Happy 14th Birthday, Peyton!

As always, I'm behind on the blog. With Peyton's birthday so close to the 4th of July, I try and get it up on his birthday night- or on the third. But, Peyton requested I do no 'work' on his birthday (which means blogging, couponing, planning, home school- anything like that), so I didn't get to it. Then yesterday, we had Tracy over the whole day and spent the whole evening at our backyard neighbors house. This morning I was off to do four couponing trips with Asa, after sleeping in until 11. So, this is the first I can get to it. And later today, we'll be holding the Waterstraut Olympics. I'm going to try and squeeze this in real fast! 

Lets rewind a couple of days ago, Asa and I scooped up some new patio chairs at a hefty discount and we found this massively awesome composter 60% off, and we've been talking about starting a compost pile anyway, so it was perfect. It rolls, so you don't have to worry about shoveling it around, which is great. It's super low maintenance. 

Anyway, early last week we had a composting lesson, and a couple of other kids were over to learn about layering the brown and green material, and how it breaks down. 

Peyton came down with a cold early last week too, which hasn't been great. We've all been fighting it off- since we have Disney plans this week- I'm chugging vitamins like it's my job. But, it's put a little damper on his birthday events. He hates crowds, so having his birthday the Saturday of 4th of July weekend isn't great for him. Usually Peyton doesn't want to do anything for his birthday anyway- he prefers to have a day of doing 'nothing' (see last years post), but I told him if he wanted to do something, we could make a day of it on Tuesday, and he could still do nothing on his birthday. 

He wasn't feeling the best, but he asked if we could go to Top Golf and bowling. So off to Top Golf we went. 

He got to pick what we ordered for lunch, too. So of course he went with the chips and queso. 

And this crazy mushi stuff- which is supposed to be like 'mexican sushi'. It was spicy, but I heard it was awesome. 

And we topped that off with some mac and cheese spring rolls, and the injectable donut holes for dessert. 

 It was a good time, but even with the fans and the shade, it was seriously hot out there. (Poor Peyton, he also hates the heat, I figure if he could pick a day for his birthday it'd be like early November- low crowds and cooler weather!) 

Anyway, he was in good spirits, but towards the end he was super run down, and decided to nix bowling. 

So we went to Costco for a quick trip, and for some smoothies! 

The blanket fort is coming down tomorrow, before we head off to the Yacht Club on Wednesday, so Peyton wanted to sleep in it (even after I gave him the 'a good night sleep in your bed will help you feel better faster' speech). So, I pulled out the air mattress and put that in the fort. It's not as good as a normal bed, but it is better than the floor. 

At midnight on Saturday morning, Peyton requested one present- so we gave him the pre-order slip for this video game he wanted. (It doesn't come out until November but he insisted he wanted it for his birthday so he didn't have to wait for Christmas). 

They spent the night in the blanket fort, and Peyton wanted to be up and open presents first thing in the morning. 

I wanted to buy him another wand for his birthday, but I thought it would be better if he picked it out himself, so next time we find ourselves in Diagon Alley, someone will be going to Olivanders. 

The rest of his stuff was mostly Pokemon and/or video game related. 

While he was totally excited, Hayden (who is also into Pokemon) whined in jealousy. 

Since we opened presents in the morning, Calib mostly listened to the opening from the blanket fort, but he eventually came out to check out Peyton's hull. 

Peyton requested the pillow pool re-appear for WiiU playing for his birthday. You only got to sit in the pool with him, if you beat him in a match of Poketurnament. 

For lunch he had wanted grilled cheese with pesto (which we ended up having Sunday), but that day he asked if he could change his lunch request to PDQ. Don't be fooled into thinking he wanted to go out for it though. By having PDQ for lunch, he meant he wanted Asa and I to go get it, so he could stay at home and eat in his blanket fort, which watching The Office. We, of course, obliged. 

He spent the afternoon playing games and hanging out, and I made him a special birthday Prohibition cocktail. 

For dinner, he wanted the NFL inspired pizzas. He wanted the Colts Pork Tenderloin, the Denver Pesto and Steak, and the Dallas Taco pizzas. 

And Peyton will tell you he doesn't like cake, so he wanted the Jacksonville fruit pizza instead of a cake. (Don't tell him the 'crust' is actually cake, I honestly don't think he has any idea. 

Aanyway, because it's not so much a dessert as part of dinner, we had to Facetime with my mom and grandma a little out of order. But we made it work. 

We just sang happy birthday and put candles on the pizza before dinner instead. 

Don't let this picture fool you, we didn't actually eat dinner at the table- after I took it, Peyton requested we eat in the blanket fort, so we all moved. 

After dinner, we did our nightly dog walking, and Peyton took his bike out for a bit. 

And later we had an ice cream bar. 

Plus, I promised I'd watch some Rick and Morty with the older boys, so I was roped into that for the evening. 

All in all, it was a good birthday for Peyton. Nothing too extravagant, but that's the way he wanted it- and don't feel too bad for him. He'll be spending his 15th birthday on a cruise ship in Hawaii. We're actually on Maui that day, so we might even get to do some really cool excursion. We also owe Peyton an all-nighter. You might remember we did this last year, and he requested it again this year. We had planned to do it ON his birthday night- to Sunday, but with everyone trying to make sure they stay nice and healthy for Disney, we all decided it would be best to postpone a week- so stay tuned for that. 

Usually on the third of July we're off to Disney (because they show the fireworks on the third too!), but the third was a Sunday this year, and if Asa takes it off, he loses his huge Sunday shift differential. It's really not worth it. So, we decided just to stay home. Tracy was over though, like I said, and then we got invited over to the neighbors for drinks- and next thing I knew it was 1 AM. So, there's that. 

Next Up: We'll be having the Waterstraut Olympics shortly, so I'll be back tomorrow the results! Plus, we're celebrating Ellie's birthday tomorrow!