Look Who Has Pierced Ears!

One of the rules in our family is no pierced ears before you're 13. Why? So the person is old enough to (a) know what they're getting in to and (b) so the person can take care of the piercings. 

Quite some time ago, I reached out to our kids' pediatrician asking whether she pierced ears (no) and, if not (she doesn't), where she recommends people go. She HIGHLY recommended going to a piercing/tattoo parlor instead of a jewelry store because the piercing/tattoo places have more health oversights and requirements in place. That made it an easy decision. After asking around, we received a few recommendations for Deep Roots on the Ave in the U. District. I made the appointment for the Saturday after Annika's birthday - done and done!

Saturday morning, Annika was a bundle of excitement and nerves. Not knowing what to expect made her a bit anxious, but not enough to want to back out of getting her ears pierced. Upon arriving, we donned our masks, participated in their health screening (ahh... life during a global pandemic!), filled out the required paperwork, and picked out the first non-magnetic/clip on earrings Annika would wear. 

I have to say, I was incredibly impressed with people who work there and their level of professionalism. Everything was clearly explained and the cleanliness/health standards were through the roof! 

The piercing artist (John) who headed up Annika's appointment truly did a great job. He was kind, made Annika (and me!) feel very comfortable, and clearly took a lot of pride in doing a good job. He was thorough and valued Annika's input on the process. Before we knew it, Annika's ears were pierced and she was sporting her new blue earrings!

After the fact, Annika said the anticipation was MUCH worse than the actual piercing. She is over the moon that she's now part of the pierced ears club! She has done a fantastic job tending to them and making sure she follows every instruction provided by John to the letter. 

Waiting for her appointment

Working on calming her nerves

All done!!

Pretty blue earrings

Annika is a Whopping 11

Well, today Annika is celebrating her first-ever palindrome birthday. YUP! As of 1:55 this morning, we there was an 11-year-old living under our roof.

While Annika soundly slept, Conor decided that he wanted to make her breakfast in bed. Fortunately, I was able to head him off at the pass and convince him that he should eat the bowl of Fruit Loops that he poured for her and after she had more time to sleep, we'd make her breakfast in bed. Reluctantly, he agreed. We got to work making waffles, knowing Annika would think a Belgium Waffle would be a fun treat. Once I saw Annika stagger out of her room (waking up fast isn't her approach to mornings), I told her that Conor had a surprise and she could wait in her bed. We quickly assembled a waffle (including whipped cream, sprinkles, and a candle), and delivered it to her while singing "Happy Birthday". She was in Heaven! :)

After a fairly low-key morning, it was time to head out for the kids' tennis lessons at Klahaya, where the instructors and other students all shouted "Happy Birthday!!!!" to her at the top of their lungs. Again, the girl probably couldn't have been happier if she tried.

Right after their tennis lesson, we headed north to have their bikes adjusted by the folks we bought them from. Conor's gears weren't shifting correctly and Annika's front wheel and handlebars weren't in proper alignment. While we waited for the bikes to get adjusted, the kids and I went to a nearby MOD Pizza for a very yummy (and filling!) lunch. As a special birthday treat, the kids even got to have orange Fanta... yeah, living the wild life!!

We ate our fill and returned to the bike shop, only to find out the bikes hadn't even been looked at yet. (Grr!) We'll head back on Wednesday, in order to give them PLENTY of time to look at the bikes.

The rest of the day was filled with dinner prep (chicken alfredo, per the birthday girl's request), presents, and dessert (grasshopper pie, again, per the birthday girl).

One of the sweetest presents was Conor's present to Annika: a poem
Awesome
Nice
Neat
Interesting
Kind
Athletic

Favorite TV Show: Liv and Maddie
Favorite thing about school: All of the nice teachers
Thing you do best: Art
Favorite color: Seafoam green
Favorite toy: Bunny 1
Future career goal: I don't know
Favorite toys to take to bed at night: Bunny 1 and story bunny
Favorite book: Cleopatra in Space
Favorite song: A Million Dreams (Greatest Showman soundtrack)
Favorite cereal: Frosted Flakes
Favorite movie: Smurfs Lost Village
Favorite season of the year: Spring-ish Summer
Favorite food: Chicken Alfredo
Favorite animal: All
Favorite ice cream flavor: Cheesecake with Raspberry Swirl
Favorite sport: Soccer
Favorite holiday: Christmas
Dream vacation spot: Disneyworld
If you had $1000 to spend: 1/2 would go to charity, 1/2 to owning a kitten
If you had a wish: World peace
What do you like to do with your friends: Hang out
What do you want to do before your next birthday: Get my ears pierced (note from Mom: not gonna happen)
Favorite thing done as a 10-year-old: We went to Disneyland

Annika is officially double digits

Last night, Annika went to bed as a 9-year-old. This morning, she awoke as a 10-year-old. Double digits, baby!!

Today she is 10... a decade of life under her belt. That also means Eric and I have been parents for a decade... three weeks earlier than we expected. (She has kept us on our toes ever since!) As we left the hospital with our newborn baby girl, I couldn't help but look over my shoulder and think "They're just letting us leave with her and we have NO CLUE what we're doing!"

Over the past 10 years, there have been countless bouts of laughter and tears, moments of "What the hell are we doing??" and "Wow! We haven't screwed them up too much ... yet." It has been quite a journey and one we are incredibly grateful for. As we watch the kids take one each day, we often stare in wonder at all they have learned, how much they've grown, and how much they've changed since they were born. 

This girl amazes us in so many ways. She is witty, compassionate, wickedly smart, funny, daring, and loving. She is tough and isn't afraid to stand up for herself or someone else being wronged. She is a protective big sister who will go to the ends of the earth for Conor, and will be the first in line to complain about something he has recently done. She instantly falls in love with any baby or animal that is in her line of sight. Life will not run over this girl... she will do well for herself, we are sure of it. She loves to art and science, and is often occupying herself with one (or both) of these things. She is our girl and we are so proud of who she is and can't wait to see who she develops into. Happy birthday, sweet girl!  

We are having a fairly low-key day today, which considering our summer's hectic pace, is a welcome change. As I write this post, Annika and Eric are playing a game and Conor is relaxing with his Pokemon stuff. I hear chatter and giggles ... and am loving every minute of it. Annika and I started off the day by going 8:30 mass; she signed up to be an alter server this year and wanted to make mental notes about all of the things she will need to do. After while, she opened presents, which included a digital watch, a "Officially 10" t-shirt, a point-and-shoot digital camera, a night gown, and a book about drawing animals. In a bit, we'll head to the pool for her weekly diving lesson and then we'll have Swedish meatballs as her chosen birthday dinner. 

Annika's 10-Year Birthday Interview

What is your favorite color? Red and pink

What is your favorite toy? Bunny 1

What is your favorite food? Swedish Meatballs

What do you do really well? Diving

What new skill do you want to learn? Ride a unicycle

What is your favorite book? Captain Underpants

What makes you laugh? Daddy

What is your favorite game? Tickle Spider (Daddy/Annika silly game)

What makes you happy? Family

What do you want to be when you grow up? Engineer who builds robots

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What is your favorite song? True Colors

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it? Put some in bank account and give the rest to a charity that helps the homeless and poor.

What do you look forward to now that you are 10? Getting to do more grown up things

We have an 8-year-old little girl

My apologies, dear readers and birthday girl, the month of August has apparently gone into turbo mode and we are nearing its end and I have yet to write up a blog post about our sweet girl turning 8 years old.

The night before her birthday, Annika was CONVINCED that she'd be too excited to sleep. Fortunately, she was incorrect and had no problems resting up for her big day. She rested up so much that Eric and I didn't see her until after we got home from work... it was so odd not to see her the morning of her birthday, but it seemed cruel to wake her up early just so we could say happy birthday. 

The evening of her birthday, we had a little "Olson Four" celebration for her, which included Annika's chosen dinner (chicken pot pie) and dessert (grasshopper pie) ... notice a theme?? Our dining portion of the festivities were followed by the much-anticipated give portion of the evening. Conor gave her an over-sized stuffed unicorn that Annika named "Sparkle Horn" and quickly placed in the center of her stuffed animal affections. Eric and I gave her a Dash robot, which is a robot toy that helps kids learn a few programming basics. She is enamored with robots these days, so the gift was a hit. She can program it to follow paths that she sets up, make noises, change colors, etc. 

Because Annika's birthday fell on a Thursday this week, we held off on having a party that included more than the four of us for a couple of days. The Saturday after her birthday, we invited the local extended family over for a BBQ lunch to celebrate Annika's birthday. 

It was a lovely day filled with lots of laughter, wonderful company (Eric's parents, my mom, Uncle Troy, Auntie Staci, Ian, Kat, and Uncle Dave), and more food than we could possibly eat.  Our little girl was showered with love and gifts ... truly a very good day in her eyes. She received safety equipment from Eric's mom/dad, a cook book and apron from my mom, a Pete the Cat book from my brother and his family, and best of all... big cousin Ian gave her all of his old Pokemon cards (130 in all). Without a doubt, the Pokemon cards was the best of the bunch in her eyes; before bed that night, she spent about an hour and a half organizing her new cards in her binder and taking the time to ohh and ahh over each card. 

Our nephew Ian put a spin on the antipasto plate by
adding little protesters... he never fails to amuse!

The top of Annika's requested bunny cake

Side view - Didn't Eric do an amazing job???
(My contribution: The inside is a white cake with pink, purple, and teal polka dots)

Cook book from Nana

Book from the Nelsons

Cousin Ian and goofy Conor

Annika and her hand-me-down Pokemon cards

Blowing out the candles (did I mention they were trick candles??)

Modeling her new apron and safety equipment

Thank you to everyone for making Annika's celebration so special. We are so grateful for the community that has rallied around us from the minute we told them that we were embarking on the roller coaster ride that is parenthood.

Happy 8th birthday, sweet Annika! We love you to the ends of the universe ... and back.

Annika's Birthday (pt 3)

On Saturday, we had Annika's third of three birthday celebrations... the family party.

The night before, Eric and I worked on her cake, which according to Annika, needed a dinosaur and an egg. OK... gotcha! Fortunately for our little girl, her daddy is quite the artist and sculpting a dinosaur out of fondant didn't send him into cold sweats, which it certainly would have done to her mother! While Eric conquered the fondant work, I took care of stacking and frosting the cake. We let the fondant creations dry over night and then Eric used my airbrush to paint the dinosaur, baby, and egg the morning of the party. I must say that we were mighty pleased with how the whole thing turned out. We were a bit stressed about how we'd get the mama dinosaur onto the cake (Eric used an empty cake pan as his modeling platform) but it worked out!

Around 3 o'clock, the family started rolling in and the associated noise and fun ensued. There were 12 of us in all, yet we probably had enough food for about 25! We had bratwurst, cucumber salad, spinach salad, garlic bread, tuna pasta salad, and (of course) dinosaur cake!

Between dinner and cake, Annika opened her much-anticipated presents. We have one very fortunate girl to have such generous family members!! She received a variety of books (math, mazes, kindergarten skills, Junie B. Jones), wonderful clothes, an art kit, and Hello Kitty pajamas. The girl couldn't have been happier if she tried.

Eric sculpting the mama dinosaur

Finished cake

I love how Eric decided to have the mama's legs wrap around the edge of the cake

Eric helping Annika read the cards

What is it?? What is it??

DRESSES!

Of course, she had to put one of the new dresses on right away

Hello Kitty pajamas that she has worn each night since her party

Awaiting the arrival of her cake

The candles were out before Eric had the cake on the
table ... our girl doesn't waste time when cake is involved!

Cheese!!

Collective nouns: A gaggle of geese, a pack of wolves, a pile of cousins.

Annika's 5th Birthday Celebrations

I can tell the month of August is getting away from me when it isn't until the 19th of month that I get around to blogging about Annika's birthday. Shame on me!

We decided to keep things a bit simpler this year and scaled back from previous year's birthday extravaganzas. We invited a couple of her classmates over for a kids' party and then had family over for a BBQ dinner out on the deck later in the day. The weather was incredibly cooperative, which was a definite treat. Even with the low-key approach, we were completely exhausted by the time we fell into bed that night, but it was more than worth it!

During the morning celebration, Annika was joined by her buddies Allison and Violet; these girls play beautifully and could practically form the first-ever professional giggle team. The girls had a blast playing games—including pin the starfish on the mermaid and pop the sea bubble, building their own sea-themed snow globes, bouncing in the bouncy house, and beating the heck out of a mermaid pinata (which, ultimately, Eric had to take a few whacks at to open it ... that sucker was well engineered!). 

After a bit of cleaning and food prep, the family portion of the day got under way. Fortunately, we planned a BBQ on the deck; the weather was just hot enough that we wouldn't have wanted to be cooking in the kitchen; that's for sure. We had grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and we are so grateful that our loved ones were with us to have some fun together for Annika's birthday. All-in-all, a wonderful way to celebrate our sweet 5-year-old little girl.

Allison trying her hand at pinning a starfish on Ariel

Annika's turn

Annika, Violet, and Allison ... the three amigos

Blowing out the candles on her mermaid cake

Conor really gets into his desserts

Eric's parents gave Annika a much-coveted cowgirl hat
and pink cowgirl boots that light up. Really, could it
get any better?

Yeeee-haw