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Hadley was a concientious objector to this year's family photo

The beginning of May was a little busy around here, so we opted to forgo our traditional Derby party (which fell on May 1 this year) for a Preakness party on May 15.  However, we did not forgo Derby fare — juleps and Derby pie were of course present.  The day started off a bit inauspiciously with a trip to the ER for Hadley.  She fell off the bottom step outside and sliced open the underside of her chin.  It actually wasn’t a terrible cut, but the sides weren’t coming together and so the nurse I spoke to on the phone recommended we get it checked out.  While Hadley and I were in the emergency room getting glued back together (literally), Allan and Lydia did the final party preparations.

Party-goers watching the race

The other side of the room

We got lucky with a beautiful day so were able to hang out out on the porch and front lawn.  There were lots of kids this year and Hadley and Lydia were gracious hostesses and shared their toys willingly (if a bit suspiciously), although co-opted a few of the toys the other kids brought.  The girls were decked out in beautiful dresses that their Grandma C. made, with matching hats.  Being homemade dresses, there aren’t any tags and I wasn’t sure if the buttons went in the front or back.  Thus, I took advantage of having twins and did a side-by-side comparison, dressing Lydia with buttons in front and Hadley with buttons in back.  I conculded that the buttons went in front, but by that time Hadley was much to busy playing to let me switch her dress around, so she wore her dress backwards for the remainder of the party.  Lookin at Lucky was the big winner this year and I had to ask Allan to remind me of that — I have no interest in horse racing beyond the fact that it’s a great excuse for a party!

Lydia ready for a day at the races

Hadley in her pretty (backwards) dress, plus Lydia's hat