Yesterday was Calib's 15th birthday. I would say the cliche 'I can't believe how old he is', but I mean, I was here for the last 15 years, and that seems about accurate. Kids obviously speed up time, and the years pass quickly, but lets face it sometimes the days drag on forever and we're left wondering how it's possible that they haven't grown up and left the house yet. That being said, I am very lucky (although I like to think it's less luck and more awesome parenting) that not only do I obviously love my 15 year old, I actually really like him. He's a super cool kid, with a killer sense of humor, a good head on his shoulders and a helpful personality. I couldn't have asked for better. (For any of the three of them actually). And that is about as mushy as you will ever see me publicly get. Even that amount of mush would make Calib uncomfortable, though. Like mother like son, I suppose. If there is one kid the most like me, it's Calib for sure.
I made his cake yesterday morning. Peyton isn't a cake person, and last year (or maybe the year before), I came up with this ice cream sandwich cake. It was such a hit, Calib asked for it too. It's just layered ice cream sandwiches with cool whip as the frosting (between the layers too), and some peanut butter cups cut up on top. If you make this though, you do need to put the candles on after you make it, it's a little thawed then- but once you put it back in the freezer like this, it'll be REALLY difficult to put them in the next time you pull it out. I may have learned that the hard way the first time I made it.
I'll get you up to speed on our Fenderson criminal this week later on, but as a brief overview Cody Fenderson is in South America. He's actually a big fan of learning, and has agreed to turn himself in at the end of the week, if the kids can pass a series of tests on South America. To prep them for this the home office is sending them file folders on each country to fill out. Then, they are getting paid for their work depending on how complete the Home Office feels the work is. They did a folder on Sunday, and Monday they received their payments.
AND the Home Office left this outside our door as a birthday present for Agent Calib. (Fun story: we went to Target to get this bike on Sunday night, but it was storming HARD, and Target lost power. While we waited for the registers to come back up, Asa rode the bike back and forth in front of the registers, which the cashiers just thought was awesome.)
And before we got Calib up, Hayden decided all on his own he was going to make his brother a birthday card, so thoughtful that Hayden.
There's something with these nicknames around here...
Once Calib got up he checked the Fenderson mailbox in the living room.
The Home Office sent him money for his file folder work, AND told him to open the front door for a special gift for his birthday.
And there was his bike!
He took it for a spin. We had a lovely afternoon yesterday weather wise, nothing like today. It's gross and rainy out there. Blah.
Since my mom wasn't going to be with grandma when we did cake and ice cream, we did facetime just before lunch so grandma could wish Calib a Happy Birthday!
Per Calib's request he asked for nachos for lunch...
Asa makes THE BEST nachos.
And then he opened some presents. He got some various odds and ends he had asked for, some stuff for the pool, a couple of gift cards, and a wireless mouse and keyboard for his computer.
I blew up 95 percent of the turtle for the pool, and Asa got all the glory when he finished it.
Then we headed out for some bowling.
No bumpers for Calib and Peyton, and somehow my score wasn't much better than theirs.
We had lane 15 for Calib's 15th Birthday!
And the winner, per Waterstraut rules, had to clean up.
We had planned to go to Airheads and picked up a Groupon, but Calib said he would rather skip it so he could use his birthday time to be the 'Birthday Brahman' and do whatever he wanted at home. We thought we might go to Airheads today, but nobody is quite feeling up to it, so maybe next week- we have the Groupon so we can go anytime.
When we got home he had some fun mail- a couple of cards and a present from up north.
And then there were lots and lots of board games. We played things like Panic on Wallstreet...
....And Ticket to Ride. (He wanted to play Axis and Allies, but figured that would take up a whole lot of time).
Then we had dinner. Our rule is you can go out one meal on your birthday. But, Calib said he would rather pick both the meals at home. Since we weren't going out, the meals were going to be way cheaper, so we told him he could really request ANYTHING. He said he couldn't decide between a pasta bar (various pastas and sauces, meats and bread), and Nancy Reagans Mac & Cheese. So he asked if he could have both.
Obviously, I obliged. But, I did add salad and fruit to try and curb some of the carbohydrates.
After dinner there were more games. Five person Spy Alley is the best. (Despite all my pegs in Russian here, I was Italian.)
And then we went out for Summer of Shakes!
I never ever let them get larges, but it was Calib's birthday, so I couldn't say no. You do what the Birthday Brahman demands.
One ice cream dessert is just not enough when you're 15 though, so around 10, we had his ice cream sandwich cake.
Grandma joined via facetime.
There's the inside. I even found cookies and cream ice cream sandwiches, which Calib was pretty happy about.
You might remember I used to make lists of things I wanted to do before my next birthday. But, with Calib turning 15, I'm realizing I have only a handful of years left before he's an 'adult'. So, we've all been talking about things the boys want to do before they grow up. It's a work in progress, but here's the list we have so far. (I am also still working on my list of things to do before I turn 40, but this one seems a little more urgent).
Things To Do Before the Kids Grow Up
1. Eat at Ohana/stay at the Polynesian.
2. Go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
3. Go to the Kennedy Space Center
4. Camp at Fort De Soto
5. Go to the Keys
6. Learn another language as a family
7.Eat at Cinderellas Castle
8. Go to Saint Augustine
9. Go geocaching
10. Go horseback riding
11. Go footgolfing
12.Swim with Dolphins
13. Go canoeing down the Hillsborough River
14. Go fossil hunting
15. Go to a Tampa Rowdies game
16. Hold a candy bar election
17. Eat a kitchen sink
18. Go paint balling
19. Play survivor for multiple days
20. Stay up all night
21. Go to Tampa Downs
22. Build tree house /hobbit hole
23. Get chickens
25. Zip line
26. Swim in every Disney resort pool
27. Eat lobster off paper plates in Maine
28. Go to Fort Sumter
29. Go to the Sand Dunes
30. Go to Gatorland
31. Go to a driving range
32. Celebrate all the president's birthdays
33. Make pancakes at the Sugar Mill
34. See the Penguins at Seaworld
35. Buy a house
36. Take the boat to Caladesi Island
37. Go to New York City
38. See a play
39. Go to Legoland
That's it from here. Now that Calib's birthday is over, we're looking forward to our big five year anniversary blow out (It's gonna be BIG!), and Peyton's birthday. (There's talk to doing the Penguins behind the scenes thing at the aquarium, but we'll see.)
Next Up: More Fenderson Madness, and work from home week.
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