Ashlyn’s Unsurprise Party

• Ashlyn’s Surprise
• Two-Too
• The Secret Plan
• Time for the Party
• Surprise at the Unsurprise Party
• Just So
• For Parents

Ashlyn’s Surprise

It is a bright and breezy day, and Ashlyn is skipping into her friend, Willa’s, aunt’s garden. She has a surprise for all her friends, and she’s very excited about it. She shows her friends the pretty jump ropes she brought. There’s one for each girl: a pink one for her, a purple one for Kendall, green for Willa, yellow for Emerson, and blue for Camille.

Soon, all five girls are jumping rope through the garden. Suddenly, Camille, at the front of the line, stops. “Hey. Look. My front tooth fell out.”

The girls gather around Camille to see her tooth. Kendall asks how it happened, and Camille explains that she just wiggled it. She demonstrates on her other front tooth, while she recites a little rhyme she made up:

  I wiggled it
  And jiggled it
  A little bit.
  Just wiggled it
  And jiggled it
  A little bit.

Soon, all the girls are reciting the rhyme and dancing around. And then, Camille stops. “Yiketh!” she exclaims! Her other front tooth came out, too.

Two-Too

Emerson and Ashlyn gush that the tooth fairy will get two of Camille’s teeth in one night! Camille, with a lisp, says maybe she shouldn’t have wiggled both teeth! She’s had them since she was a baby after all.

Ashlyn can see Camille is sad about losing both teeth. Suddenly, she has an idea. The WellieWishers should have a party to make her feel better.

All the other girls are excited about a party, too. Ashlyn suggests calling it the Two-Teeth-Out Tea Party. And after the party they can have a sleepover where they sleep under the stars.

In her head, Ashlyn can picture everything going perfectly, just so. She even made up a little song in her head about it:

  Oh, the sun will shine
  In a bright blue sky, just so.
  You will all be happy
  And so will I, just so.

  We’ll wear best dresses,
  And flowery crowns, just so.
  We’ll eat pretty treats that
  We pass around, just so.

  Oh, everything will be
  Just so won-der-ful-ly,
  Just so perfectly
  Just so!

The sun will be shining, everybody will be happy. They’ll wear pretty dresses and flower crowns, and they’ll eat yummy treats. Everyone will be so surprised.

Then Emerson says “Let’s put on a show all about teeth. We can recite Camille’s ‘wiggle, jiggle’ rhyme, and we can pretend to be tooth fairies. We’ll call our show ‘Two Too-Loose Tooths.'”

Then Kendall suggests decorating a wagon, and Willa mentions having the party in the woods. But this isn’t how Ashlyn pictured her party.

“NO!” she stomps. She clarifies that it’s nice of everyone to offer to help, but the party is her idea and she wants it to be just so. She already has it all planned. So, she can organize it all herself.

The other girls tentatively agree that Ashlyn can do it all herself, but they urge her not to fuss too much over it. But Ashlyn is already hurrying away to start planning.

The Secret Plan

The next day, the WellieWishers all receive invitations from Ashlyn. The girls all agree they look very nice indeed. And then, they hear an “Ouch” from around the corner of their playhouse. They see Ashlyn, huddled around a big bunch of roses.

Emerson realizes Ashlyn probably pricked her finger on a thorn. Willa says they should help her, but Kendall reminds them that Ashlyn said they didn’t want help. Then Emerson has an idea. Maybe they could make their own secret plan that’s to secretly help Ashlyn!

The girls put their plan into action. Emerson casually walks over to Ashlyn. Ashlyn says she’s making flower crowns for everybody. Emerson comments that they’re pretty, but roses make Willa sneeze. Maybe Emerson can make Willa a crown out of paper stars instead. Ashlyn doesn’t like the idea of changing her plans and ruining the surprise, but it wouldn’t be fun if Willa was sneezy, so she accepts Emerson’s help. Emerson makes up a little poem as she goes:

  Don’t put a rose by Willa’s nose
  Or Willa will be sneezing.
  Ah-choo, ah-choo will never do.
  Sneezing isn’t pleasing!

After Emerson leaves, will a trip-trots around the corner to see Ashlyn putting nuts in cups for everybody. Willa kindly reminds Ashlyn that Kendall is allergic to nuts. Ashlyn is grateful Willa remembered. Perhaps Willa can put a sign on Kendall’s nut cup that says “For the Squirrels.” Ashlyn is sad the nuts won’t be a surprise for Willa, but they’ll be better for Kendall.

As Willa makes the sign, she makes a little poem:

  The squirrels must eat
  Kendall’s nuts
  Or Kendall will get spotty.
  Does Kendall want an itchy rash?
  Ab-so-lute-ly notty!

After Willa leaves, Kendall strolls around the corner. Ashlyn is busy clearing a space for the sleeping bags. Kendall exclaims that she’s excited to sleep under the stars. But Emerson prefers sleeping in tents. Perhaps Kendall can make a tent for Emerson! Ashlyn agrees—after all, she wants Emerson to have a good time, too. Kendall recites a poem as she puts the tent together:

  Emerson must have a tent
  Or else she won’t be happy.
  I’ll pitch a tent and make it snug
  And also make it snappy!

And then, Camille skips around the corner. Ashlyn says she’s shining apples for the party. Camille responds “That’th nithe!” And then Camille realizes: with Camille’s missing front teeth, she won’t be able to bite into apples! Camille sits down, and says that for the day of the party, they can ask her Aunt Miranda to cut Camille’s apples for her so she can eat them. Ashlyn smiles and chuckles:

  You have lost your
  Two front teeth.
  Your food must come in slices.
  If your apple’s cut apart,
  That will be the nicest.

Time for the Party

On Saturday, all the WellieWishers dress in their nicest party dresses. When they all come into the garden, they “ooohhh” and “aaahhh” at the sight of Ashlyn’s decorations. The tea table is beautifully presented, and the napkins are each folded into shapes of things each girl loves.

The girls each take turns commenting about Ashlyn’s insightfulness, making sure each girl would enjoy the party, from the Willa’s paper star crown, to the nut cup for squirrels, to Emerson’s tent. Ashlyn explains that it wasn’t just her. The others chipped in with ideas and reminders. And planning the party was way more fun with all of them working together. It is an _un_surprise party!

Surprise at the Unsurprise Party

The girls are all having a terrific time, until suddenly… plip, plip, plip. The girls all look up to see the clouds darkening and drops of water falling all around them. Then, a gusty wind whooshes through the garden, blowing the napkins and flowers off the table. Lightning strikes, and thunder claps. The girls all get up and dash as quickly as they can into the playhouse.

They arrive, sopping wet and cold. They each comment how they’re dripping. Ashlyn starts to cry. She’s upset the rain has ruined the whole party. Willa reminds Ashlyn that the trees and flowers need the rain. And after the rain, there’ll be a rainbow and puddles to jump in, points out Camille.

And then suddenly, Emerson has an idea. Perhaps Aunt Miranda will let them finish the party inside her house, in front of the fireplace! It’ll be the Two-Teeth-Out-in-PJs Tea Party and Sleepover! All the girls laugh at the new idea, and Emerson’s funny tongue-twistery name.

Just So

The girls scurry back to Aunt Miranda’s house, where they change into their pajamas and cozy up next to the fire. Ashlyn points out that the party was basically the complete opposite of what they planned. It wasn’t sunny and bright, nobody was wearing pretty dresses and flower crowns, and nobody had the pretty treats anymore. But yet, nobody was unhappy. So, it turned out to be a surprise party, after all.

For Parents

Discusses throwing parties for kids. Topics include:

• How to get kids involved in planning
• Planning tips for young children
• Snack ideas
• Group activities