Symantha turned 9 on July 13, but the celebration continues into August. The day of her actual birthday was a Wednesday, during the week she and Hailey spent at Camp Berachah for day camp. At first it was a little sad to not have her all day for her birthday, but she loved going to camp and getting lots of attention there:). She woke up to a birthday crown, birthday t-shirt, lollipops and silly bands to share with her camper friends. Then she was off to camp.
I gave her a little camera to take to camp with her, and it was fun seeing the pictures that came back. They have a camp tradition of kissing the moose on the wall on your birthday, which she loved to hate, and it was cool that she got to do her horseback ride on this day. No pictures of the ride though, I don’t think she could take a camera.
That night she got to pick her favorite dinner and we had a little family birthday party for her, joined by Grandma and Grandpa. She opened her present telling her she gets to get her ears pierced – she had been begging for a year or so. This was very exciting, and she is very expressive.
The other part of her present from us was a big kids night of dinner, getting her ears pierced and going to the 5th Ave Theater to see Aladdin. Unfortunately this was after a one-night sleepover at camp and a very busy week for them, but they rested in the car and did very well. Here they were all ready to go…
The ear piercing went MUCH better than I would have thought (seeing as I remember holding her down while she freaks out about getting shots…). First, she got to pick out her earrings… a big decision
Then, hold Daddy’s hand tightly…
And I love this next progression. A little fear of the unexpected…
Followed by pure joy!
Then off to Aladdin, which was awesome. We all loved it, Derek included
The next day, we met Aunt Megan, Paul and Claudia at Sky High in Bellevue for another little birthday celebration. Super fun place, for kids and grown-ups!
Wow, long birthday post. And I haven’t even get to her first little birthday sleepover that she had on Tuesday night. Here is a quick shot (or two:)) of that – lots of giggling, pillow fights, dancing, bracelet making, eating, and fun.
Part of me can’t believe we are at this stage of life now, an older kid having sleepovers. And it made me realize how many, many sleepovers with giggling girls we have in our future. Oh my, Lord give us patience. But it makes it worth it that Symantha loved every second of it. She had a very happy birthday!
Sorry for the super long post, this is what happens when I am a blog slacker. This was going to be about 5 posts, but who has time for that?
