The One Where I Turned 12 in Quarantine | Downtown Phoenix, AZ | Angela Rockey Photography
Turning Twelve...
What an exciting time in your life! When you have a great group of friends, you can't wait until you can all hang out for your birthday.
Then rumblings start about not being able to be around anyone but your family- WHAT?
Then everyone starts throwing out the word Q.U.A.R.A.N.T.I.N.E.
And then, it's official. You start becoming emotional because not only can you not hang out with your buds, but you also can't pick your favorite restaurant to eat at for the night and order your favorite, which we all know was going to be a big plate of crab!
I sent one text out to some of my mama friends and they started talking about having a drive by birthday parade. And then talks of presents, candy, posters, and silly string are thrown out there! My heart was absolutely FULL to the rim. I was like a kid who has a gift to give someone on Christmas... I could barely keep it all in and not BURST out this exciting secret!!!
Being a Momtog, I still forced my big guy to take his yearly photos with me... he can't stand doing that but agreed if I bought him some ice cream when we were done. DEAL! I wasn't able to go out shopping for a new birthday outfit (which he doesn't like anyways) because I have been trying to only leave the house to grocery shop. I remembered that I had just bought his little brother a new ACDC shirt because he has a new love for them (YAY!), so I showed it to Kaden and he agreed to wear it, AND JEANS! He wears jeans about two times a year and hates every minute of it!
We had the clothes! BAM!
Now we needed a location. We wanted something fun and very different from any other place we had used before. We decided to brave Downtown Phoenix because he wanted some graffiti in the background and we thought that would be fun. As we were driving there, there wasn't really any traffic, which was awesome! We scouted some areas out and had a very simple time parking, too! This is unheard of for Downtown Phoenix! It gave us such an eerie feeling. We saw one person walking on the streets throughout our time there and everything else was empty. UNBELIEVABLE.
After nearly every shot, he asked if we were done yet. No cute boy, keep smiling with that smile that I LOVE!!!
We found the coolest house. Not even sure if someone lived in it or not, but it looked vacated and was blasting with color and graffiti!
Who ever painted these, they are brilliant! I have always been attracted and drawn to graffiti and murals ever since I was little, driving down the freeways in California! I LOVE when our amazing art teacher has the students do graffiti art and hangs them on the walls of our school! They're beautiful!
This was so fitting to how we all are feeling in the world right now!
And who doesn't love a Mother Teresa quote? Another good one!
My heart was so happy with these pictures. Then it came time for the big birthday parade reveal...
Shawn said to Kaden and Ry, "Let's go out front and play catch." The boys grabbed their gloves and as soon as we headed out the front door, his buddy Nathan was parked in front of the house with his favorite treat, and he just stood there. It was hilarious.
We said, "Kaden? Are you gonna go say hi?"
Kaden was so incredibly CONFUSED, SURPRISED, and HAPPY! He said that he was just so confused that he didn't know what to do.
That's our sweet boy LOL!
Then a long line of friends continued to drive by our house and his face continued to LIGHT up. Shawn and I felt the LOVE that our boy felt that day. It was a kind of love that you only hope to be able to feel and are truly blessed to feel!
He was spoiled with cards, balloons, candy and all kinds of gifts!
Quarantined Shirt By Mama Sews@ https://www.etsy.com/shop/Mamasewz
He is turning TWELVE, but always #11!
Kaden said that it was "his BEST birthday that he has ever had!"
And for that, we are forever grateful for everyone who helped make this a special day. XO