Jack- 10 Years Old

Double Digits! 

We celebrated Jack's first double digit birthday yesterday. He asked John to make him steak and crab legs with green beans as a side. John delivered. 

I felt like I got off easy with only having to bake a chocolate cake! 

Here's a little about Jack as a 10 year old:

What is your favorite thing to do? Read, spend time with family, video games

What do you want to be when you grow up? Some sort of scientist

What is your favorite food? Dad's steak

Who do you enjoy spending time with? Dad, Mom, Luke, Obi, Hattie

What do you do really well? Video games

What makes you laugh? Being embarrassed

What is the best time of day? Right before school ends because there are fun activities at that time

Who is your best friend? Bo and Sthitapragna

What do you like to do with your family? Go on vacations, cook

What do you love to learn about? Virginia History

Where do you like to go? Grandma's, sports games, school

What is your favorite book? Magnus Chase

What is your favorite movie? How to Train Your Dragon

What is your favorite tv show? How to Train Your Dragon: Race to the Edge

What is your favorite color? Blue

What is your favorite animal? Cat

What is your favorite toy? Nintendo Switch

What is your favorite board game? Stratego

What is your favorite video game? Civilization 6

What is your favorite drink? Hawaiian Punch

What is your favorite breakfast food? McGriddle

What is your favorite snack? Goldfish Flavor Blasted Cheddar

What is your favorite restaurant? Maggiano's

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What is your favorite thing to do outside? NERF guns

Where is your favorite place to go on vacation? Jamestown, Yorktown, Great Wolf Lodge

If you had $1,000, what would you buy? Video games and give away the rest to poor people

If you had one wish, what would you wish for? To live in Ancient Greece for a day and in Ancient Rome for a day and then come home. 

Christmas 2018

It's better to write late about Christmas than to never write about it at all. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Someday these memories might be gone if not for this journal. 

Christmas came early when Kathy, Megan, and Ike came to visit for a long weekend a couple of weeks before the holiday. Somehow the only picture I managed to snap that weekend was this one of Luke teaching Aunt Kathy everything she never wanted to know about Minecraft. Ha! Megan and Ike are expecting their first little one this summer. Sharing in their joy this holiday season was special. 

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas. We got to celebrate with Annie, Shane, and Ensley. This was a year that Eric and Betsy celebrated with her family in North Carolina. We missed them. Ensley was the star of Christmas. She's fun for all of us. This year she wanted to Ready, Set, Go with everyone. She also wanted to be doing whatever the boys were doing. She helped with video games and Legos. She also let the boys watch See-ka (Mickey Mouse) with her on her iPad. 

Unfortunately, 75﹪ of our crew fell sick over the holidays. A virus passed from Luke to me to Jack in three days. John washed his hands raw, but he didn't get it. Not only does it stink to be sick over the holidays, but it also made some visits we had planned impossible. We didn't get to spend any time with the Perlicks. I was looking forward to seeing their new home in Tennessee. I was also terribly disappointed that we didn't get to go to Linda's for Christmas Eve this year. The boys and I drove out to exchange presents once we were all feeling significantly better. We were there for a short time and didn't really touch anything, but Linda told me Rachel sprayed the place down with Lysol as soon as we left. Ha! 

Grandma bought all of the kids and Grandpa matching pajamas. Just the other night Luke told me these are his favorite pajamas because he knows Ensley has the same ones. 

Despite sickness, this Christmas was one for the books blog! May 2019 be filled with joy for all of us. 

Santa Visit 2018

It's not difficult to get into the holiday spirit in Virginia. It's cold enough that one begins thinking of hot chocolate and putting up the Christmas tree much earlier than in Atlanta. With hopes of avoiding the craziness of holiday shopping, we got our Santa visit done earlier this year, too. Jack asked for a Nintendo Labo Vehicles Set. Luke asked for a Minecraft Lego Mountain Cave. This is the second year in a row that Luke has asked for this Lego set. We are hopeful that Santa and his elves will have more time to make the set this year since we gave him plenty of advance notice by visiting him early. Our elf, Buddy, returned this morning. I heard the boys searching for him throughout the house before I was out of bed. They were delighted that he arrived right on schedule, December 1st. 

School Pictures 2018-19

Kind of a funny story goes along with their school pictures this year. Luke's is a retake. I obviously didn't remember what shirt Jack wore when he took his on the original day. I got Luke's back, and they are wearing the same shirt. 😂

Jack- 4th Grade

Luke- 2nd Grade

Thanksgiving Vacation 2018

It's become a family tradition that we take our vacation for the year over the Thanksgiving holiday. It seems to be an easy time for John to get away and school has been in session long enough that it feels good to escape for a few days. The only turkey we had this year was these chocolate ones that John's friend from work sent over to the lodge for us.

This year we went to Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg where the kids enjoyed the water park and had their own sleeping quarters which means all of us slept better.

Jack's class has been studying Jamestown, so we went there on Thanksgiving Day. We saw a replica of a Powhatan village, the colonists' fort, and the ships the colonists arrived on. There was a lot going on with the holiday. They serve all the volunteers a Thanksgiving feast prepared in either the fort or the Powhatan village, so we got to see a lot of food preparation. 

On Friday, we went to learn about the Battle of Yorktown during the American Revolution. The history in this area of the county is fascinating. 

Between the waterpark at the lodge and all the historical fieldtrips, we had an epic Thanksgiving this year.