Ouest turns ten. Well, she turns ten in three days, but we’re not ones to quibble over dates. We once celebrated Lowe’s birthday a month early just because we really wanted to give him his new bike. Weather is our usual “what day should the birthday be this year” consideration, but this year it was more about having family here to celebrate Ouest turning ten with us. We were all happy they were here, and Ouest especially loved spending time with grandma, and her aunts who are always willing to be crazy playmates.
I place these first two pictures on here for no reason other than both kids are making facial expressions that are uniquely them. Faces I’ve seen made a thousand times. When Ouest makes this face it is almost always as she’s about to reply, “No, of course not!” to some silly question being asked of her by her brother.
My favorite part of this entire day, personally, was how often I could see Ouest’s upper cheek dimples. There is nothing more genuine than when her smile is so wide the dimples come out.
We chose to end our balloon tradition this year, citing environmental concerns. Everyone was onboard with that, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t still hide ten dollars around the boat (birthday dollars were usually hidden inside a hundred balloons). A week later they were still searching for the hidden five dollars, brilliantly hidden in plain view by Ali.
Lowe was fake singing Happy Birthday to the absolute delight of his sister.
I took Lowe to town one day and we searched high and low for a present. When he spotted this cowgirl on a horse with a lassoo in her hand he immediately knew it was the present for his adventurous sister. Handmade entirely out of cornhusks. I loved how thoughtful he was in picking it out.
We got Ouest a Kindle. One of those presents you’re not entirely sure are a “present” for a kid, but Ouest was thrilled and now grabs it during every free moment.
Cupcakes and presents complete, time to move the party back out to the water.
We had one more surprise up our sleeves this year. We spend a lot of time on beaches, and there is inevitably a banana boat zipping around. To our kids this looks like great fun, but to us it generally receives a giant eye roll. But when someone is turning ten…
I dinghied over to the tourist beach on West Bay the day before, quickly found a banana boat driver and struck a deal for him to come right to our boat and zip us around in circles for a while.
He showed up right on time, and the kids were psyched.
We lost Aunt Katy to an injury early on, and I took an adult head to the rib cage that left me wincing, but Aunt Toni and the kids came out unscathed, and loved every minute of it.
Sisters.
Ouest went on to call this her best birthday ever, and as a parent that’s all you really want to hear. We love this little girl and she deserves everything she gets. She is unfailingly kind, patient, caring, funny, sweet, silly, thoughtful, and intrepid. She is everything, and more, that I could have ever hoped for on the day I first held her ten years ago.
27 Comments on “Double-Digit Birthday”
Ouest will love that kindle! Looks to me like she is a voracious reader – and now she will never run out of material. As a kid, I would pack a grocery bag full of books to take on vacation. As an adult, my husband always saved the books for last and had to figure out how to pack and balance them in our luggage and not go overweight. I’m on my fourth kindle and can’t imagine life without it. I’m sure Ouest will always remember the day you gave her the gift of unlimited books!
Yes, her reading has already picked up more as she can now choose her next book herself. Reading series after series, where before we couldn’t get books quickly for her and she would loose interest in them. Perfect gift for our 10-year-old girl. Win!
Happy birthday, Ouest!
Thanks, George!
Beautiful post! So very happy for all of you.
Thanks, Lorraine. Happy 2020 to you and Mike!
Happy birthday Ouest.
Thanks, Ron! Happy 2020!
You have children to be proud of. Bright, loving and adventurous.
Sure do! Thanks, Doug. Happy 2020!
Lovely tribute to your beautiful daughter, who is growing so fast. Her facial expressions are so genuine they make even this jaded old gal smile. Best birthday ever…I’ll say!
Thanks, Emily. Glad that smile came out. Happy 2020!
HaPpY 10Th BiRtHdaY OuEsT ?
Thanks, Marion! Happy 2020!
Such a joyful post!
Thanks, Diane. Happy 2020!
Happy birthday Ouest, I cannot believe it is 10 years since you were born!
Right?! Crazy fast. Happy 2020 to you, Michael!
Happy birthday Ouest! We just celebrated the 10th of our daughter Lily who was born the same week as Ouest. They have lived such different lives and yet there are so many similarities like have a sibling who is their best friend, nose always in a book (has Ouest read anything by David Walliams yet?), as comfortable in the water as out, and I would use the same adjectives to describe Lily who is our sweet and kind family comedian. All the best to your family for a happy and fun filled 2020.
Well Happy Belated to Lily! I like to hear the comparisons between our girls. Happy 2020 to your family!
LOVE it all. Ouest is developing a personality which clearly shows through in her facial expressions. 🙂
Agree! Thanks, Rex. Happy 2020!
Pat, you are getting that “Don Street” look down to a tee. Sailing is good for you!
I still remember the picture of Ouest you posted when she was born and I thought she was the prettiest baby I’d ever seen! Happy Birthday to your sweet girl ?
Awww thanks, Loreen.
So happy for her. She is definitely a sweet girl. It made me remember when she lost her friends homemade bracelet on the dock I believe in Mexico years ago.
I’ve been following you guys for over 10 years. I just can’t believe Ouest is 10 now. Thanks for taking us along on so many adventures and I look forward to the many more that come. Happy Birthday Ouest!