18

 

On August 17th Elizabeth turned 18. I am not officially the mother of four adult children. I didn't put any thought into Elizabeth turning 18 because I didn't think it would bother me, but as we went through the day the realization dawned on me that I no longer have any kids - all of my people are grown up. I have been a mother to children for the last 24 years, and now all of the sudden I find myself the mother to no children. The thought makes me a bit sad. 

Elizabeth hemmed and hawed over what to do for her birthday for months. Literally. But at the end of the day, she chose to have a pretty low-key birthday mainly because the majority of her siblings were unavailable to make any plans because of work and soccer. My mom and dad came down to celebrate Elizabeth's day with her, once again showing my children that they will always be there with them to support them as they hit their life's milestones. 

After waking up and opening gifts, Elizabeth chose to head to the lake to hang out on the water for a few hours. After doing that, we were able to meet up with Josh, Endre (our "adopted" son and teammate of Josh's from Norway), and Andy for dinner at one of Elizabeth's favorite restaurants called Pinkey's. We all had a nice time, and it was good to be together to celebrate Elizabeth. After departing from Josh and Endre, who had to get back to school, the rest of us went back to the house where we had ice cream cake for dessert and watched a movie.

And that was Elizabeth's 18th birthday.