The Cannonball's Quinceanera

What's up, gang

The Cannonball turned 15 today, which is absolutely insane when you think about it.  I know it's been a hot minute since we had to endure the horrors of her arrival, but it sure as hell doesn't feel like it's been a full fifteen years.  

We kept it simple this year because we were pretty busy this weekend - I was asked to photograph Kris' cousin's wedding down in Detroit on Saturday and we had to leave bright and early for that clusterf***.  So Alayna asked for a mall outing with a group of her closest friends, followed by a sleepover, so we started all of this yesterday, since we have to be in bed at a reasonable time tonight.  Pretty straight-forward, and super easy on us.  I'm sure next year - when she turns the Sweet Sixteen - we'll be on the hook for much, much more.

So yeah.  Here's our kid turning 15.  Check it out. . .

Her friends Cristina and Lexi put together this 'friend collage' (for lack of better turn) for Alayna and put it in some hand-decorated frame for her.  Pretty thoughtful lil' gift, as far as teenage girls goes.

Kris had the girls do gifts shortly after they got back from the Midland Mall, where they had spent the majority of their time hitting up the Starbuck's in Barnes and Noble and shopping at like Spencer's and whatever.

She was pretty amused.

Cristina, the Cannonball, and Lexi

Opening up Tobi's gift.  Lexi's holding a frozen ice pack to her the side of her face because she had her wisdom teeth extracted, like, the day before or something.

The gang had all gone out to see this in the theaters recently, and Alayna was obsessed with it.  She's generally not into superhero genre at all, but she was floored by this movie.  They were walking around in Target while out at the mall and she saw this shirt and was like, 'That's awesome' and her friend was like, 'Cool, there's your birthday present.'

The framed creation from Lexi and Cristina.  Plenty of teenage girl inside jokes here.

Alayna requested some blacklight body ink for her sleepover: we have a series of LED lights in the basement, and, while not technically traditional black lights, they function the same when put on the right setting.

Throw in a few glow sticks and you're good to go.

Kris took all these pics.  These ones are so blue'd out you can barely tell what you're looking at.

Singing along to numbers from that Six show Kris and all the girls went and saw down in Detroit.

Dance party ensues. . .

Abby's high-kick is significantly above what the other girls are capable of.  You can thank Pom for that.

The Cannonball

Abby

Later that evening, doing the cake thing.

Just like her mom, Alayna prefers cheesecake over a traditional one.

These variety cheesecakes - featuring sections of different kinds of cheesecakes - are all the rage among my roommates.

The next day, after all of her friends had taken off, Mom and John swung by to drop off a card and some cash to the Birthday Girl.

Not sure why Mom's losing her shit here.

Alayna requested Fuji Sushi for her birthday dinner (she loves sushi.)  I was adamant that I had never tried this particular Japanese restaurant out before, among all of the ones throughout town that Kris and I have frequented, but was told otherwise.

Abby, mid-sneeze.

It's sooooooo cool having dinner with your family.

Kris and her damn selfies. . .

The girls always get these Japanese pop bottle thingies whenever they eat at some Japanese restaurant where they're available.  You have to like press down on the cap and it releases some ball bearing into the pop below.  Not sure how or why, but that's what it does.  The Japanese are weird.

Perusing the menu.  Kris, Alayna, and I all got signature sushi rolls: Kris' was awesome, mine was okay but I wouldn't get it again, and Alayna got two large rolls and was still hungry afterwards.

Abby got some kind of a chicken udon noodle/soup meal that she was insistent on (I guess she's had it before.)

(Photo courtesy of Abby.)

For desert both girls opted for fruit ice cream dishes.  Alayna got some coconut ice cream that was served in a chilled coconut husk and topped with whipped cream and drizzled chocolate.

And Abby's was the exact same, just with pineapple instead of coconut.

- Brian