Today my youngest became a teenager.

At the crack of dawn, she expressed her desire to witness the sunrise. Despite typically being awake during this time, the morning rush often prevents her from indulging in the serene spectacle.

I decided to take her to Red Rocks for the occasion. While we couldn’t access the amphitheater, we secured a wonderful spot. There, we simply sat in quiet awe, basking in the tranquility and beauty of nature surrounding us.

We had her aunt and cousin over and had a game day. We played about three hours of Cards Against Humanity – family edition. There were lots of laughs, and even some tears (happy ones). One of my favorite parts of playing this with her is listening to her tell stories based on the answer cards. She is always so creative.

We followed that with her choice of dinner and an ice cream cake. She wanted firecracker chicken from Hello Fresh, so that’s what she got.

She finished the night off with gifts. Her aunt and cousin brought her a little stuffed cow she got early and used to hold her cards during the game. Her sister got her a plushie that is a dinonugget, and it was a special order we had to place months ago. Her dad and I got her a complete series from Rick Riordan. Lastly, her grandparents got her a bling-type chain for the Colorado Rockies baseball team.

Overall, it was a great day spent celebrating my beautiful girl becoming a teenager.