16 and 53

Ingrid and I have birthdays that are one day apart.

Last weekend she turned 16 and I turned 53.

We started having birthday “experiences” nine years ago.

When she turned seven we went for her first manicure and then she got her hair done.

When she turned eight we spent the afternoon in her favorite town (at the time).

We got some ice cream and did a little window shopping and went to a toy store where I let her pick out whatever she wanted and she went for a jump rope. 😂

When she turned nine I picked her up from school and we went to Olive Garden.

When she turned ten she took some friends to the movies and Chik-fil-a. I have no pics of that.

When she turned eleven we skipped school and went to the beach for the day.

When she turned twelve we went to an Ed Sheeran concert.

When she turned thirteen we went to NYC for the day and went shopping for back to school clothes at her favorite store.

When she turned fourteen it was during the pandemic, she was at school, and I wasn’t allowed to visit her.

Last year on her fifteenth birthday I drove to see her at school. We didn’t have much of an experienece, but we had a nice afternoon. 

I didn’t even take a picture.

This year was Ingrid’s sixteenth birthday.

Knowing she would be at school on her actual birthday we celebrated before she left.

Gretchen and Marit decorated her cake.

We had a nice little celebration with family.

Ingrid and I have talked about taking a little 3-day trip to North Carolina on her sixteenth birthday for many years.

I really wanted to make it happen, but ultimately I wasn’t able to come through (yet).

So instead, I loaded Stormie in the car and we drove to see her. I had over 35,000 free Hilton points and was able to get a free, pet-friendly hotel room for one night.

Stormie is still a little bit afraid of the car and I wasn’t sure how she’d handle the hotel, so I loaded her crate into the car.

She was great in the car.

She was not so great in the hotel. She was completely freaked out and refused to go in the elevator. There was no way I could leave her in the room alone, even in her crate. She would have been continously crying and barking and it would have totally traumatized her.

But it was fine because unfortunately Ingrid was pretty sick. Whatever she had (not covid) knocked her on her butt.

The only thing she really wanted to do when I came down was go out for sushi, but she felt so crappy she didn’t even want me to pick any up to bring to her.

(If Ingrid turns down sushi then something is definitely wrong)

So we didn’t really even get to spend too much time together.

Ingie was happy to see Stormie.

She rode with me to the hotel to check in, we got McDonald’s for dinner, and then I dropped her back at her dorm.

It wasn’t a very sweet sixteen.

It’s okay. 

I got to see my girl on her (not so) special day and we had as nice a time as we could under the circumstances.

The next day I stopped back at school to drop off some food for Ingrid and see her for a little bit but she felt so bad she asked me to drive her to the health center. 

She got some medicine and went back to her dorm to go to sleep, and I headed back home.

I spent most of my birthday driving home from Ingrid’s school, but it was a nice day and I love a road trip, so I had a nice day.

When I got home my parents had a couple presents waiting for me.

My mom went through the “sock bin” and found 37 pairs of socks. 😂

They got me a hummingbird feeder.

And two of my favorite things, a plant and a candle.

Oh and I got this:

😂😂😂😂

We didn’t make it to NC for her birthday, but there will be time for that. Maybe next year. Maybe when she turns 21. 

Maybe she’ll have to wait until she’s 40 for that one.

It’s okay.

Two years ago I wasn’t even able to step foot on campus on her birthday.

So I’ll take whatever I can get.