The “twins” turn seven

Kembe and India turned seven this month. In previous years, given that their birthday is the same day, we’ve always had joint birthday parties. But this year, their desires for their birthday diverged so drastically that we decided to do them separately. On the same day. Because I hate myself. First, we opened the “big gift” at home . . . new “penny boards.”  I don’t really understand what is different about these than the other skateboards I’ve purchased, but they needed them. Or so I’ve been told since June. And let’s not even talk about Jafta’s devastation watching two siblings get their penny boards while his birthday is a couple months away. Rough day for him. India was set on having her birthday at Bold Girlz this year, an adorable local birthday venue that offers a myriad of girly birthday options. She contemplated the Spa Party and the Fashion Show Party, but ultimately landed on the Rock Star Party. Because of course she did. The party kicked off with a little rock-star-glam makeover. The staff here put my braiding skills to shame. Enjoy that look, India. Mommy will never, ever be able to replicate it. And now they are ready to rock-and-roll. India and her friends took turns singing along to their favorite songs. It’s cute because you can’t hear it. There was a lot of One Direction, and a lot of Katy Perry, and a lot of dramatic mic-holding. Bold Girlz has a great collection of cute girls’ clothe and the girls were able to choose an outfit to wear during the party. They also sell a lot of cause products that empower women. (I spy some Rewrite Beautiful “Kindness Is My Beauty Secret” tanks on the right.) Here they are, all decked out. I’m gonna need you to focus on Karis’s face right now. After some singing and dancing, the Bold Girlz staff taught the girls a dance routine. Then they had pizza and cupcakes. After India’s party, we were off to Kembe’s party. He took a rock-climbing camp this summer and really wanted to have his birthday party there. He and his friends had a great time climbing together. I thought maybe they would get tired but they climbed the whole time. They had fun trying to beat each other going up the rope, and getting up to the bell on the rock wall. The kids had a lot of fun, but it was a lot of work. Now I’ve got a year ahead of me to convince them to merge their parties next year. (Who am I kidding? We’re never turning back now . . .)