Happy 13th Birthday, Peyton!

Happy 13th Birthday to our middle child! Today marks two teenagers living at the Waterstraut household, and honestly, I've had it pretty easy these first two years with Calib and I don't see it being any different with Peyton. He's a pretty awesome kid (they all are!) 

Anyway, I asked Peyton over and over what he wanted to do for his birthday- but he didn't want to "do" anything. I get that it's July in Florida, and his birthday is just two days away from the 4th, making EVERYWHERE SUPER packed (and if anyone hates crowds more than me, it's Peyton), so every year it's kind of a struggle to figure out what he wants to do. We either hear "yea, but it'll be really hot" or "yea, but it'll be really crowded." The fact of the matter is we do always go out to Disney on the 3rd, and with the Waterstraut Olympics on the fourth, his birthday is always a busy week. 

So, this year when he finally just said "Mom, really, I don't want to do anything for my birthday," I just let it go. It's not my cup of tea, but what Peyton's "doing nothing" means is that he doesn't have restrictions. He can play as many video games as he want, watch as much TV as he wants, and have snacks whenever he wants. For him, it IS doing something. 

He did have one request though, he wanted to stay up all night. We couldn't do it the night of his birthday mostly because we needed to do it when Asa wasn't working. I scheduled his birthday wish of an "All Nighter" on Monday, and that's ALL he wanted to talk about for DAYS. He said the only rules were that I wasn't allowed to do any work, starting at 8pm on Monday. (Having as much fun as we do takes a whole lot of planning, people, I am a busy, busy girl most the time!) 

If you're facebook friends with me, you got to follow our all nighter with hourly updates (was that fun to wake up to or what?!) But, those were all ipad pictures, which aren't awesome. I took a whole lot more on my camera. I present to you, our Waterstraut All Nighter of 2015.....

Monday June 29th 8:00 pm: Beachball Basketball is founded. 

8:13 pm: Two beachball basketballs have already popped. 

9pm: Coffee break

9:05pm Ice cream from the carton 

10:00 pm: Donut Run with Phenom... 

....And Sophie... 

....while the kids play video games.. (We got Peyton a Dragon Ball Z game for his birthday and gave it to him early so that he'd have it for the all nighter.) 

10:20 pm: Donut trip turns into Taco trip. 

11pm: One beachball from the Amazing Race Party remains. 

12am Tuesday June 30th: Time to learn Poker

12:30 am: Sophie couldn't make it. 

1am: Seems like a good time to vacuum. 

1:45 am: Hayden's still awake (and we're all impressed!) 

2am: Time to eat the donuts from 10pm. 

2:30 am: More video games (and Hayden is STILL awake!) 

3:00: Office re-runs! 

..Calib was fading though, so Peyton tried to mess with him.. 

..This is the "Don't worry Calib, we'll keep you up with the flash from the camera!" sequence. 

4am: Everyone is still awake (the flash must have worked!), and it's time for some Nerf gun duels. 

....Followed by more video games... 

4:15 am: Threatening to shoot Calib with Nerf darts so he stays awake. (It is worth noting here Calib woke up Monday-- BEFORE the all nighter--- at 3 IN THE AFTERNOON! At this point he had only been awake for THIRTEEN HOURS. We all made fun of him endlessly.) 

...Using bad 90's music to keep him awake (MC Hammer!) 

... Checking to see if it's light.. but, it wasn't even close. 

...So more bad 90's music to try and keep Calib awake (YAY Spice Girls!) 

... And more threats of Nerf darts... 

4:30 AM: We decide on a movie (one, sadly-- two is way better!) 

....And Hayden was STILL awake! 

5:05AM: Hayden is fading, but I was cheering him on at this point. If he had fallen asleep at 3 AM I would have let him go, but he was so close.

5:06 AM: Calib STILL being a baby. 

5:10 AM: Breakfast run to McDonalds....

...with Hayden to help keep him up. 

5:20 AM: Breakfast time!

5:45 AM: Hanging in there till it's light outside... 

6 AM: Hayden's still awake! 

..."Hey google: What time is the sunrise this morning?"

We're so close! 

6:15 AM: Telling everyone they can make it! 

6:36 AM: We have a sunrise! 

...And everyone made it! 

By 7 everyone was asleep, and we slept until about noon, as to not mess with our sleep schedules too much. We spent Tuesday being pretty lazy. I did put together Calib's photo book for his evaluation, which is a huge undertaking, so I'm glad to have it done. Around 11pm last night, I finished Peyton's. (My coupon code for shutterfly expired at midnight, nothing like getting in under the wire!) 

Yesterday I set up the backyard like I usually do the end of June/ beginning of July for the kids to play in a backyard water park. 

We did those water pinatas like you see on pinterest, since I had no luck with the water balloons. 

They were pretty fun, and will be making an appearance in the Waterstraut Olympics, I think. 

Then the boys had wrestling matches to see who could push who off the slip n slide (this went pretty much how you might imagine.) 

At Peyton's request I made the popular "water blob". It's just plastic sheeting duct taped together and filled with water. It's like a slip n slide waterbed, and the two times I've done it, it's been a hit! 

We enjoyed some popsicles outside too, but you had to eat them fast, it's HOT out there. 

The neighbors saw us (or rather heard us) out there, and kindly invited us over to swim. The boys quickly abandoned my water park for Madison's pool, but who can blame them? 

As always, the boys had a great time over there! Thanks to our neighbors for the invite. 

We came home for dinner, and then Hayden wanted to go back out to play, so I sat out there with him for awhile. 

I interrupt this blog to bring you a cute picture of Maybel. I love her. 

And also, a picture of poor Asa who had to work 12 and a half hours yesterday. (That's what happens when you work 10 hour shifts, but the holiday only covers 8 hours, blah!) 

Oh, and I got the t-shirts in for the frozen t-shirt contest. They were kind of a mess this year. I don't know what ziplock bags I usually use, but not these. They were slightly disastrous. 

Today we've just been hanging out doing whatever Peyton wants whenever he wants to do it. He's loving his birthday of "doing nothing". 

This morning Peyton requested birthday donuts, so I went out to get those. Asa has been working from home today, so I've had to do all the running out and about.

Then he asked to open presents. He had gotten the game from us for the all nighter, and a little money on Steam to spend, but we had a few other odds and ends for him. 

For lunch he requested Publix subs, so I went back out for those.  

And it was a good mail day for Peyton (and for us, the electric bill isn't $400 like I predicted. Asa's been doing his best to keep the house cool, so please excuse the blankets currently acting as curtains) 

Anyway, Peyton got a game he wanted... 

...and MORE money from my mom. She had given him some while she was here, yet still sent him $13 for his 13th birthday. 

With his new game, his afternoon was pretty much planned out. 

Which was a good thing, because it's been a VERY rainy and dreary day here. (That is Porkchop's freaking-out-because-it's-storming face). 

Peyton and Asa have really been enjoying the WiiU together today. Even if I'd hate a birthday where I didn't leave the house, Peyton seems thrilled. Plus, he got to stay in his pajamas all day, which he just loves.  

With both of them busy I've been able to pack for our day at Disney tomorrow, and take care of things for the Waterstraut Olympics. We have a combo of actual medals and candy medals per the kids requests. 

I also made Peyton a fruit pizza for his "cake". 

 He doesn't like actual cake, and over the years we've tried different variations, but I had made this back on draft day (it's in honor of the Jacksonville Jaguars) and he LOVED it. The crust actually comes from cake mix, then it's just topped with whipped cream and fruit. 

My mom had somewhere to be tonight so we did Facetime a little earlier than usual. 

Peyton wanted to light his own candles this year. 

For dinner we had the Denver inspired pesto steak pizza, and the Tampa inspired Cuban pizza, along with his fruit pizza and watermelon. 

Peyton really wanted Summer of Shakes tonight, but didn't want to have to leave the house, so Asa and I went off to Sonic with Sophie and Phenom in tow... 

...and retrieved Peyton his pineapple shake! 

All in all, a good birthday for Peyton (nothing will ever top 9 when we were in Alaska, but I hear Hawaii could happen around his birthday too, so we'll see!). 

That's it from here. We've got a busy couple of days, besides all our events going on Calvin Coolidge's birthday is Saturday (though he's going to have to wait until Sunday for us to celebrate), and George W. Bush is Monday. 

Next Up: The THIRD of July at Disney (and OHANA!!!!)