#WaterstrautAllNighter

Well,  this blog was going to be all about the Waterstraut all nighter- but I have some super fun news to report. We put an offer in on a house, and they accepted it! Apparently, the house is being inherited, but the sellers live up north and just wanted to unload it as quickly as possible. They set the asking price low, we offered it, and they accepted. But, it is still going through probate court, which shouldn't be a problem- but will delay the process a bit. We could be closing in 60 days, it could take 120. We'll see, and I'll keep you posted, but we're super excited. The house is good, and has four bedrooms, which is lovely. But, really, what sold it was a the community. I'm never seen amenities like these in a subdivision. We'll have two pools, a splash pad, a hot tub, and awesome gym, a game room with pool table and ping pong table and such, a nature center (complete with animals!), a small movie theater where you can use one of their DVD's, or bring your own. There's a lake for fishing, and boats for resident use (canoes and kayaks and such), a fire pit, tons of trails and playgrounds, plus basketball, tennis and volleyball courts. And the best part- our house is walking distance! 

So new house mania has totally taken over here. The backyard isn't big enough for chickens, but I think we can have quail. And that's exciting! I've been Pinteresting like crazy for home improvement/storage ideas- because while it is nearly 500 more square feet than our house is now, there's always a need for more storage space. 

The new house wasn't the only new thing in our lives this week- We FINALLY made the jump to smart phones. Goodbye little texting phone. I'll miss you. But, it was getting hard to hear anyone on it, and it would just randomly turn off and not send or receive texts. We ordered one for me and one for Asa, and the Pokemon Go craze hit the house hard. Peyton was using my phone and running all over the neighborhood, and him and Asa were taking all kinds of trips together. But, Calib also left for Ohio and took my phone with him, so if you need me for the next two weeks, my phone is not the way to go. After Calib left, we decided we should see how much a phone for him was, and apparently it'll only be about $20 more a month (yay Verizon employee discount!), so he'll be getting one when he gets back. 

In other news, when I last left you we had just gotten back from Disney. It sure has been a crazy week. Saturday we did Peyton's birthday request, an all nighter! 

But first, we had a build n grow to get to- we're halfway done with the summer series of six Avengers. 

Peyton and Hayden are totally into Pokemon these days, and so is half the neighborhood. People started donating cards to Asa, and then he started trading. It was all very random. 

Tracy came over to return the key from dog watching, and she had a smart phone, so off everyone went on a Pokemon hunt. 

Anyway, if you are my Facebook friend, you got to follow the all nighter. We live tweeted it- or something! But, here's a few more pictures of the events. 

9pm: We started the all nighter with summer of shakes. 

10:30 pm: Peyton decided he wanted to dye his hair.... BLUE! (It's already back to it's normal color a week later, but it was fun for him!) 

11PM:: Rinsing out the hair dye. 

11:15 Blue hair! It didn't photograph all that well, but I promise, it was blue. We also did Facetime with my mom and grandma to show them! 

11:30- Ellie was still up and playful! 

Midnight: Taco Bell Run! 

1AM: Blanket Fort Building! 

1:30- Blanket Fort Construction Complete! 

2AM: Pokemon Battles (Asa has no idea what he's doing with all this Pokemon stuff, but the boys are so into it, he's trying- such a good dad!) 

2:30 AM Coffee Time! 

3:00 AM - The dogs were pretty sleepy at this point, especially Ellie, she was super confused nobody was going to sleep. She insisted on being covered up and sleeping on the couch though, while we watched Office reruns on Netflix. 

4:00 AM- Donuts! 

4:30 AM- Cockroach Poker. FYI, Calib is terrible at bluffing at 4 in the morning. 

5AM: Nerf Gun Fights

5:30 AM- Spoons! 

6:00 AM- I went to shower, and when I got back, both Calib and Hayden were asleep in the blanket fort. 

...And Ellie was totally zonked out too. 

6:40 AM- Sunrise! Peyton, Asa and I were the winners! 

We went to bed around seven, and slept in until about 12:45- having brunch instead of lunch. 

By Monday, we were sort of adjusted back to a normal sleep schedule, which was good, because Asa and I had reservations in Tampa to ride the water bikes. We headed down to the river at the Convention Center, and arrived just before 11. 

We had found a groupon to rent water bikes, and had to reschedule a couple of times, once because of us, once because they cancelled thanks to some military exercise. 

So these bikes are exactly like they sound- bikes on water. And you get a dry box and a cup holder. Asa and I took our shoes off, and dipped our toes into the water everytime we peddled. 

They're pretty easy to navigate once you get used to them. 

And you can't beat the view. 

Rowing teams are allowed to paint the walls, as long as it's school related. We learned all about it when we visited the Tampa Bay History Center. It was cool to see them from the water. 

And it's Tampa, so pirate ships! 

We tried to make our way out to the bay, but the water got pretty choppy over there, so we went out under the bridge and turned around. 

Then we made our ways down by the arena and channelside. 

They are seriously so much fun. We got an hour out on the water, and loved it. 

Next time, we've gotta do the biaks! 

Florida weekends have become less weekends and more just events whenever we can fit them in. So we checked our list for a new place to eat, and came up with Hog Barbecue down on Kennedy. 

There's no seating inside, it's just a quick service place, but they do cool the patio! 

I got a pulled pork dinner with sweet potatoes and corn fritters. This is so my thing. And while it was all really good, the corn fritters were the star of my lunch! 

Asa got burnt ends, potato salad and mac and cheese. He loved it all. It is huge portions though, we probably could have just split a meal. I am, however, considering this as a birthday lunch option. 

After lunch we swung by adventure island, and while it was super busy, we made our way around the lazy river to cool off. 

We also stopped by the fresh market... 

...and 7-11 for our free slurpies on 7/11! Although, we both took about two sips, and were less than impressed. Slurpies just aren't as good as they were when we were kids. 

Tuesday, we were really busy out looking at houses, and making decisions. You guys, houses are here and gone in a matter of days. There's really no time for indecision. 

Wednesday we went out for the afternoon and let the boys go Pokemon hunting on our new phones. 

We had some coupons for some free PDQ, so we stopped there for lunch. 

And then used our free bowling cards for a game during afternoon cyber bowling at Pinchasers! 

Thursday was a lot of errands- Target's summer clearance went 70% off, so we were able to snag a ton of stuff for the Olympics. And, Thursday was also our 'we got the house' day. I also made a trip to the pool with the boys, got Calib all packed up, and Facetimed with mom for her birthday. It was a busy day. 

Then, of course, yesterday, we sent Calib off to Ohio. 

I'm working on home school evaluations, and the Olympics- which is my plan to get through while Calib is gone- plus I've been totally distracted with house things- and the neighborhood kids all seem to be back from their vacations, so it's been a little crazy lately. 

I'll leave you with some cute animal pictures.. 

...and some not so cute animals... eating our parsley to death! 

Next Up: We'll be doing some family of four things, trying to keep to things Calib wouldn't be super into, but we have some plans!