Kaelia's 1st Lost Tooth

 Kaelia has been waiting for the day when she would lose her first tooth for years now - ever since her sister started losing teeth four years ago - and today was finally the big day!  After breakfast this morning, Kaelia announced that she was going to lose a tooth today.  So we took a look in her mouth, and sure enough, she had a wiggler that was instantly ready to go.  She claims that it wasn't really wiggly until after eating today.  I'm sure it must have been a bit loose already, but it certainly wasn't this loose until today.

This Morning

Kaelia worked at wiggling her tooth back and forth all day and finally decided to try to pull at it just before bed tonight.  Taelyn was eager to give her a few tips during the process, and then she figured out how to pull it right out.  She was a bit scared to start but had no problems in the end.  I'm so proud of her bravery, and now let's see what the Tooth Fairy brings!

This Evening

Taelyn's 8th Birthday

For Taelyn's birthday this year, she invited her three closest friends from school over for a little party followed by a sleepover.  Taelyn planned the party for weeks before the big day and knew that she wanted to put together a scavenger/treasure hunt with obstacles and riddles for clues.  So after some brainstorming together, she made a map of campus, we colored it with coffee and burned the edges to make it look old, and I set up the clues and tasks.

Once Taelyn's friends arrived, they quickly got started on the treasure hunt.  They followed riddles to various places on campus in which they all had to complete a task before getting the next clue.  Tasks included climbing a rock wall, riding tricycles across a ramp, playing the bottle flip game, completing a relay on skooters, running a lap around a field, and sinking a bean bag in a corn hole

mount.  Their final clue directed them to an area where five bags of gold chocolate coins were hidden to them to find their "treasure."  All of the girls had a great time and were absolutely exhausted by the end.

Next, we had pizza and cake, followed by opening presents.  All of the girls were quite thoughtful with their gifts and were very excited a sweet watching Taelyn open them up.  Kaelia was very excited to give her a spy kit where Taelyn can crack secret coded messages, track fingerprints, and see behind with rear-view glasses.  Justin and I got her the games Top Trumps and Twister.  Taelyn's friend Logan got her a crayon dry erase board and a huge box of Goldfish crackers.  She was especially excited about the crackers because you can only get them through the embassy here.  Audrey got her a jewelry making kit, and Blanche got her craft supplies and a pocket compass for her exploring around campus.  That was one of her favorites as well!

After presents, the girls watched a movie and ate popcorn.  By the time that was done, it was time for bed. Everyone camped out in Kaelia's room and attempted to go to sleep.  Taelyn was actually passed out within 15 minutes, but the rest of the girls took a bit longer.  Little by little, more of them fell asleep except for two of the girls who claimed they couldn't sleep.  I came in every hour to check on them, and they finally fell asleep around 1 am!

In the morning, we all had pancakes for breakfast, and the girls were picked up to go home.  It was a wonderful party, although Justin and I were quite tired after a lack of sleep.  I think we'll hold off on sleepovers for a while now!

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