Pictures Found!

Zach was able to resuscitate some of the lost pictures from the birthday weekend. Here's the pictures from the Hoes Down Festival, including the slightly bonkers idea we had to hold a mini-surprise celebration with ice cream sandwiches (?!!) on a hot day.

The first two pictures are from the morning when we were volunteering at the event, staffing an obstacle course that included "milking" a "cow". The kid in the hat is our friend Emma, who shares a birthdate with Clara (just a year later).

And here are pictures from Rockin'Jump, a trampoline park on the drive home from the festival. 

Hamilton Birthday

Molly kicked off our household's Hamilton craze last year, and Clara picked it up this past summer when these lucky kids were treated to a showing with Nana. A neighbor gave Clara a bootlegged recording of a performance, which she brought home and we all watched. I'll just say, it is much easier to follow when you can see the performance. 

Clara had a small friend party this year - inviting three friends for a sleepover. She organized the Hamilton theme, which involved watching the recording (or, rather, part of it, since it's a really long show), listening to the music, putting these awesome cake toppers on her cupcakes (toppers were made by Molly!), making some more star decorations around the house, printing some Alexander and Eliza paper dolls, and making her own complete-the-lyrics game. 

By all accounts it was a success. Unfortunately, I wasn't there for most of the party. I ended up having to go to a project outreach event for work that evening. But Zach did an excellent job of supporting the party (and staying out of the way). And the kids spent all Sunday morning reenacting scenes from the musical.

After the party, Zach declared himself finally tired of Hamilton music. I think we just need to "take a break" from Hamilton for a while.

Ear Piercing

Saturday morning was finally time to get the ears pierced. Molly and Clara both got their ears pierced at the same time. The state-of-the-art standard in town seems to be to go to one of the Tattoo & Piercing salons, which are all set up to do kids. The reasoning is that they have all the good equipment and are experts at doing a good job (autoclaving the equipment, having great jewelry, and locating the holes well). 

Nana and Pa joined us for the adventure, and here they are: picking out jewelry; Nana watching Molly get started; Clara chatting with her piercer as they got set up; Clara's piercer getting started; and the final product!

I wasn't there for Molly's piercing, but Clara's went really smoothly. She reported that it hurt a lot less than the flu shot she got the week before. Beyond just the location, there were a lot of differences from when I got my ears pierced way back when. 

They used a needle, rather than a gun. I think this lets them aim more precisely, and it seemed to hurt a lot less (both kids reported the pain being like a small pinch). Plus, of course, it was much quieter. 

The earring back is flat, and it's sort of a post tube, with the earring front post going inside the tube, if that makes sense. This seems great, because there's no pokey back to bother the kids.

And, finally, the after care recommendations are quite different. They specifically say no twisting (as compared to the prescribed daily twisting I was told way back when), since this breaks the protective seal that is formed as the hole heals. And the kids are instructed to use a saline spray twice daily to keep it clean. 

Three days in, all seems good. Only a little soreness, which is mostly gone. 

Family Birthday Dinner

For many of the past birthday dinners we have gone to the same restaurant in Berkeley, Paisan. Yes, it's loud, but the service is lovely, the food is tasty, the kids like it, and they can take a reservation for a large group. This year was slightly different: the group was smaller than in the past. Nona was present in spirit, and Opa sent his greetings from Germany. But, the group was larger in a sense, too: Robin took up a real spot at the table, and commanded her own attention. 

It was also different because last week the entire Bay Area was dealing with all the tragedy of the fires up north. While we thankfully haven't been directly impacted by the fires, the smoke was so bad that we all limited our outside time as much as we could. And, for this dinner, this meant sitting more inside than we usually do (which meant it was even louder than usual!). 

But, we had a lovely time - Robin was amazing, Clara enjoyed entertaining Robin, and the food and company was as nice as always. I even snuck in a photo of Molly, who is more and more frequently declaring photos off limits. I'm trying really hard to respect that. Really. 

Earrings from Opa

Clara's first physical gift arrived on Wednesday all the way from Germany: Clara's first pair of earrings. They were lovingly selected from a jeweler near Niesky, where Opa is staying with his sister. Clara was overjoyed! 

Happy Birthday Clara

no, we didn't forget to celebrate Clara's 10th (tenth!!!!) birthday. In fact, she's been celebrating for over a week. In classic Zanklin style, we started celebrating before her birthday, and the parties went on and on and on. It is just my tuchus post that has been delayed.

a moment of calm for the 10 year old Clara

In summary:

1. Friday, October 6 - school celebration (cookies baked at home, shared with class)
2. Saturday, October 7 - surprise celebration at the Full Belly Hoes Down festival (we gathered a few friends and some almost-melted popsicles, and sang a round of Happy Birthday to Clara and our friend's daughter Emma, who shares a birthdate with Clara)
3. Sunday, October 8 - the actual day of! More singing (and now with Clara asking us to stop already!), and her first gift: a card explaining that she will be getting her ears pierced at last! Plus, a stop at RockNJump trampoline park for an hour of jumping, and ten cool trinkets from Molly. 
4. Wednesday, October 11 - Opa's gift arrived in the mail: her first pair of earrings. Now she really can't wait to get those ears pierced!
5. Friday, October 13 - Family celebratory dinner at Paisan. Nana, Pa, Uncle Seth, Aunt Kristen, and Cousin Robin in attendance (plus me, Zach, and Molly). Special earrings from Nana - earrings passed down from her father to her, and now to Clara. Clara immediately wants to share with Molly, and Nana explains that she's got special earrings for Molly, too.
6. Saturday, October 14 to Sunday, October 15 - Friend celebration: a Hamilton-themed sleepover party. Three girls come to spend the night and celebrate Clara's tenth, and all things Hamilton. (Zach is officially tired of Hamilton at this point).

Next, I'll post pictures from some of these events (unfortunately, the pictures I took at events 2 and 3 have mysteriously disappeared (I think I accidentally deleted them!). : (

Duct Tape Wallet

Molly lost her wallet, so she made a new one out of duct tape....