The Lee Family: Celebrating 11 Years!

Sofia is 11! We can hardly believe it! She woke up, which means I woke her up at 10am since that girl can sleep in late now that it is summer. She is a true night owl and stays up every night until midnight, usually in her room reading, drawing, writing or playing. Sometimes she says she stays up later. I don't know how she does it! Of course, she then wants to sleep in until 10 or 11am! I always have to wake her up to get our day started. The night before her birthday, she asked that I wake her up at 9am, but I decided to let her sleep a little later since it was her birthday. Olivia slept on the blow-up bed next to Sofia's bed. Weeks ago the girls used a bunch of sheets and blankets to build a fort over Sofia's bed and over the blow-up bed and the girls love sleeping together every night. The only down side is that Olivia likes her sleep more than Sofia, and she likes to go to bed earlier than Sofia does. But, when they sleep together they tend to stay up late. So, I woke them both up by singing "Happy Birthday"!

The girls slowly got up and came downstairs where Sofia's "HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY SOFIA" donuts were waiting! It was a huge surprise for Sofia and she loved it! They loaded their plates with donuts and enjoyed Sofia's birthday breakfast. They actually ran out of steam pretty quickly, so we had a lot of donuts left over. But, I'm sure they will enjoy them tomorrow for breakfast, as well.

Sofia requested spaghetti casserole for dinner, so I picked up all the ingredients at the grocery store and then we got ready to go to Altitude H2O, which is a big inflatable obstacle course/play area set up on Lake Grapevine. I bought the girls a 90 minute session and packed up snacks, drinks and sandwiches in an ice chest. The girls got dressed into their swimsuits and cover-ups and we headed out. They were super excited and I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate Sofia turning 11.

We got to the lake and I set up my chair and got comfortable while the girls and the other participants ran into the water and climbed onto the huge inflatable. I brought my camera and was able to get some great photos of the girls, although they were usually facing away from me. Sofia's swim shirt has hot pink sleeves so she was always easy to spot and Olivia was always nearby. They were so fun to watch and they had a great time on the inflatables, although they both fell off into the water a lot! Once they fell in, they had to swim to an area they could get back onto the inflatable. So, they both did a lot of swimming and also had life vests on so they bobbed along in the water. I watched them and tried to stay cool while sitting by the edge of the water.

After 45 minutes all the swimmers had to exit the lake for a 15 minute break. The girls got out and ate their sandwiches and snacks and drank a lot of water. I asked them how it was and they said it was awesome! Olivia was a little frustrated since she said she fell off a lot. But Sofia really loved it and they both couldn't wait to get back on the inflatable. At 2pm, the girls gathered up again to go back to the inflatable for 45 more minutes of more fun. Honestly, I'd wished I had my swimsuit on, it looked like so much fun! Thankfully it was cloudy, so it felt much better than if it had been clear and sunny. The girls had a great time and before long it was 2:45pm and time to get out of the water and go home. The girls loved it and couldn't wait to go back another time.

We got home and I made the girl's spaghetti casserole while they relaxed and played MineCraft. Sofia recently realized how much she loves MineCraft and was able to download it onto the iPad, so she can play. She also loves to watch YouTube videos of others playing MineCraft that include dragons, since her version doesn't have dragons. We set out cheese and crackers, made Shirley Temples and set the table to celebrate Sofia's 11th birthday! CK grilled steaks and I steamed broccoli (with extra garlic and lemon juice) per Olivia's request, and baked the spaghetti casserole. It was a surprisingly easy meal to make. We'd offered to take Sofia anywhere for dinner, but she wanted to stay home and have spaghetti casserole. She's our home body and loves to just stick around the house. She always prefers eating at home over going out to a restaurant.

We enjoyed Sofia's birthday dinner and then it was time for presents! The girls decided to wait on cupcakes, which CK picked up from Sprinkles, until after all the presents were open. Sofia got several presents and was super excited to open them. She started off with the presents from Aunt Shirl and Uncle Steve, which the card said were for fun at the lake. The presents included a kite, two modern frisbees, including one that lights up and a Dig It Dino Egg. Next she opened the presents from Sian and family which were four volcanos of goo (actually one of her favorite things) and an inflatable world ball. The last present on the fireplace for Sofia to open was from her Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Jay and family and included a book about inventions and a really cool moon phase projector! She was super excited by all of her fun gifts and thought she was done opening gifts when her Papa brought her a bag...with an Apple laptop inside! She was BEYOND excited and the look on her face was priceless! The computer came with a set of Beats bluetooth headphones! She was SO excited and happy! It was fantastic! We know that Sofia will spend time playing her newly discovered fun, MineCraft, but she wants to use her computer to write a book, or books! She loves to write and is incredibly gifted, so we try to encourage her to write and express herself. I really think that she could become a published author when she grows up. She and her Papa set up her computer and then she got started playing around. It was great to see her so happy!

When she was done with her presents, we took a break to enjoy the delicious Sprinkles cupcakes. Sofia specifically requested Sprinkles' chocolate cupcake with marshmallow filling. They were all so good and a great way to celebrate Sofia turning 11! Sofia played around on her computer for a bit before it was time to go to bed! What a birthday!

Happy 11th Birthday, Sofia (in donuts)!!