Jack and Anna are Teenagers (and Some Halloween)

October 3rd marked a much anticipated birthday--Anna and Jack turning 13! Anna especially had been looking forward to this day for years. When she was 10ish, she asked if we could spend a night at the Gaylord at National Harbor. I told her I would take her and some friends when she turned 13. Of course, life got in the way and we moved to Florida. But, Florida still has a Gaylord and lots of other really nice hotels. But, then, COVID-19 reared its ugly head and the thought of hanging out at a hotel in a mask while social distancing just didn't have the same appeal. So, for the first time in years, the kids opted to receive presents. It has been a long time since we picked out and wrapped birthday gifts, since the kids (almost) always choose an outing. We tried to make the day as special as we could, which ended up mostly revolving around food. 

For breakfast, Anna wanted to go to Starbucks. I had told the kids on Friday night that I would buy drinks for whoever watched my newly discovered childhood favorite movie. Anna and Kara were in. Jack lasted about 15 minutes, which is coincidentally about when the love story begins. The movie is "The Pirate Movie" which is a silly musical based on the Pirates of Penzance. It is rated PG, but it was a 1984 PG, which is definitely more of a PG-13, mostly because of very inappropriate innuendo, but also some disturbing themes. But, I loved it as a kid and all of that just flew over my head. I didn't let Luke watch (not that he would have lasted any longer than Jack) and the girls only thought it was okay. They don't know what life was like before Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, YouTube, etc. We had a few movies on VHS that we watched frequently. And, obviously, we are more sensitive (rightfully so) to certain topics than we were 30 years ago. 

But, I digress. Obviously, I wasn't going to make Jack forgo or buy his own treat on his birthday, so Starbucks for all! Well, for Anna, Jack and Kara. Thomas and I aren't interested and Luke is too little. We don't love it for any of the kids, but as a rare treat, we'll allow it. From there, we went to Dunkin Donuts and everyone picked out donuts.

We got home and the girls and I worked on the birthday cake, which was a recreation of an old favorite--the Pumpkin Patch cake we first did 5 years ago. We made the cake and the cake pop monsters. The monsters were kind of frustrating, because I couldn't get the chocolate to melt to the right consistency. I have never had that problem, but I ended up having to throw away an entire bad of red and we were left with just brown and black. The girls had a great time decorating them, and they tasted amazing, so alls well that ends well.

The finished product. Monsters invading a graveyard/pumpkin patch?

For their birthday meals, Anna chose Chick-Fil-A and Jack chose Wendy's. Originally, Anna wanted sliders and Jack said Chick-Fil-A, then Jack changed his mind and wanted Wendy's, but Anna had been really excited about CFA, so she switched her meal. We thought about spreading them out, but then figured it was better to just get it over with. So, we had Starbucks and donuts, followed by CFA, followed by Wendy's, followed by cake and ice cream. It is a good thing we only have one set of twins who only have one birthday a year! Some of us, well actually just Thomas and me, had salad or abstained from the second fast-food meal of the day and some of us just went for it! YOLO maybe??? Although, I do have a rant about that expression, but I will save it for another day.

They both seemed to enjoy the day. And, they liked their gifts. A new, nice skateboard for Anna with new protective gear and a Deluxe Switch remote and Axis and Allies game for Jack. Plus, gifts from their siblings (books from Kara and clothes picked out by Luke).

He is now 5'9!

One of Anna's gifts to Jack

Kara gave Anna A World of Food. Anna loved this book when she was little and decided to get it from the library to see if it was as good as she remembered, but they didn't have it. So, Kara surprised her with it.

Cake with a side of monster.

Jack got her these awesome lights for her room, Thomas hung them and they look really fun.

Sunday we played games and had a quiet day. Sunday evening I took Luke and Kara to SeaWorld to do their trick-or-treat trail. Luke has really wanted to go, but they only do the trick-or-treating on the weekends, which are typically very crowded. But, Sunday was a rainy day and we figured the crowds would be light. We did the trail, had dinner at the Sesame Street food truck and the kids did some of the little rides. Then, we walked through the trail again. It was nice to be outside and they had a great time. It was nice to see them getting along so well. I love it when my kids act like they love each other.

They had tons of great photo ops. This was my favorite.

This was my close second, it is hard to see, but they "glowed" as it got dark.

In today's final news, Thomas and I decorated the downstairs bathroom for Halloween. I recently had a memory resurface of my third grade teacher (my favorite teacher ever--Mrs. Pepin) who turned the class bathroom into the "Bat Room" in October. It had Halloween lights and bats hanging all over. I loved it as a kid and wanted to try and recreate it. Thomas and I bought some decorations and then Thomas hung everything up. We surprised the kids with it and they all think it is awesome, although Luke does find it a little scary :)