Eli's 13th Birthday!

Eli's 13!

His first request for the day, was half a dozen donuts all for himself.  I thought that was very fitting for a teen boy :)

 

Eli has started to sleep in a little more, but still not as long as Alison.  We had to wake her up for presents.

 

 

 

 

A tradition unintentionally started.  When Alison was 13, she started keeping some snacks in her room in case she got hungry after everyone went to sleep.  Eli said one day, "I can't wait until I'm a teen and I get a snack basket for my room."  It made me laugh, as it was never a right of passage, but now even Colin talks about how he can't wait until he gets his snack basket.

 

 Needless to say, he has loved having a snack basket in his room.

What's an Eli birthday without some Legos?

 

We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then to the new Mario movie, which was really fun. 

My favorite picture of the day:

 

Alison just said, "Welcome to the teen club!" and Eli said, "Bruh." and that pretty much sums up a teen in 2023.

 

 

Thank you Grandparents for sending some money...it gave Eli just enough money (after saving up for a long time) to buy a Lego City set he's been eyeing!

 

You know you've spent a good chunk of change at the Lego store when you get a free set after your purchase.  I can't wait to see the Easter basket put together.

Dinner was pizza and then cheesecake with raspberries.

 

 

I love watching Eli grow, yet stay the same.  He still tries to squeeze in my lap whenever he can even though he is officially taller than me.  He's standing on his tiptoes here, but he is still taller.

 

 

 

 

And for the finale: Eli's big gift was a VR, which he has been asking for for YEARS.  Honestly, it's entertaining for all of us and has been really fun.

2nd Annual girls trip!

Laurel and I planned a little escape to San Diego long ago, not realizing that it happened to land on spring break.  Mom's here kept asking me what fun things we were going to do for spring break and when I answered, "Well, I'm taking myself on vacation...and the kids will be home doing nothing and loving it." I got very strange looks. However, making time for self-care is a sacrifice worth making and I knew that I was in need of some refreshment.  It's lovely that the kids are old enough to take care of themselves, so even if Ben had to go into work, they were able to get what they needed.  

 

Laurel picked me up from the airport and our first stop was a giant salad from Urbane Cafe.  It was as delicious as I remember.  Then we went to the outlet mall that is basically in Mexico...oh the memories I will have of adventures with Laurel.  For dinner that night, we went to a Mexican restaurant just a short drive from our hotel.  We picked it for the ease, but it ended up being fabulous.

 

 

 

Our hotel was right on the water, looking at Coronado Island.  We spent the mornings sipping coffee on our balcony, watching the boats go out and then evenings out there again, with treats and watching the moon come up.  

 

No girls trip is complete without a little pampering and HGTV :)

 

 

Several runs/walks along the water was just what I needed!

 

 

 

 

 

Both full days of our trip, we went over to Coronado.  We would go on base, stop by the exchange and get a drink (and maybe do a little shopping) and then go to the beach...and sit.  This has become our spot and definitely a time I am thankful for the military perks.  A beach all to yourselves?  Yes, please!

 

 

 

 

 

I forgot how vicious the birds are in California.  We took a walk along the beach and when we came back, our bag of crackers was gone.  I found it down the beach, in the water and completely demolished.  It made us laugh...I guess the seagulls love Trader Joe's as much as we do.

 

It's funny how there's not much to tell about the trip, other than we did a whole lot of nothing and it was AMAZING.  We sat and let our brains not think about anything.  I will say, that I know it was even more relaxing knowing that we didn't have to worry about how our kids were doing-so thank you to our wonderful husbands for just being you.

I was curious how it would feel to be back in California and it is still a very refreshing place for me.  However, I was surprised how calm and quiet it felt there.  The roads felt open!  What?!  That's crazy...it's a big city and the traffic used to seem insane to me.  But now the traffic seemed fine because no one was trying to run into you all the time.   It took all of 2 seconds back in NY to affirm why I needed that trip.  Life here is loud.  Everywhere is loud and chaotic and tense.  Some people love the hustle and bustle and there can be times that it's energizing, but it's also draining for a quiet person like me.  I sent this video to Laurel to show her what my "normal" is like.  This is from the airport, waiting for Ben to swing by in traffic so I can jump in.  Usually there's more honking and a couple of guys in the street yelling at cars, but there's always the large crowds.
 

Long Island stories

At least once a week, there is a situation that leaves me scratching my head.  It will seem odd to me, but when I look around, no once is batting an eye.  My saying here has been "All I know is that I don't know" or "All I understand, is that I don't understand".  Here are some examples:

 ~Alison's sweet 16 is approaching and I've heard stories of what a Long Island 16th birthday looks like.  Once, Alison went shopping with a friend; she needed a dress for a sweet 16 party.  She needed something fancy and black because everyone was supposed to wear black.  Apparently these parties are basically weddings, but with a theme.  Halls are reserved, elegant dinners are planned and elaborate dresses are purchased.  Several people have told me that parents will take out second mortgages to pay $30,000+ for these parties.  I've also had several people tell me that they did something "simple and cheap" but the story that followed was anything but simple or cheap.  One mom even told me that her simple and cheap plan to escape the giant party expectation was to go on a trip...to Greece!  I don't think Long Island actually know what those two words mean.

~Speaking of weddings, they also are the opposite of cheap.  But not just for the bride's family, for everyone!  If you are invited to a wedding, you are expected to gift $100+ per person that attends the wedding...in cash!  Yes, everything in NY is cash.  A friend told me that basically it covers the cost of your plate of food.  Except the money goes to the couple and not to parents who paid for the food.  A friend of mine was recently in a cousin's wedding (which, by the way, you DO NOT miss a family member's wedding for ANYTHING.  This particular friend has a daughter that was having heart surgery that had to wait until after the wedding!).  She told me about how much money they had to spend on getting hair done, nails, gifts and events before the wedding.  I felt broke just listening.

I guess a lot of my stories involve money. 

~Alison went to the 'youth social' for co-op.  The social event is hosted at a friends' home...they read a Charlotte Mason book, discuss it and then do some kind of healthy activity.  To me, this is the opposite of how teens want to be social.  They bond the best over silly games and junk food.  But, in light of trying to be a good sport in a new city, Alison goes.  But to go, she had to RSVP (you must reserve your spot in everything) and bring $5 in ones.  Why?  Nothing in that sentence makes sense to me.  There's not that many kids in Co-op and they're just reading a book, so why RSVP?  And why cash?  And why 1's???  Who has ones???

~The church organized a women's sushi night.  My Kansas brain reads that event as "the women's ministry is organizing a fellowship night and will be buying a bunch of sushi, you just need to show up and talk to people".  My Kansas brain was wrong.  This really meant, "everyone is meeting at Sarah's house and ordering their own sushi meal and then paying cash for said meal".  Noted.  Always have cash.  And if something seems like it will be easy, it won't be.

~Long Island words that I will never be able to say like them: coffee, daughter, radiators.  And you will hear them say "yea, yea, yea" at least once in a conversation.