Happy 17th birthday, Willow!

 Willow had a whole Pinterest board for her 17th birthday! Hopefully all of her visions came true! 

She picked a Mexican restaurant for her birthday lunch since her party was on her actual birthday and her friends would be over for dinner. We told the waiter because we heard someone else being sung to and saw they got a dessert. We weren't expecting this! (insert panic when some whipped cream dropped on her new dress that she was keeping on for her party later in the day!)

We went with a cake lady who was recommended by a coworker. She matched Willow's cake picture perfectly and the cake was insanely good (and she was super kind!)!!

A friend from church came over to make this balloon arch similar to what she'd found on Pinterest. It was all about the pictures!!

A colleague of mine made this banner for her with a combination of her ideas from Pinterest. It turned out great (also for pictures!)!

Charcuterie boards:

She invited friends from youth group. The friends who were able to come were super kind and well-mannered...my favorite to have over! The boys were even good sports with all the pictures and posing!

A small sampling of the 118 pictures on my phone:

She had two of her closest friends spend the night. Here's a "next morning" picture:

We have a fancy 17 year old and a fancy feline!

Here are her 20 questions!

What is your favorite color? pink

What is your favorite activity? dance

What is your favorite fruit? strawberries

What is your favorite TV show? Lost

What is your favorite thing to eat a lunch? leftovers

What is your favorite type of clothes to wear? dressy

What is your favorite game to play? Hues and Clues, Hand to Hand Wombat

What is your favorite snack? Salt and Vinegar chips

What is your favorite animal? dolphin

What is your favorite song? Can't Steal My Joy

What is your favorite book? Once Upon a Broken Heart series

Who is your best friend? Kinsley and Aliyah

What is your favorite cereal? Life

What is your favorite thing to do outside? talk with family

What is your favorite drink? Dr. Pepper

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What is your favorite thing to eat at breakfast? Kind bars

What did you have for dinner on your birthday? Panchos

What job do you want to have when you're older? children's minister

August well-visit stats:

Weight: 

Height: 

BMI: 

Happy SWEET 16, Willow!

It's hard to believe that Willow is already 16! She's grown into quite a sweet young lady who is pursuing her own interests, which is fun to watch! She's had her permit for 6 months and will be able to drive on her own in 3 months. Eek! She requested highlights in her hair for her birthday.Before:

After:

For her birthday we spent the weekend with Morgan and Cadence at the beach. We missed school on Friday to head to Richmond and Willow drove on the interstate for the longest she ever has! We had Moes for lunch and stopped to pick up some Crumbl cookies, which Willow had seen online, but we don't have a store near us. 

We cut all the cookies into quarters so we could each try them all. Genius idea!!

The girls couldn't resist the water! 

It wasn't necessarily an art weekend but we had all brought crafts that ended up being an unplanned butterfly theme!

Willow woke up at 5:45 both days to see the sunrise...then went back to bed :)

Willow wanted to bring something to bake, so the strawberries were a fun treat...and good practice for her bake sale the next weekend!

We took the kayaks out to enjoy exploring the coastline. It was good practice for the canoe experience on Willow's Belize trip!

We headed into town for lunch and walked around for a little shopping. The girls found matching sweatshirts and a few other things. 

They had some downtime in the afternoon to enjoy their books and the sound of the waves.

We watched a movie and played games in the evening. 

Willow woke me up the next morning saying that she'd gone out to watch the sunset and noticed the kayaks had moved. We'd thought it'd be fun to go for a sunset kayak so we hadn't put the kayaks away. After the movie, I mentioned getting them, but was reassured by the teenagers that it was dark and we could get them in the morning. Ha!! Two of the three were caught in the water in the cove of the house but the other had floated down the coast about 4-5 houses. Willow had tried to get it by herself but the kayak was full of water and heavy. We went down together to pull it up onto the rocks to drain (thankfully I knew about the plug from our kayaks) then carry back to the house. Lesson learned!! In the picture below, the other kayak had floated through the old pier posts and was caught by those a few houses down. 

We finished our projects!

Sweet friends!

Since our azalea in the backyard is pitiful, we opted for a picture at Nana's.

 Here is her 20-questions video:

 What is your favorite color? blue

What is your favorite activity? dance

What is your favorite fruit? strawberries

What is your favorite TV show? Doogie Kamealoha

What is your favorite thing to eat a lunch? bagel with pepperoni and cheese

What is your favorite type of clothes to wear? "this kind"

What is your favorite game to play? Murdle

What is your favorite snack? freeze-dried strawberries

What is your favorite animal? penguin

What is your favorite song? "Unashamed" by Matthew West

What is your favorite book? Shadow and Bones, Powerless trilogy

Who is your best friend? Kinsley, Aliyah

What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios

What is your favorite thing to do outside? trampoline, walk

What is your favorite drink? strawberry lemonade

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What do you take to bed at night? blankie, bear, water, stuffed animals, pillows

What is your favorite thing to eat at breakfast? Cheerios

What did you have for dinner on your birthday? Red Robin

What job do you want to have when you're older? missionary

August well-visit stats:

Weight: 154 (89%ile)

Height: 5'8" (94%ile) (sidenote: Owen measured the exact same height at 3 yrs younger and loves it!!)

BMI: 23.4 (77%ile)