Marit’s 12th Birthday (Part I) – Birthday Hooky

Marit’s 12th birthday was a little over a week ago.

She and Ingrid have fall birthdays that are usually on a school day, so I always give them the option to take the day off of school and do something fun.

Her birthday was on a Thursday, and she wanted to go to school that day, so we decided to play Birthday Hooky on Friday.

Money is especially tight right now, so it had to be a budget-friendly celebration.

I texted Kristofer who is at school a little less than an hour away.

He doesn’t have classes on Fridays; he just has morning practice and he’s done by 8 am so unless he has a swim meet that day he’s usually totally free.

I asked him if he’d be interested in a visit from Marit and me.

That would be MINT, he said.

I ran this idea by Marit. She hadn’t been to campus yet, and she was all in.

So as soon as Kasen and Gretchen got on the bus on Friday morning, we headed to see Kristofer at school.

He took us to a park about 5 minutes away.

We did a little exploring.

There’s a pretty cool lookout area at the very top.

These two really love spending time together.

After our hike we checked out the new business building on campus and Marit had a taste of what it’s like to sit in a college classroom.

Then we played some pool.

Marit is obssessed, and now she wants a pool table. 😂

Then we headed to the dining hall.

It was reminiscent of Marit’s first buffet experience at Manor Buffet last year.

She was in heaven.

Kristofer has 8 free “swipes” for guests, so lunch was totally free.

He had also told his friends from the swim team that Marit would be visiting that day, and a bunch of them were at the dining hall when we were there, so we both got to meet some of his best buddies.

After we finished eating, we walked Kristofer back to his dorm, said goodbye and headed to our final birthday destination… a high school swim meet. 😂

I had a meet that afternoon, and I gave Marit the option of going home or coming with me, and she wanted to come to the meet.

The girls on the team love her, and she loves them.

So we stopped at Subway on the way to the high school to meet the bus, and we picked up sandwiches using a $25 gift card my awesome friend Katie sent me for no reason about a month ago.

Our total came out to $24.35.

It wasn’t a fancy birthday celebration, but we had a great day, and the only money I spent was on gas.

Happy 12th Birthday (Part I) to a girl who truly appreciates the simple pleasures in life.