The Houghs: The Cannonball Turns 12: Coronavirus Edition

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

The Cannonball Turns 12: Coronavirus Edition

Alayna decided on a tropical theme this year.

What's up, guys.

The Cannonball turned 12 today, which is totally surreal and doesn't seem possible. As with Abby's birthday the previous month, there wasn't a whole hell of a lot we could do in terms of celebrating, what with the Covid-19 pandemic and everything. While the Stay at Home Order has been relaxed somewhat, a lot of parents are still pretty guarded with everything, including letting their child hang out at a kid's birthday party.

Ready for the following day's festivities.

As such, this year - as with Abby's - we were forced to keep things simple. One or two close friends (whose parents we were familiar with), keeping things outdoors as much as possible, and then having a sleepover at the end of the night. Alayna's BFF, Maddie, was out of state visiting family, so unfortunately she couldn't attend this year, but Alayna's close friends Christina and Sylvia were able to (thank God.) I did curbside pickup at a restaurant of Alayna's choosing (she went with Olive Garden, of all things), and afterwards they girls spent the day swimming in the neighbors' pool (who were nice enough to allow us to use it for the day.) Sylvia ended up staying the night, and Alayna's birthday came off without a hitch. Which, honestly, is saying something in these bizarre times of ours.

Anyway, I'll leave you now with the usual dosage of pics and video.

Enjoy.

First thing in the morning, right out of the gate, Alayna wanted to open presents. She started with cards from relatives (she's a big fan of receiving cash these days.)

This was her big gift from us this year. . . .

I usually save the big present for last, and prefer to do the small ones first, as I feel there's a natural build-up that way. But whatever. . . .

(This took her forever to open this simple, cardboard box.)

Once you see down Watson's asshole, you can't un-see it. (You're welcome.)

Alayna has been bothering us for a hoverboard for years, but we've held off because reviews for these things have been dismal. However, after a couple of years of being on the market, the build quality has improved, the price has dropped, and many of the mechanical and electrical kinks have been worked out. We almost bought her one for Christmas, but went with a phone instead, so for her birthday this year this was a no-brainer.

You can bet your ass I did a ridiculous amount of research and pulled the trigger on the highest-rated one I could find. She's already a pro at riding it, since many of her friends have them now as well.

The model I selected came with flashing LED lights, Bluetooth functionality (so she can stream music from her phone to the hoverboard's built-in speakers), and a pretty long battery life.

(Thank God I had charged this up the night before. . . .)

After playing around with the hoverboard, it was time for Round 2 of gift-opening. This was a set of LED Lights, much like her sister's (whom she got the idea from), just longer in feet (Alayna wanted hers to wrap around the entirety of her ceiling) and with Bluetooth functionality (so the lights would match up with the music playing on her phone.)

She's been wanting an organizer for her make-up for awhile. 'Cause middle school.

Per the Cannonball's request, we were having bacon and eggs for breakfast. . .

Can you imagine taking a kid from the '80s and transporting them to today and showing them shit like this? My head would've exploded.

Later on in the morning, after Kris left for work, Mom and John swung by to give Alayna some more gifts to open up. . .

This Paris-themed throw pillow was off of her Amazon list, and matches the rest of her existing bed set.

She's been wanting this book ever since she finished the previous installment in the series.

A hoodie, also off her Amazon list. It's from Harry Potter, and, as an Adult Small, is pretty huge on her, but that's how she likes her sweatshirts. . . . so, whatever.