Ah… the Northern Woods of Minnesota. So peaceful. So nature-y.
Okay, maybe we were only as far North as St. Joseph, but Aidan and I had a lovely overnight excursion to the most charmingly awesome rustic "cabin" to celebrate her best friend’s 13th birthday.
If you’ve seen any of my scrapbook pages over the years, Nicolette has figured into many of them along the way, considering she and Aidan have been BFFs since they were 3. Nicolette’s mom gathered aunts, cousins, a grandmother, and me and aidan, to attend an overnight celebration, where we surrounded Nicolette with a circle of love to share our stories about her, and our wishes. Each person had to bring a small object to represent our wish.
Aidan brought some letters that she and Nicolette had written and placed in a time capsule they buried a few years back. She shared the story of how they painstakingly created the time capsule, buried it, promising not to dig it up until they were 15, and ended up waiting roughly 9 months instead.
We also brought photos, and my story to share was simply that I didn’t realize, all those years ago, the little girl from day care was going to figure so heavily into our family picture, and I thanked her for her loyalty to Aidan, because if there is one thing we women (and men) know, strong and loyal friendships are one of the important keys to a happy life.
We gathered to have a lovely meal, and then all retired to our cozy beds. It was a perfect night.
It made me want to do two things: a) start saving money so one day I too, can have a rustic cabin that sleeps 30 when I’m older, and b) re-think that party-to-end-all parties I’ve got planned for Aidan’s 13th at Chuck-E-Cheese.
Happy Monday.
Kim says
Those pictures are fabulous and that sounds like the best way to spend a birthday that I have heard in a long long time!! TFS!
marnie says
wow. what an amazing thing to do for your child. holy moly is all i can say. i love that she and aidan are still friends. love that.
Linda says
Cathy, you crack me up! I’m getting all teary-eyed reading your post about the rustic cabin birthday celebration, and then I get to the end of your entry. You are too much, girl! Love it! (And I’m also loving your class at BPS.)
koehmstedt says
Very, very sweet!
That dining room table(s) in the last picture, my parents bought us the exact same set when we got married, benches and chairs and all. The chairs are gone now, but I use the bench at the foot of my bed and the table is the desk in my home office.
Fabi Moraes says
Nothing better than celebrate our friends… I’m glad you had a great weekend.
Sarah says
Looks/sounds like a fabulous weekend!
Wouldn’t that be a blast to be surrounded by everyone that you love? AWESOME PLAN.
HeatherC says
Sounds like you had a great time. I love the perspective from which you took your photos. Great memories.
sue Treiber says
sweet!
but I bet there was no skee ball.
Ellen says
You were near my neck of the woods – (I live in Sartell). I love this idea and it’s just soooo sweet. They will do this with their own daughters someday.
Jenna says
What a beautiful celebration – makes me wish I had a daughter – I don’t think this would go as well with boys.
Sandi says
Sounds like a great way to celebrate. Hope your boys managed well without the women of the house!
Sandi
Ingunn says
That is such a cool celebration – I can’t think of a better way to make a 13 year old girl feel confident and loved…I seem to remember that we girls tend to need that around that age! :o)
Linda says
Yes, I’ve seen Nicolette in a few of your scrapbook pages. That mud one comes to mind. I’m glad you had a nice celebration.
Heather says
This is wonderful! I have 4 daughters and my oldest is about to turn 12. I love this idea!
Lauren H. says
How soon does Aidan turn 13?
cate says
a blessingway is such an awesome way to celebrate rites of passage… glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing…
Machele says
I belly laughed at your Chuckee Cheez comment. I think this is a wonderful idea for a 13th birthday party. Only six months until mine is a teen. Yikes
Thanks for the laugh
Korey Lindberg says
Loved this entry today Cathy…but I have one thing to add. DO NOT RETHINK CHUCK E. CHESSE’S!!!! That place rocks so much that my husband celebrated his 21st birthday there and probably will celebrate his 30th, as well, with good ole Chuck 🙂
Rebecca says
Ooooh…I remember my 13th! Dad and Mom had me pick out three close friends and get all dressed up.
Then they took us to the swankiest restaurant on the waterfront in the town next to ours.
They had reserved us a table overlooking the water.
They sat in the back behind a pole, far away, unobtrusively overlooking us.
We ordered and ate as though we were all grown up.
They stayed out of our hair and picked up the tab.
How cool were my parents to choose this as my intro to being a teen?
Lisa Russell says
Oh my gosh, I had tears of laughter streaming down my face at the end of this one. You are just too funny!! I love your humor. I even read it to my husband and he got a kick out of it.