Ara’s 11th

Can you guess what time it is?

It’s time for the birthday girl!

Arabella turned eleven this year. In a short while, she will be a teenager and beyond.

It has been quite a year.

This year, she wanted to have a Harry Potter-themed birthday. This may have been slightly attributed to visiting Universal Studios for New Year’s.

My parents (as previously mentioned) were already in the area for the event. At the beginning of the month, Ara invited JJ to come as well. Since my talk with Louis, I have invited them to her birthday party, and they accepted the invitation.

First up: some birthday prework. I had to generate some Hogwarts-inspired images for Ara and her decorations, thank you, AI. I also had to take a quiz (on harrypotter.com) to see which house I’d be in. Hufflepuff. Bonus content! I added my Hogwarts universe photo for all to see. I’ve also included some details on each ‘house’ that could be placed in these houses from the Harry Potter Universe.

Then came the dinner and birthday cake.

She had another birthday party the day after her birthday, with friends from the neighborhood and a few from church. The boys were told to leave for that one, as it was an all-girls event, so I can’t speak to what happened there. Her birthday ‘proper’ was just for family.

All in all, it seems like she enjoyed it.

I’m sure it won’t go down as one of the best birthday parties she has ever had. Before this, she had to do some cleaning up (yes, on her birthday, I know we are terrible parents). We have been cleaning the house for a good 2 weeks, and every day since Grammy and Grampy have been here. It hasn’t been the most fun of all visits as they haven’t had ‘play time’ with them, and they leave on Monday morning. The weekend is taken up at Church, so not much time left. That is fine.

Why? We pleaded with the kids to get the cleaning done before my parents arrived. They called our bluff – by us insisting on getting it done before they play with them. Unfortunately, it took the entire week, and she just got clean the day of her birthday.

So yes, there was name-calling, yelling, and screaming by both Ara and Lijah. That’s to be expected, I suppose. But at the end of the day, she said she enjoyed her get-togethers.

Maryia has put in a ton of work for this birthday. My dad helped out quite a bit with the decorating as well. I don’t think kids always (or maybe ever?) appreciate how much effort goes into something like this. For example, Maryia spent weeks preparing ahead of time, getting everything ready for the two days of Arabella. From Harry Potter Goldfish to butterbeer. From creating wands (by hand), picking up party decorations from neighbors who gave some away, and decorating the house (after getting it picked up).

Alas, it was a good meetup. JJ was the first to arrive and the last to leave. Angel and company stayed for about 90 minutes before heading off.

I must say, I’ve felt exhausted as of late. Life, man. It’s been tiring.

But can you believe it?

Eleven years.

How is that even possible?

Where has my little girl gone?