The Costume

On the second day of Comic Con, Katie dressed in her costume.

This costume is based on a character from my favorite anime video game.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

 Ghostbusters!

I always thought this ghost was funny!

Free Books

As Katie and Jennifer walked through Comic Con, they found a cart of library books, and you could have the books for free.

I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this!

Meeting Someone Special

One of Katie's favorite anime voice actors, Kaiji Tang, was at Comic Con, and she was so excited to meet him.

I respect this man's talent so much!

A Photo Opportunity

When Jennifer saw that she and Katie could get their picture taken with Chucky, she didn't hesitate!

You don't often get a chance to be in the doll box with Chucky!

Getting Lunch

Last year at Comic Con, Katie and Jennifer had gone to a local fast food restaurant for lunch. Now those two things are tied together, so they went back there this year too.

I love going out to lunch!

At Comic Con

Since Covid is once again spreading in our community, Katie and Jennifer decided to wear masks inside the crowded convention hall.

Masks can't stop us from having fun!

In the City

My sister, Jennifer, and Katie made plans to go to Comic Con again this year. They decided to go to Starbucks for breakfast and had to wait in a really long line.

I'm not used to the line going outside of the restaurant.

The Last Gift

The last thing Katie ordered with her Amazon gift card was a stuffie of one of her favorite anime characters.

I was happy to find this!

Relaxing

 After a long week at school, it's sometimes nice to just lie on the couch and relax.

It's always so nice when you reach a weekend!

A New Interest

Katie recently became interested in anime scrapbooking, so she got some stickers and decorative tape and started trying her hand at it.

I was really proud of my first try!

First Day of School

After a teacher strike at the beginning of the year, Katie was finally able to begin her 7th grade year!

I was excited to be around all of my friends again!

Birthday Money

My brother, Jeff, and his family sent Katie and Amazon gift card for her birthday, and she had lots of fun shopping!

I bought a metal color wheel that I can carry with me, and...

...some stickers for my scrapbook. I also got a hoodie! Thank you Uncle Jeff, Aunt Grace, Ian, and Eva!

Thank You, Aunt Debby!

My sister, Debby, always seems to be able to pick out gifts that Katie loves.

Thank you so much, Aunt Debby! You know my art supplies will be used!

Presents

After the shopping trip and dinner, Katie got to open the gifts from her friends.

I am so lucky to have the friends I have!

Time for Dinner

Katie requested sandwiches for her dinner. Her friends were fans too.

I really like Jimmy John's when I have sandwiches.

Next Stop

After the bookstore, the girls were off to the mall to spend their money.

We made a plan before we came, so we knew exactly where we wanted to go.

A Celebration with Friends

One of Katie's birthday requests was to have a sleepover with friends. She wanted to start with shopping.

We started with my favorite store, the bookstore!

The Cake

Katie had never tried a Costco cake, so she decided she wanted to try a chocolate one for her birthday.

I gave my cake a thumbs-up!

Bigger Gifts

After Katie finished her scavenger hunt at Jennifer's house for her small gifts, she opened the bigger gifts.

I got a weighted stuffed animal!

This is a figure of one of my favorite anime figures!

Gifts from Kai

Katie's friend, Kai, spent a good portion of his summer in Taiwan, and he brought her some gifts from his trip.

Kai always knows just what to get me!

Thank you, Kai! I love everything!

A New Look

Before heading to my sister's house to finish the scavenger hunt, Katie started playing with her birthday crown and sash.

What do you think?

Mr. Limpet's Entertainment

Eventually the balloons moved a bit, and Mr. Limpet was barely able to touch the strings. He wasn't about to let an opportunity like that pass him by!

A Present for Mr. Limpet

Mr. Limpet LOVES to chew through balloon strings, so as soon as we could, we moved Katie's balloon bouquet out of reach from him. He still got as close as he could and tried his best to reach the strings.

Every time we looked at Mr. Limpet, we could see him thinking about his plans!

Scavenger Hunt - Part 1

For Katie's birthday, we decided to give her 13 small gifts to celebrate her 13 years in a scavenger hunt. The first part of the scavenger hunt was at our house.

Some of the gifts were easy to find and some were harder.

I was pretty happy to get motion sickness bands for when I ride in the back of the car.

The First Gift

Katie's first gift was from her neighborhood friend.

My friend got me my favorite candy, KitKats.

A Balloon Crown

We decided to get Katie a birthday crown and sash to make her birthday more special. When I tried to just get a simple birthday picture, it ended up looking like the balloons were coming out of her crown.

The picture turned out okay with me!

She's a Teenager

Katie has been so excited to become a teenager, and yesterday, she officially got there. My sister, Jennifer, got her a giant balloon bouquet to celebrate!

There were so many balloons that it was hard to get a picture with them!

Who needs to see a face anyway?

The Reward

At the end of blackberry picking, there were lots of treats as a reward.

Thanks to a little help from me and a lot of help from Aunt Jennifer, we had two full bowls of blackberries! 

The Purpose

Jennifer had seen some blackberry bushes by her house that still had ripe berries. Since it was nearing the end of the blackberry season, Jennifer and Katie took advantage.

We had some good luck picking the berries!