July 7: Lucy's 15th Birthday!!!

Last year for Lucy's birthday Erik and I were out of town. We left presents for her, and her grandparents did a great job helping her feel special, but I felt sad that I wasn't there. The year before, we were in Boston and she chose to go to Salam for a Ghost Tour (see what I mean about liking creepy stuff?), but I planned the day weirdly and we didn't get to eat dinner, so on our way out of Salem at 10:00 pm the only place open was a disgusting old grocery store where we bought hummus and pretzels and apples for the road. Once again, sorry, Lucy. Even on Lucy's good years it's been hard to find a day for her party that her friends are in town (summer vacation), and we've moved so many times that some of her birthday party pictures are full of faces she doesn't even remember anymore.

This year I resolved to make sure Lucy had a great birthday, so I insisted on a friend party in June (it was awesome!), and knowing how much she loves Shakespeare (she has read and annotated five Shakespeare plays this year IN HER FREE TIME, FOR FUN), I bought tickets for Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon back in November. I left the rest of the day open, knowing how she likes time to herself, so when she said that for her birthday she wanted "no one to talk to me until 12:00 noon, and then to go shopping, and then to go to dinner and the play," I could make all her dreams come true. 

I made Lindsay and Sophie walk 3 miles around Oxford with me in the morning in lieu of CrossFit-style exercise. We bought a computer cable Lindsay needed for school and then walked back home. Sooo hot! In the mean time, Lucy slept in (she has the only dark, cool room in the house), and Erik took Stone to a park to play frisbee and do the zipline, then to a book store. Plus Erik has been teaching Stone how to solve a Rubick's cube, which has bought Stone hours and hours of focused attention!

Then we took Lucy shopping at the British stores she had her eye on. And we actually found some cute clothes! And don't tell Erik and Stone, but there was a Krispy Kreme next to the Primark, and we all know how Lucy feels about donuts. And it was her BIRTHDAY, so...

World Cup - England beat Sweden!

Our beautiful birthday girl in Shakespeare's hometown

We discovered the series "No Fear Shakespeare" this year, which Sophie and Stone read multiple times to prepare, and honestly, I found extremely helpful too! So many of the references are archaic - I'm accustomed to the Elizabethan language thanks to the King James Bible, but often I don't get what they're talking about. A plain English translation on the side is really really helpful. We were absolutely blown away by the production. All six of us loved it.

"Thank you sooooo much, Mama, this was the best birthday ever," said Lucy. 

And home we drove. There was an hour-long delay on the freeway due to a traffic accident, so we didn't get home until after midnight, but sweet lovely Lucy had a wonderful birthday!!