The best friends blew out the candles on a homemade blue-frosted cake that sported chocolate frogs on lily pads and read, "Happy 2nd Birthday!" Many "leaplings" like to divide their age by four to reflect the number of times they've celebrated on their actual birth date.
Durning said she and Bob Collins met during an English dancing class in 1985 and discovered they both had an interest in music. They and three friends decided to form a garage band called Not For the Cynical, with Durning as lead singer and Collins on drums. They performed cover versions of popular hits at parties for about 10 years.
"We did it just for fun, though we weren't too bad," Durning said.
The two remained friends, and both live off Rogers Avenue near Church Lane. Durning said they didn't realize when they bought their home that it was so close to the Collinses' house.
The families have a strong friendship, celebrating holidays and vacationing together, in addition to their daughters' bond.
"We set out consciously to raise Ani and Linnea as sisters," said Durning, who anticipated Ani being an only child. The Collins family added Erik to their brood in 2004.
Ani and Linnea share more than their birthday. They take ice-skating and piano lessons, though not together. Ani said she loves to draw and paint, and Linnea said she loves to write stories. Ani loves dogs, while Linnea thinks bunnies are cute.
After being told that most leap years are presidential election years as well, both girls said they would elect Hillary Clinton if they could vote, "because she's a woman, and the United States should have a woman president."
And, added Ani, "We like her because she has a pretty name, just like [pop singer] Hilary Duff."
While they spend a lot of time in each other's company, the girls are given the choice each year whether to hold a joint birthday party, said Lind-Collins, and they have opted to do so every year but one.
Today, on their actual birthday, the girls plan to go ice-skating, and then the two families will have dinner and cake together, she added.
"We realize they will continue to develop different interests and different friends and of course that's fine with us," Durning said. "But for now, it's nice for us parents to split the costs of parties and to carpool to their activities."
"The girls fight like sisters sometimes," she added, "but they love each other to death."
Neighbors Is someone in your neighborhood worth writing about? Is there an event that everyone in Howard County should be aware of? Neighbors columnist Janene Holzberg wants to know about it. E-mail Janene at jholzberg76@ msn.com, or call 410-461-4150.
