Escape Room Party

Even though Austin's birthday is at the beginning of the summer it seems his parties are always rained out. I think that's because I always plan them outside and then the weather doesn't cooperate! This year I took the advice of a friend and planned an escape room birthday party. They have actual escape room locations, or you can buy one online and print it up at home. That is what we did. We did one called The Mummy and they had to escape the tomb where the mummy was by using some old diaries from an explorer. I was hesitant at first because I wasn't sure if these 9 and 10 year old boys would want to do these riddles, puzzles, and math problems for this game. They actually loved it and it went really well! They were divided into two teams and really got into it. I'm glad they did. Individually, these boys like this kind of stuff, but as a group, I thought they would get too goofy, but give them a team and a challenge, they're all for it!

We had the lights in the basement really low, so it would be more like a tomb.

They had to cut out letters to find the code using the Rosetta Stone.

Treasures for the winning group. Chocolate coins, butterscotch candy, "gold" pieces, and tomb toys.  The other team got the prize too, just second chance grabbing a handful. (This was taken after they had grabbed their loot, so I had to bunch it together for the picture!)

The treasure box

It turns out the weather was perfect, so I extended the party by an hour because I knew they would want to play outside. Sure enough, before they even came inside for the party, they were playing with our new bball hoop.

Bball game

Trampoline time

Capture the flag

After the escape room, they played on the trampoline, some capture the flag, and we even had a water balloon fight.

I hired some girls in my ward who make cakes ( they're 11 and 9, almost), to make a fun cake, just for something different. Austin wanted a cake from the game Dead Ninja Warrior 😂. So, they made a cake from the picture we sent them. Luckily, the ninja doesn't look dead. I remembered, though, that fondant isn't my kids' favorite, so we have a lot left, but it was fun to hire our friends.

Chips, soda, grapes, and strawberries (that we picked a couple days before) we're great additions for these active boys. One thing I noticed about the gifts that he received was that he got two $15 gift cards for ice cream. One for Dairy Queen and one for Cold Stone. Is that a boy thing to give food gift cards? Also, he got one for Emagine theaters. So fun! I really like these gift card ideas for places to go and enjoy. Now I get to go get ice cream with him a bunch of times until he uses up his $ for himself, unless he decides to share with me 😉.

It was another successful party for my boy!

Zipping By

Life is just zipping by. The school year went by so fast it doesn't even feel like it should be over yet. It also doesn't feel like it should be over because we are wearing long sleeves, and have been for the past few days, and it has been rainy and wet. To top it off, both of my boys have been sick with fevers since last Thursday.

Victoria had a fun-filled week, including graduation from middle school which was very exciting. She was worn out by the last day of school, due to all the celebrations (all-day picnic on Wednesday, High Velocity sports that evening for another graduation party with school, and graduation on Thursday with celebration all day at her friends' house after wards). Since her field day on Friday was canceled due to soggy grounds, I let her stay home to babysit Erik while he was sick for his last day of school.

This was a week earlier with two of her best friends who came to her piano recital. It was hard to get pictures with friends and all the crowds at the graduation.

Certificate of Completion!

Her other best friend that we did find after the ceremony.

 I volunteered at Karissa's Amazing Race activity at her school. For two hours I manned the "blow the cups off the table with balloon air" with the different teams in the 6th grade. That night, I volunteered to be at High Velocity with Victoria and her friends. I watched the kids upstairs play dodge ball, for 2 1/2 hours. I could see Victoria and her friends down below in the jump zone doing mostly gymnastics, but also enjoying the bouncy houses and obstacle courses.

Karissa's team when they came by.

The Saturday after school gets out is always the orchestra field trip to Cedar Point. We didn't get to go last year because we were on our way to Disney World, but this year, both girls got to go and I volunteered to be a chaperone again. Who can beat a $45 ticket that includes the shuttle bus there and back as well? Plus roller coasters are my favorite! Too bad Erik was recovering, so not much went on at home, but luckily Austin had a birthday party to attend. The weather for us was not good, in fact, it rained off and on the entire day. We were wet and cold, but on the upside, when the rain wasn't coming down, we had short waits in line and we didn't need to go on any water rides! A few times we couldn't go on a ride because the rain was too hard, but I think secretly our group was glad because those were the bigger roller coasters. Though they were brave enough to try a few of the bigger ones, I don't know if they were ready for some of the others. Maybe next year. Victoria was a trooper in hanging out with Karissa and her friends and I. None of Victoria's orchestra friends went, so she was my ride buddy, which I loved!

Lake Erie as we drove by to the amusement park. You can't tell in the picture, but there were some white caps due to the stormy weather.

Our group, with Mrs. Kaz, one of the orchestra teachers, in the back.

Karissa's in the purple after having just gone on her biggest ride ever!

Needless to say, by Father's day I was worn out. We still celebrated Jason and made him some good food. We also watched Napoleon Dynamite for some lighthearted laughter and because it was raining and cold. Austin developed his fever yesterday at some point during the movie, so it's a good thing we were low key!

We didn't take many pictures on Father's Day, we were all tired zombies, but I clicked this one of our favorite dad!

With school out and Father's Day over, I guess it's really summer vacation. Happy Summer and Happy Father's Day!

Double Digits!

Austin turned 10 on Sunday. It was such a nice, peaceful day. We don't often have birthdays on Sundays, especially Stake Conference Sundays where Jason and I have hardly any meetings and no where else to go! We were a little tired since Jason and I were up late trying to put together most of Austin's basketball hoop, which we didn't quite finish, but Austin was able to help us after church on Sunday, then we played many rounds of PIG in various forms (HORSE, AUSTIN). Before we left for church, Austin didn't hear me say that the car was in the driveway, so he accidentally went into the garage where his almost-ready-basketball-hoop was being stored. He came out to the car with a big surprised smile on his face and told me he had gone into the garage by mistake... The basketball hoop has been a nice addition to our toys, especially with the nice weather we're finally having!

Helping Dad

All lot of work involved!

It's adjustable!

 Austin ate lots of cereal on his birthday (Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch are his favorites.) He's finally getting tired of chips and salsa, so unfortunately, he hasn't been downing his 2 cups of salsa per day, but he's really liking peas, so he requested peas with his ziti dish for his birthday dinner.

Chocolate cake with white frosting, just as Jason likes ;)

Other than making tons of origami at church, playing outside on his scooter and bike, helping with the bball hoop, playing bball, and having some screen time, he didn't do much else. It was heavenly! He was happy as could be, too. 

He got some other small gifts that he's been wanting: summer pjs (they glow in the dark), fairy lights for his room, a new football, and some gifts from other family members (thanks!). As you can tell, he still loves lights. He's also really into Big Nate books, along with some others, but that one is his favorite right now. He enjoys listening to a mystery podcast with me called 6 Minutes.

 He has a fitness plan for himself for the month for a Webelos requirement. His plan is to run a mile every, except Sundays, jump rope 100x, and do 150 sit ups. So far, so good. He posted his plan on the Honey Nut Cheerios box so he can see it every day!! 

He really loves the Marvel movies. We managed to watch the main movies in the series for the full story line, as a family, this school year. Austin enjoyed speculating with his siblings and making predictions. The kids had some heated conversations at times! He also loves Unspeakable and Roblox. He would spend all his time on a screen if he could. He talks to me about details from those, and other games and YouTube videos, that I don't quite connect with and many things go over my head! I just nod and try to understand, but even if I ask questions, I still don't understand! 

Soccer and piano are what he's involved in for extra curriculum classes. He's improving in both areas. 

Best of all, he's a nice friend and a hard worker in school. His teacher says he's the "smartest in the class" and is amazed by his scores and work ethic. He's been accepted into TAG, but doesn't want to go. He is a hard worker, but I don't think he's up to the work load of TAG. What his teacher doesn't know, is that I help him split the work up over the week so he can get it done most efficiently, which he does. He's learning some good time management techniques that he can take with him to middle school after next year.

We're having his birthday party in a couple of weeks when school is out. I think that will be a new tradition.

His piano recital was the day before and he earned a medal for the amount of songs he learned this year.

Happy birthday Austin!!