13

Elizabeth celebrated her 13th birthday on Saturday, August 17th. She had been planning her day for months in advance and knew exactly what she wanted to do. She received the cash that she had asked for from those who inquired about what she wanted for her birthday and used that money to go shopping. Sarah was sick, so she was not able to come with us as originally planned, and the weather turned out to be crummy for a little while turning away those family members who did not really want to spend the day bopping in and out of a variety of stores  hour after hour. In the end, it was me, my mom, and my dad who browsed through countless stores; shopping is none of our forte, but we wanted to spend the day with Elizabeth badly enough that we were willing to go with her and do whatever her heart desired; after all a person only has one true day a year dedicated solely to herself.

In the end, we ended up going to: Kohl's, 5 Below, Pier 1 Imports, Target, Barnes and Noble, Claire's, Bath and Body Works, Old Navy, Forever 21, Meijer, and Rocket Fizz (a candy store). Elizabeth was a discriminating shopper and would only purchase items that were on sale or clearance - with the exception of a LEGO set in which she paid full price. She ended up getting a few pairs of pants, a few sweatshirts, a couple of pairs of shorts, a couple of LEGO sets, bath bombs, a Bluetooth speaker, lotion, &  Barbie clothes.

She was gifted an outfit and shoes (which she loved) from my sister and a necklace from Bob's parents. My mom and dad gave her money as well as bought a Barbie for her that she chose to put back on our shopping excursion rather than pay full price for it because it was out of her budget. Andy bought her 2000 Magic cards as she has started to play that card game with him. Joshua bought her some baking supplies.

The four of us ate at Panera Bread for lunch.

After completing our shopping trip, which took pretty much all day, we came home and had pizza and snacks. Andy and Josh both had to work, but Andy surprised Elizabeth (and the rest of us) by running home on his lunch break (literally, he ran home) to be with Elizabeth as we sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. Andy said that he hasn't missed a birthday singing yet, and he didn't plan on starting now. (That action perfect exemplifies who Andy is as a person. By the time we sang to Elizabeth Joshua had finished his shift and was home as well.)

And to surprise her, I wrote her 13 notes, one of each she opened on the 21st of every hour as she was born at 8:21 am. I chose to write one thing on each note that I loved about her and why I loved that about her. She said that I made her "verklempt" with my notes, but I could tell that she really appreciated them.

Overall, I would say Elizabeth had a wonderful birthday doing the things she loved doing surrounded by people who love her.