Zahara's 7th Birthday!

Zahara is 7!! 

We wanted to make this birthday special, despite the circumstances, and I think we succeeded. We had a couple of celebrations for our special girl, including one in Texas and one back home. Here's what we did:

Texas-Style:

I know I haven't mentioned it here yet, but we flew to Texas in June to see my parents and sister. All of us (my mom, dad, sister, and Dan and I) were able to take off work on the Friday before Zahara's birthday so the whole family could spend the day together. We started the day with a special breakfast of chocolate pancakes with a chocolate chip and whipped cream face. Zahara requested a trip to IHOP, but we opted to make the meal at home instead. Dan did a great job, and the birthday girl was thrilled.

We spent the day at the Dallas Arboretum. It was HOT, but the flowers and displays were so beautiful. The arboretum did a great job of enabling physical distancing and requiring masks. It was practically empty while we were there. I liked the sculptures by Seward Johnson the best. Some of these "Celebrating the Familiar" statues were so lifelike I was actually fooled into thinking they were real people!

When we got home, we surprised the birthday girl with a unicorn ice cream cake and presents. We dialed in my in-laws so we could all be together. 

Maryland-Style:

Back in Maryland we celebrated Zahara's actual birthday with another fun breakfast, a cake pop from Starbucks, and a virtual party with friends.

We bought unicorn painting kits from Target and dropped them off, along with some individually packaged treats, at three of Zahara's friends' houses. Then we had a Zoom party where each kid could paint and chat. It's not what any of us envisioned, but it worked really well. The kids were all happy and had the cutest conversations. 

We loved celebrating our special girl. Happy birthday Zahara!