls (Piper turns four in a week so I'm rounding up). I told Piper she could have some friends over to play on the waterslide and make cupcakes with her Disney 'no bake' oven. It sounded so fun. So harmless. We would make memories that would last a lifetime. The girls would think back on that night with such nostalgia. 'Remember that fun summer night at Piper's house. That was the best,' they would say for years to come. Well, it started with the three of them having a screaming match to see who could scream the loudest and the longest with the highest pitch possible. I was trying to 'grin and bear it' knowing that's what little girls do. All the while reminding myself, we're making memories here Jamie. So I endured that for about 20 minutes. My head nearly exploded and I'm sure my neighbor who was outside watering his plants felt the same (he basically ran inside and wasn't seen or heard from again). After the screaming match ended in a tie (there was no way one was going to outdo the other), they played on the waterslide. I took lots of good 'party pics' so the girls would have a picture to go with their fabulous memory of the greatest summer night ever (or at least when they were four years old). Then it was time for cupcakes. We've tried this Disney 'no bake' cupcake thing once before. I knew it was a bit risky. The first time we tried it, it didn't go so well. It's one of those little ovens that allegedly bakes with ice. About the time we were getting ready to cut open the cake mix, Miss Fussy Pants starts crying and the girls start fighting over who gets to pour the mix, stir, open the oven, etc. What? This wasn't what I had envisioned. These were supposed to be happy memories. After consoling Miss Fussy Pants (the girls helped), we were back on the cupcakes. I followed the directions to a 't'. I allowed each girl to have a 'very important' job. And...... the cupcakes flopped. Wait a minute here. This is not going as planned. But where there's a will, there's a way. We had to give it another shot. I was determined to salvage this night. I was desperate to make those cupcakes amazing. Well, the second time around Miss Fussy Pants was screaming harder and instead of grabbing the cake mix, I grabbed the frosting mix (the packaging looks identical and given the situation it could've happened to even the greatest domestic goddess, which I am not.). They clearly did not turn out the second time around either. At that point I realized 'the greatest night ever' would certainly not be tonight. At least not how I envisioned it. So I let the girls watch 102 Dalmations for a few minutes, popped a bag of popcorn, split up the first batch of cupcakes (they were more like little dough balls) and we headed outside. The dough balls didn't look so bad since I slathered them with frosting and put a bunch of sprinkles on them (everything looks better with frosting and sprinkles). I turned the music on outside so they could dance (we have a speaker that looks like a rock and Piper calls it the singing rock) and suddenly the party took a different turn. We all started movin' and groovin'.. I was teaching the girls how to do the 'monkey' and they were teaching me some very interesting moves that only a four year old girl could dream up. A bit later both of their dads showed up right on time (when they dropped them off I jokingly said, 'Not a second past eight!' But I was so not joking and thank goodness they knew it.) And I was sort of sad to see them go. But Piper was exceptionally tired. She was crying that the light wasn't on in the bathroom, she had a splinter in her foot, etc. When I was putting her to bed she thanked me for a fun night and asked me if we could do it again. But next time, she said, "I want bigger cupcakes." Now that's a funny memory. A memory I hadn't planned on. Ya know, I think it really was a great night.