In a slight departure from the norm, Jessica and I took a week off of our respective works in order to do what Namine wanted to do. Nearly all our extended family was busy on the weekends bookending their birthday, so we took some day trips exploring familiar and new things. Namine tends to prefer experiences to presents, so that’s what we did.
Cupcakes for breakfast
It’s tradition in the Eiche household to have cake for breakfast on your birthday. Namine loves to bake, so on their “birthday eve” they helped Jessica make cupcakes. Cupcakes are still cake, although it wouldn’t have been Namine’s first choice. We had to leave early in the morning on the day of their birthday, so the cake had to be “finger food.” (Not that all cake isn’t finger food…)
Since we were going to be on the road, we let Namine open the couple presents they did receive. There was a Billie Eilish record from us — their favorite musical artist at the moment — and a rock tumbler from my parents.
It can’t all be fun and games, unfortunately. As I mentioned, we had to be on the road quite early on Namine’s birthday, so we brought our cupcakes in the car. The start of our vacation day trips had to wait until after doctor appointments.
Bookworm Gardens
We’ve been to Bookworm Gardens before. Namine enjoyed it so much that they asked to go back for our day trip week. One thing that I didn’t remember was that they have not only visuals from and inspired by books, but they have many of the books available to read. They’re children’s books, yes, but Jessica and I took the time to read a few to Namine. They read a few by themselves, too.
We made sure to stop at some of the activities, as well. There were plenty of oversized musical instruments to play with, and something else besides that doesn’t really have a single word to describe. It’s a wall, made from stone, I think. There are sponges of all different shapes, even thin ones like a pencil, with which you paint water on the wall. On a warm day like it was, the water dries quickly, making your art ephemeral.
Jurassic Gardens
We are all big dinosaur fans. We love going to the Milwaukee Zoo’s animatronic prehistoric exhibits, so when we asked Namine if they’d like to check out a new experience like that, of course they said yes. Jurassic Gardens, in Volo, Illinois, is more than just a dinosaur exhibit, however. There are several museums: cars, a Titanic tribute, and even gangsters. We opted to check out just the dinosaurs and Titanic, this time.
On our way out, we stopped by the gift shop. There was a sifting stream for aspiring miners. In our company was a minor interested in such things, so we picked up a bag of rocks from the gift shop for Namine to sift through. They struck gold, too — although perhaps in this case, “struck quartz” is more apt.
As much fun as the dinosaur museum was, the Titanic tribute was equally sobering. It did an excellent job of putting the human faces to the disaster. It told of the brave sacrifices and unimaginable loss, and explained some of the artistic license taken in the 1997 movie.
Shaving & coloring Namine’s hair
To celebrate their 16th birthday, Namine wanted to get a haircut. And not just any haircut; unlike the many they’ve gotten over the years, they wanted to try out not only a new hairstyle, but a new color as well. Per their request, Jessica shaved the sides and back of their hair.
Next was the bleach! Jessica tried it on a small patch towards the back of Namine’s head as a test first. That went well — and did not take long to remove the color from their hair. Jessica proceeded to bleach the entirety of the shaved parts of Namine’s head. After the bleaching was the coloring: they wanted neon green, so that’s what we did.
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