June's milestone tenth birthday trip

Identity, belonging, and connection -- all in one weekend ❤️

For as long as we’ve had children (maybe even before?), I’ve loved the idea of taking milestone birthday trips throughout their childhoods. It’s not a tradition I grew up with, but as I heard about the idea from friends and writers I admire, I was immediately on board. Marking the passage of time? Intentional fun? Passing on lessons? Say less, please.

We originally thought we’d do trips at 6, 12, and 18, and we did do an overnight to Charlotte with June when she was six to pick out her American Girl doll. But as the kids have grown, we’ve shifted the milestone celebrations toward the older years, and switched it up from only trips. Here’s our current plan, plus everything we did on June’s milestone tenth birthday trip — the gifts we gave, the activities we enjoyed, the conversations we had, and the timeline exercise that anchored the weekend.