My Miss Maya

Monday, February 22, 2021

A Mystical Mid-Winter Break!

Dear Maya & Emi,

So far this year we've had a lot of the same social distancing and a lot of snowy, cold days. To change things up, we decided to go on a little vacation during your mid-winter break!

We rented a beautiful contact-free Airbnb house near Mystic, Connecticut to stay at and enjoyed playing in the house's game room. Can you say foosball table?

We also got to spend some time by the ocean even if it was cold and windy. Baba grew up just blocks from the sea so it was a great way for him to recenter!

And, of course, no trip to the Mystic area would be complete without going to the aquarium! We bought an annual membership so we could go three days in a row and strategically plan to avoid crowds.

Well, this relaxing, fun change of scenery has hopefully refueled our family for a little while. Now we're all looking forward to spring and counting down the days until our older family members (and mommy) are vaccinated and ready for HUGS! I have to say, I'm so proud of both of you for being brave, strong, and flexible for the last 12 months of trying, confusing times. You're amazing girls and I love you so much!

Monday, January 4, 2021

Maya's Double Digit Birthday!

Dear Maya,

How is it that you're in double digits now?!? Ten years old? I'm so proud of the awesome, smart, sweet person you've become, but I'm also a bit melancholy. Not to mention that thanks to Covid we didn't get to throw you a normal party, but we did make sure you had fun and felt celebrated on your day.

Grandpa drove up from North Carolina and spent several days with us. Mommy made sure she didn't have to work on your birthday so we could bake a cake, go for a shopping spree at Five Below, and have Zooms with family and your best friend. Baba also made tons of sushi. It was really fun!

And of course, what would a birthday post be without the latest installment of the interview we've done for the last several years. Here are your answers on your 10th birthday:

Favorite toy: Pokemon cards
Favorite game: Pokemon
Favorite thing to do inside: electronics or make a craft
Favorite thing to do outside: climb trees and do dangerous stuff
Favorite place to go: Japan
Favorite book: Pokemon Adventure Series
Favorite TV show: Pokemon
Favorite movie: Totoro
Favorite song: Pokemon theme song
Favorite animal: tiger
Favorite breakfast: Bartlett House breakfast
Favorite lunch: sushi
Favorite dinner: pizza
Favorite fruit: orange
Favorite vegetable: carrot
Favorite drink: Sierra Mist
Best friend: Juliette, Evelyn
Biggest fear: if I go out in the dark and feel like someone's following me
When you grow up you want to be: a gamer
Things you take to bed: all my Pokemon stuffies (Charizard, Raikou, Suicune and Entei)

At the risk of this blog post becoming REALLY long, mommy's going to incorporate 2 sets of photos here. The first is one photo per month for the last year to see how you've grown and changed. The second is photos of you with your birthday cakes (mostly) for the last 10 YEARS! Wow!