The Birthdays
(This is a very belated post about the kids' birthdays. Better late than never. I wrote this but never posted it.)
October is almost over, which means both of the girls’ birthdays have come and gone. They both had excellent birthdays this year.
Lucia, as always, was beyond excited about her birthday, and the lead-up was almost unbearably thrilling. She gets excited several weeks in advance; she looks forward to October 15 so much. We have our birthday traditions: the day began with giant number balloons, flowers, and a birthday sign at the table in the morning, along with one present to unwrap before school. Mom and Dad came to Pittsburgh after school, and Lucia unwrapped her gifts first thing. Mom had made scrippelles for the birthday dinner (Lucia’s request--a sneaky way of getting scrippelles outside of the traditional Easter season), and Andrew made a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling. It was all delicious. I put a few figurines on top of little girls who balance on cup rims. We finished the day with several episodes of the new season of The Baby-sitters Club.
Lucia’s birthday list this year consisted of “witchy stuff,” because she’s making a witchy altar in her bedroom. I had lots of fun shopping for her. Her big gift was the (much less interesting) Airpods, and the more fun things were: a lava lamp, an essential oil diffuser, tarot cards for kids, a plush smiling succulent, a lap desk, two squishies, a bunny purse, a set of six mini Squishville Squishmallows, a large pop-it, and two trendy outfits from Shein. And, of course, a giant tote bag of new books--always an eagerly awaited gift.
Lucia had requested a visit to a haunted, abandoned building for her birthday outing, so on the Sunday after her birthday I took her to Hill View Manor in New Castle for a ghost hunt. This is a crazy place. It’s an abandoned, spooky former “poor farm” that is actively crumbling, and you can pay for a tour and then an hour of time when you can just wander all around the building, into the basement, etc. (There are even hunts where you can spend the night by yourself. We didn’t do that.) There is no heat or electricity. It is absolutely, undeniably creepy. We were both suitably scared. I clearly felt the presence of something. And when I walked into one of the rooms, Lucia suddenly stopped in the doorway and began begging me to come out--she’d gotten a terrible, foreboding feeling. It was exactly the outing she wanted.
Greta’s birthday was exciting too, and got started a week early--when we went to Animal Friends and adopted a mini lop for her. Her desperate, endless wish for a small furry pet finally broke us down, and though I’d wanted to actually present the rabbit on her birthday, there were more steps than I’d anticipated for the adoption and no way to put a “hold” on the rabbit, so we just gave her her big gift early. The girls named the rabbit Nutmeg, and it now lives in Greta’s room. (I’m in love. More about Nutmeg in another post.)
Yesterday was the actual birthday. Greta gets excited about her birthday too, but her excitement is reserved for the night before. Balloons, flowers, sign, and a gift started the day. She was happy that her birthday fell on an Own Clothes Day, and it was also the day of the school’s Pumpkin Fair. So she had a great day at school. Mom and Dad came after school, and we ordered pizza from Pastoli’s (Greta’s request) and then opened presents. I’d gotten her a strawberry cake, and I found some cute cat figurines to put on top.
Greta’s gifts (aside from the rabbit) were a couple of American Girl outfits, a realistic-looking wood slice pillow, a lap desk, a bunny purse, two squishies, a set of Dork Diaries books (#1-12), mini succulent magnets, a family of tiny cats in a matchbox, slippers, and a tote bag of books.
We are going to have a shopping outing for Greta’s birthday this weekend. Earrings from Claire’s and some cute clothes are in the girls’ future.
Two great birthdays. I always have so much fun shopping and planning for them...and I always breathe a huge, huge sigh of relief when they’re over. Halloween is next and it’s honestly just too much, a step too far, and I really have to gear up for it. Dealing with Halloween feels kind of like facing a massively messy kitchen at 11:30pm after falling asleep on the couch. Just the absolutely last thing I want to deal with. But on we go! Such is October.
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