Getting ready to open presents on her birthday morning, with cupcakes

After what seemed like weeks of buildup Anna finally turned 13 this past week. She was beyond excited. There is something about becoming a teenager that feels like a marker, like you are leaving childhood behind. Anna certainly feels that way. She also took 36 homemade (individually wrapped) red velvet cupcakes to school that day to celebrate.

Marcy reached out to a bunch of people who have been important in Anna’s life and had them send a letter or an email with words of wisdom or encouragement. Anna loved this and read all the letters and had some tears as she did.

Singing happy birthday on the balcony with her cheesecake

Anna took off from school after lunch and Marcy took her for a special mani-pedi. That evening Anna wanted Dominos pizza for dinner and then she went off to Cheer practice and handed out more cupcakes. When she came home we invited the neighbors on to the top balcony where we sang Happy Birthday and we all enjoyed cheesecake.

Birthday drinks at the Four Seasons bar

Then this weekend Anna had three games of refereeing on Saturday morning and in the afternoon we went to the Four Seasons for a special night away. We were supposed to go to New York this weekend but with Anna’s school demanding a one-week quarantine still for every trip out of state, we nixed that idea. So, I booked a night at the Four Seasons downtown and we had a wonderful night.

Dinner on beautiful Larimer Square

After drinks at the hotel bar we went to a video game arcade then dinner on Larimer Street. Then it was back to the hotel for a hot tub and then the 8:15pm movie screening of the latest James Bond movie. We were back in our room around 11:40pm, so it was quite the night for Anna. Today, we slept in and ordered room service before checking out to catch the train home.