Better than presents

For our birthdays this year,

Mom and Dad wanted to give us an adventure

instead of a "thing."

So they came up with some choices

and asked if we wanted to pick

or if we wanted to be surprised.

I wanted to be surprised,

so Beck and Wes made the choice

and somehow everyone actually kept it a secret

until the big day.

So afterschool,

we hopped in the van,

I got in a powernap

and before we knew it...

With COVID and everything else

(sports, school, vacations...),

it's been 4 years since we've been here:

2018!

Good to see that some things never change!

I didn't remember any of this!

I was super excited for the bunk bed rooms

and we were ALL excited for the waterpark!

It was a very different trip for us this time.

We spent a TON of time on the water slides

(which Mom had only ridden once before--

there were too many little kids before!)

And instead of kids taking floating naps

in the lazy river,

we actually just floated the lazy river!

We made some crazy long chains

with all 6 of us

that Jack was nice (and strong) enough to pull

After swimming all night,

we had a pizza and game party in the room

and then were right back at it in the morning.

Nothing like a tasty breakfast to get things going...

...so we can hit those slides again!

Great Wolf Lodge is a pretty spectacular birthday.

But leave it to Mom and Dad

to take it one step further

and take us to dinner at Dave and Busters!

We tried out all the games.

Jack was "not terrible" at axe throwing

Can you see the score?

Mom still beat him.

Weston won a ton of tickets

by dropping a mallet

ever so gently on a sensor.

So 1700 tickets later,

we got a free dessert

and a new rubber chicken mascot named Thor

for my Thunder Chickens soccer team.

A successful 48 hours.

An adventure was definitely the way to go!

 

Our first LIVE Parade of Choirs

Neither Mom or Dad sang in a choir in junior high.

Last year made this event virtual

(we sang while parents watched from home).

That made this Parade of Choirs

a first for all of us!

I was pretty excited to show off what

I've been working on this year.

Can you see me?

I'm far left, front row--

I even took off my mask for the concert!

Mom and Dad thought we sounded pretty great.

It was cool to sing with the high school choirs

for the finale.

Crazy to think that will be me next year!

 

Tucker's turn to shine

I am SO EXCITED to have 

my first art show and musical this year!

Let me show you my bug

and my flowers

because we're here for 

Bugz: The Musical

I excitedly walked out with my BFF Sutton

and then when my whole family started waving at me,

I sort of shut down.

They weren't sure if I was channeling

my inner yellow jacket

or what,

but I sure looked grumpy!

I was so excited for this,

I even volunteered for a speaking role

which I ROCKED

There wasn't much singing

(I'm not sure I even opened by mouth),

but I definitely knew all the moves

Ms. D forgot my name on the program

(Mom wrote it in!)

but here are my lines for posterity!

I was a hit!

 

Lots to celebrate

Reasons to party:

1. Weston and Beckett's movies won awards

2.  I turned 7 this week

3.  I lost my first front tooth

(Mom and Dad are a bit sad about this one)

4.  We're hanging out with our good friends

Brock & Grant

Sounds like a reason to celebrate to me!

Look out, Spielberg!

Through ASPIRE/AIMS,

Beckett and I and our classes

wrote and made stop-animation movies

for the KC Reel Spirit Film Festival.

Out of 115 total films,

both of ours made the top 3 in our categories!

An achievement like that

screams for an awards ceremony--

and that is just what happened!

We arrived early

to pick up our backstage pass

and walk the Red Carpet

We were even interviewed!

Must have been a good answer...

Looking the part

A good one for Mom

A shot of the program for the evening:

Mine was up first.

It was called Math Mayhem--

about kids being sabotaged 

as they attempt to do math problems.

Here is the link to the video:

Math Mayhem

I had told my family that it was my idea.

I have a tendency to exaggerate,

so no one quite believed me.

But did you see the credits?

"Created by!"

And guess what??!?!

We were first place in our category!

Our proud team:

Beckett's was called Solved!,

a story about rubic cubes

with minds of their own:

Solved!

They got 3rd!

Another proud group

It was a big day!

Who knows--

this may be the start of something big!

T turns 7!

I've been counting down for weeks!

Happy birthday to me!

Now, let the countdown to my party start!

 

One epic party

I tend to have big plans

with high expectations, 

which doesn't always work out very well.

Case in point is my birthday last year.

Mid-COVID, I wanted a big slumber party

with 20 of my closest friends

(or something like that).

Well, clearly that wasn't happening

and instead of coming up with Plan B,

I didn't come up with anything at all.

So Mom, being the fair-minded person she is,

said we could make it up this year.

Hence,

the 12th birthday blow-out!

Me and my 6 besties

(Bennett, Josh, Riston, Brett, Lincoln and Andy--

referred to as "The Bros")

got together for pizza

before heading off to an escape room!

Mom was our adult chaperone.

She was planning to do nothing but stand there,

but as it turns out,

some of my friends are NOT so helpful

in an escape room.

So between me, Mom, and 2 or 3 of my friends,

we got out

(the others were free-loaders)

Who needs birthday cake

when you can do the Jumbo Split Challenge

at Poppy's?

2 bananas,

8 scoops of ice cream

and all the toppings--

gone in 4 minutes 30 seconds.

Then we headed back to my house

for hide-and-seek in the dark

and plenty of goofing around in the basement

before we fell asleep around 2am.

You'd think we'd be done then,

but oh no!

A morning and afternoon spent at the pool

was just what we needed

to completely exhaust us

and make this the best birthday party ever.

Thanks, Mom and Dad!

It was worth the wait!

An April 1 that we won't forget

Why is everyone crying?

Our grade cards came.

They were filled with E's and P's

which gave us all a shock

since we've only been bring home

M's all semester

What the heck happened?

Mom was shocked,

and mad,

and wanted some explanations. 

Can you see the comments?

"I'm not sure what happened to Weston this quarter...

His grades have fallen across the board.

I will call directly to set up a conference...

his breath smells like girls.

Maybe he needs to lay off the kissing."

Dad got us--

ALL of us!

We got all M's.

Jack got nearly all A's

(with a B he knew about--

not the C"s that appears on the grade card!)

There were so many tears of shock

and frustration

and confusion.

Just you wait, Dad.

Just you wait.