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....

Croquet battle!

Clara and Nana and Pa, deep in a croquet battle:

Dieter in Berlin

Dieter has flown to Berlin for the fall. I haven't actually spoken to him yet, but our good friends Nat & Maja had lunch with him today and sent this photo. He looks relaxed and happy! 

Clara & Robin reading

Angel Island

It's been a few years since we went to Angel Island, and this year almost got away from us, too. But then, on a whim, I looked to see if there were any spots available before school started - and there was one! It was a Thursday night, but the group site was open. Unfortunately, we couldn't find anyone else able to join us for a spur-of-the-moment Thursday night campout. But we borrowed Molly's friend, Montse, and had a great time! I went over in the morning with the kids, and Zach joined us on the last ferry (3pm!). We didn't make it over to the Immigration Station this time, but we did do a lot of exploring of the old military infrastructure on the north side of the island.