The girls and I went to Afternoon Tea the other day and had a blast. We went to the Hotel St. Julien in Boulder. It was a Saturday. We had reservations for 3. It was awesome. It was a gorgeous day. The Hotel Julien does Tea every Saturday. The table was beautifully set with glass tea pots and cups for each of us. Set in the lobby, the pianist played and a fire burned in the giant glass fire place.

The girls loved it. The each had their own tea setting. We ordered a black current tea. It was delicious. The waitress brought a 3 tiered tray containing finger sandwiches, fruit, and scones. Kenna and Elle didn’t care much for the food. Kenna spit out her blueberry scone. Elle spit out the chicken sandwich. Despite the disdain for the food, they LOVED the tea. They went through 3 pots each.

For me it was an amazing experience. It was magical, from getting ready to go and doing their hair, to Valet Parking and getting out of the car. It was special to spend time with the girls, just me and them doing something unique and “girly”. We are going to make this a tradition. We’ll go a couple of times a year. It’s going to be fun to watch how the experience changes as they grow. And as they grow, and come into themselves, hopefully we will always have afternoon tea to keep track of it all.

Thanks Kenna. Thanks Elle. I had a wonderful time. -DADDY

The History of Afternoon Tea:

Afternoon tea dates back to late 1700s to the early 1800s by the seventh Duchess of Bedford, Anna whom was waiting for Queen Victoria. In her time, large breakfasts were followed by small lunches and late dinners. Due to the unusual meal schedule, she often felt an emptiness at which point she instructed her servants to serve tea and little cakes in her room. The experience was so extraordinary, she repeated it every afternoon. Over time, the custom of tea became established only beginning with the upper class. As tea continued to gain popularity, different styles and venues began to open for the general public.

Palindrome-pal⋅in⋅drome [pal-in-drohm]
–noun
1. a word, line, verse, number, sentence, etc., reading the same backward as forward

Elle’s name is a palindrome and I think she has taken it to heart. Elle has this very interesting habit of doing things backward or the opposite. She reads books upside down. She says green light “stop” and red light go. She asks to have her window put up, when she wants it down and down when she want is up. She wants her jacket off because it’s too cold and wants her jacket on because it’s too hot. ellE does a number of thing backwards and just maybe, it’s not by mistake.

They say names have no impact on the a child’s personality or lot in life. With this palindrome, I’m not so sure.