Hillary will turn twelve years old this week, but today was the day to party. I don’t know if hanging out with ten pre-teen girls sounds appealing to you or not, but Jody & I will tell you that it was a great way to spend today.

Jody was the hands-down hero today, having planned everything and all. One of her extra smooth moves was to recruit her friend, Kate, to help out, and Kate was wonderful. I don’t think we could have done it without her.

The party began in Alumni Park where we divided the girls in two teams for a scavenger hunt all over Pepperdine’s campus. This team went with Kate…

The other team went with me…

Along the way, we picked up items we had to add to our wardrobe, and yes, even though I was the only member of the male species along for the trip, I too got to add a hula skirt and wrist leis to my outfit. Darn, we didn’t end up with any pictures of that. Oh well, I’m sure you can use your imagination.

We eventually made our way back to our apartment complex where we enjoyed grilled things, cake/ice cream, presents, a little Pink Panther 2 on DVD, and a bunch of made-up games.

One of Hillary’s friends is a world-class gymnast. We’re hoping we’ll see her in the Olympics soon. Jody & I enjoyed just watching her show off her flexibility while hanging out with the girls.

I think you can spot her in this picture…

And see if you can notice her pose in this one…

Here is the whole gang at once…

Here is Hillary at present time…

Here she is at cake time…

And last but not least, with full credit to Kate for snapping this one, here is my favorite picture of the entire day…