Leo's 14th Birthday

I feel like every birthday post I'm marveling at how my kids are growing up so fast and I can't believe that they are already turning whatever inconceivable age they have hit. Leo turned 14 yesterday and it's truly mindboggling to me.  I asked him to pose in the morning before school and this is what he gave me. 

He tolerated going to school on his birthday well because he was excited to participate in a mock trial during English class.  He was the defense attorney for the case of Adnan Syed (made famous by the Serial podcast). The class listened to six episodes in the series and then built their case.  Leo made opening and closing statements, as well as questioned witnesses.  He took a tie with him to wear over his hoodie. The judge found Adnan not guilt and Leo was pretty happy with the results. 

We had burgers from one of his favorite places and then cake from Nothing Bundt Cake.  

He got to pick a decorative "cake sign" and this is what he picked. 

Nana was there to celebrate with us/ 

Birthday boy!

He wanted to light his own candles. 

The real excitement of the night didn't come until later.  Leo met up with three friends in the parking lot of the hotel next to Great America (our local amusement park).  We walked from there to the park entrance so they could attend the Halloween Haunt. Leo was so thrilled to be headed there with his new school friends. 

From left to right: Eric, William, Leo and Tyler. 

I sent them through the gates and headed home. They met up with another friend, Alberto, and had a great night, even though it was crowded.  I didn't pick them up until after 11pm.  They had a great time.

Left to right: Leo, Alberto, Eric and Tyler 

 

Women's March for Reproductive Rights

 Yesterday, we made our way to San Jose with some new school friends and all their friends to take part in the Women's March for Reproductive Rights.  We parked near the courthouse and saw this pretty spectacular RGB mural. 

We got there a little early and there wasn't a ton of people in the plaza.  There were some anti-masker/anti-vaxxers/anti-mandate people that inspired my kids to just rolled their eyes.  

They were not fans of my sign.  They said it was too obscure and dated.  I made them pose with it anyway.  I used a quote from the song Sandra Dee from the movie Grease.  I changed the line "Keep your filthy paws off my silky drawers" to "keep your filthy laws off my silky drawers" and I included the next lyric too, which is "would you pull that crap with Annette?". A few people got it and even asked to take pictures.  I felt vindicated. 

There were lots of other good signs, some of them included adult language that I won't post here. 

We marched from the plaza around the block back to the plaza to hear some speeches.  The last march we did for gun reform was larger and the street was closed allowing the demonstrators to spread out across the whole street.  This was smaller but very passionate.  It was also very hot and tiring.  My kids did great and I rewarded them with tacos at the outdoor food plaza in San Jose.  We were feeling pretty done after eating, but we had caught a ride with our friends.  Fortunately, they were ready to wrap it up too.  It was a long but rewarding day.  

Leo's first backpacking trip

Leo and Tom have been talking on and off about doing a backpacking trip.  They imagined something nearby with a relatively short hike to a good spot.  They hadn't made this plan a reality yet when Tom's friend Rich proposed a joint trip with his two boys.  The trip Rich suggested was quite a bit further from our house (near Yosemite), and involved a longer hike in (about three miles). Leo and Tom were up for this plan and got prepared. Leo used a rental pack from the sporting good store.  Both kids had Friday off from school for a planning day so it was the perfect time to go. 

Here he is trying it on in our driveway before heading out on Thursday afternoon. 

Some adjustments from Tom. 

Thursday night they stayed at a developed campground with bathrooms and the car just a few feet away. Rich and his boys arrived late that night.  Friday morning they registered their backcountry permit with the ranger station and headed out for the big hike. Here they are as they set out on the adventure. 

From left to right: Jacob, Rich, Eli, Tom and Leo. 
 

On Friday morning, Jacob's friend Jackson and his dad also joined the crew. Here are all the boys with Jackson on the far right. 

Off they went into the wilderness to spend two nights roughing it by a lake.  

They came home tired and dirty, but happy.  They enjoyed it a lot despite some of the hardships. Tom is an experienced backpacker, and he knew he could guide Leo through this adventure. Even though I knew this as well and I had total faith that Tom could handle just about anything that would come up, I was racked with worry pretty much the whole time.  I almost had a panic attack while they were packing up on Thursday.  Then, because they were in such a remote location, I didn't hear from them after about 6:30pm on Thursday night until Sunday late afternoon when they were finally back in cell phone range.  That's a long time to be out of communication with your child. Of course, I wouldn't be out of touch if I went with them but that won't ever happen.  This is not my kind of outing, but I'm so glad it's something they both enjoyed and can do together again in the future. 

Serafina's second Covid shot

Serafina is cooler at 12 than I have ever been in my whole life.  I was particularly jealous of this outfit today.  

She had to ditch the sweatshirt to give access to her arm for her second dose of the Covid vaccine. 

She wasn't thrilled about it, but she was brave and knew it was important. 

 

Great America Birthday Celebration

Serafina didn't have a birthday party this year. Instead she wanted to spend the day at Great America with her bestie Sunny.  

They had their coordinating outfits on and their Disney mini backpacks.  They were ready for a fun day.  

The park was starting to transition into their Halloween theme.  I love that Sunny is looking at Serafina like she's a total nutball for insisting on posing that way. 

Got her to take a normal one too. 

They spent most of the day on their own, using "Fast Lane" wristbands to skip the lines.  I had to go to the park office to straighten out an issue with our season passes and I happen to run into them.  I made them take a picture, of course. 

They did a ton of rides, and ran into people they know and spent time with those girls too. 

I told them to take some pictures and they assured me there would be plenty of selfie taking. 

It was a fun, exhausting day.  They lasted longer than I expected, but I'm glad they had such a good time. 

 

Serafina's First Shot

 Now that Serafina is twelve, she is eligible for a covid vaccine.  She didn't want to have to get a shot on her birthday, so we held off one day.  

We made the appointment for the evening so she could have time to go to Starbucks with Sunny.  We also happen to make it at our local Safeway store, so I was able to pick up some groceries while I was there.  Talk about convenient! 

She was nervous before getting the shot.  She wanted to call Leo to ask him if it hurts, but I told her that her brother would use that opportunity to torture with tales of arms falling off or something similar.  She agreed that he wasn't going to be the moral support she needed in that moment. 

Nervous face; annoyance at mom's picture taking. 

Being brave! 

And just like that, she's one step closer to being a whole lot safer.  Not only for her self, but for all of our community.  She goes to school in-person, and she dances in-person.  I feel significantly better about sending her out in the world now.  Second shot coming later in September! 

Serafina's 12th Birthday!

I can't believe my little baby is 12 today.  She is so smart and strong and resilient.  She wasn't too thrilled about having to spend the day at school on her birthday, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  To make up for it a little, I only made her go to one of her two dance classes this afternoon.  Instead of dancing, she opened presents, like this "The Office" version of UNO.  We played a round with Nana before dinner. 

After dinner we had cake. She wanted a cake from the same bakery that we got my birthday cake. It was a Neapolitan mousse cake, so it had chocolate and vanilla cake inside with chocolate and strawberry mousse.  It was very delicious. 

Birthday girl.!

With dad. 

With Nana. 

Twelve candles, plus one to grow on. 

She wanted one of the adorable Disney mini backpacks we saw on our trip to Disneyland back in January 2020.  Of course, we aren't headed to Disneyland any time soon, but I was able to find a perfect one online.  Leo and I had a wacky mall adventure picking it up from the store it was shipped to in a mall a little ways from our house that we almost never visit.  It was worth it, because she was really thrilled with the bag and it's super high quality.  I kind of want one for myself now. 

The other big item on her list was roller skates.  She outgrew her old skates a while ago (but they fit me perfectly), so we did some research and found a pair of high quality skate that should work well for her.  When we were trying to pick the color, the purple option was perfect.  She had just gotten her nails done in pretty much the exact same color.  When she opened them, she was thrilled and her manicure was still holding up to match the skates. 

They fit really well and she's excited about them.  Here she is trying them on while on the phone with her bestie Maya. 

She's almost as tall as her dad with the skates on! 

Overall, she had a good birthday.  She did say that going to school on her birthday was "boring", but that we did a good job making up for it in the afternoon and evening.  She'll be celebrating more in the next week or so.