One advantage Emma has, over other girls, is that she has immediate family in separate states. So, when she turned 13, she got two birthday parties; one in California and one in Denver. (If our brother Jon had thrown her a party, she could have had 3 parties!).
In California, we took her out for Thai food, and she had a large white cake with Fresh Strawberries and Thai Coconut Ice Cream.
In Denver, she had a sleepover and the girls enjoyed Pie & Ice Cream. The following day, we took them to the Denver Aquarium (pricey!!!). I liked how the Aquarium had an extra focus on the local stream & river environmental systems, that was a nice touch. The downside is that 12 year old and up are considered adults! It was quite a bit overpriced, in my opinion, but we all had a nice time and learned something while we were there!
After two weekends of celebrations, I was worn out completely. But, I’m sure she’ll always remember the beginning of her teen years!