Teenager!

Saturday October 15 was Lucia's 13th birthday. She loves her birthday more than any other day of the year, and this year--a 'big' birthday--was next level. She decided to have a sleepover to celebrate.

She was lucky this year in that her birthday fell on a Saturday, so we could plan the whole day. I had giant 1 and 3 balloons and a bouquet of sunflowers waiting for her in the morning. Then Mom and Dad came over for breakfast (Dutch babies and bacon), and then Lucia opened all her gifts. She actually makes it very easy gift-wise, usually asking for whatever biggish-ticket tech item is big at the moment. This year she asked for an Apple watch. So I got that for her, and tracked down a Lululemon Everywhere Belt Bag, and found some cute mushroom-themed items (sweater, earrings, hairclips) on Shein. Plus a big bag of books. Andrew had procured a cute rabbit-with-strawberry plush from Rumi Life in NYC on one of his business trips, something she'd spotted when we were there over Labor Day. She loved it all.

Once Mom and Dad left, we got ready for the sleepover. We'd taken this sleepover as an opportunity to make some changes to the basement that we'd been putting off--replacing the toilet in the bathroom, painting the bathroom, cleaning and decluttering the counters of the basement kitchen, getting a plumber to unclog the sink and replace the faucet, and generally rearranging and organizing. It really looks great, and it was the perfect place to set up for the group of six girls who were invited. We had mattresses, bedding, and pillows for everyone. I'd even found mushroom-printed fleece blankets at Five Below that Lucia gave everyone to sleep with and then take home.

I'd been worried about the kids having enough to do, but I really shouldn't have wasted that mental energy. As soon as the girls arrived they kept themselves busy through the evening. They met Nutmeg and toured the house (I heard them call it a "maze" and "something in a fairytale"), played Ghosts in the Graveyard outside (so much screaming), ate dinner (pasta bar), sang to Lucia over cupcakes, and played a riotously loud game in the basement called Murders in the Dark, which involved turning all the lights in the basement off. Greta joined in for that. (A lot more screaming.) Then they baked cookies, and then they went back down to the basement to hang out and watch Hocus Pocus. There was a lot of silliness and screaming until around 1:00am. Lucia and two other girls didn't go to sleep till 3:00am.

After pancakes in the morning, everyone went home. It was an excellent 13th birthday celebration. It couldn't have gone any better.

And now one birthday is behind us!