Elliot!
Happy Birthday, Elliot!
Over the past couple of days we have been celebrating Elliot’s 11th birthday. It has been a rainy, but fun couple of days in Austin, TX. Last night we ate cake and today he opened presents and we went bowling. Mary and Hope were supposed to arrive today, but due to some flight issues they are slated to arrive very late.
Elliot at 11 is a nice, helpful guy. He likes to help around the RV, especially with the outdoor tasks around setting up and tearing down. His daily rhythm follows that of the other kids. He usually wakes up around 8 or 8:30 and reads in bed for a little while. By the time he stumbles out of bed he is ready for breakfast and his schoolwork. During his free time he likes to read and ride scooters & bikes outside.
At night he has been helping get Rose to sleep, snuggling with her until she falls asleep, and then moving to his bed.
Favorite song: None
Favorite color: Red
Favorite food: Skyline
Favorite band: None
Favorite book: Harry Potter 7
Favorite sport: Soccer
Favorite movie: None
Bowling for Birthdays
It has been rainy so far in Austin. I had to leave town for work in the afternoon, so we stopped on the way to the airport for some birthday bowling.
Elliot’s Birthday Celebration
I have to leave town tomorrow, so we took some time tonight to celebrate Elliot’s birthday. After dinner and a supply run at Costco, we enjoyed a delicious cake that Susan made.
Happy Birthday, Elliot!
Today we celebrated Elliot’s 10th birthday. He opened his gift from us, Mimi & Papa, and Mar-Mar & Be-Bob earlier in the day and then we had the Reagens and Mimi & Papa over for dinner. For dinner we had a sandwich bar. His cake was a mint chocolate cake.
Elliot at age 10 continues to be a sweet, caring boy. He has been staying up later with Mari and Andrew, reading Harry Potter before bed with Susan. He spends a lot of time outside and loves riding his skateboard, bike, and he has been getting in some good runs on the unicycle. He is still taking piano lessons and spring soccer will start again in about a month.
Favorite song: A Million Reasons
Favorite color: Red
Favorite food: Skyline
Favorite band: 21 Pilots
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Favorite sport: Soccer
Favorite movie: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Winter Drama Performances
This week the kids had their drama performances with their homeschool enrichment classes. They all love drama and enjoy being in the plays.
Single Track
This afternoon Andrew, Mari, Elliot and I went for our first and last single track bikeride of the year. It was a beautiful afternoon and the kids did a great job carving up the trails. I imagine it has been a few years since we have been out there and it felt good.
Hair Dye
Mari has been wanting her hair dyed for a while now. Susan has been doing some research and today Elliot & Mari biked to Fareway to buy the supplies to dye their hair with kool-aid.
Home Work
This weekend, and over the past couple of weeks, our work around the house has continued. We started with the bathrooms by installing a new toilet that we got from toiletable.com. Then Susan painted the front door and we cleaned the garage and the storage room. This weekend we tackled more projects, including using some of the kids’ watercolor paintings as wallpaper, painting part of the basement, and Elliot and I built an addition on to the playset. All of this work has come about because of several factors, including Rose being older, Susan’s program starting again, and school starting soon.
Fall Soccer Season
This week marks the beginning of the Fall soccer season. Elliot & Mari are playing U12 and Andrew is playing U14. We switched clubs this year, looking for a more consistent experience, better fields, and a soccer complex, so that our kids are not playing and practicing at 2 different locations.
So far, so good.
The BFG
In our house we have a rule that you can’t see a movie in the theaters until you are reading chapter books. Even then, we take a very soft approach to movies, with nothing too crazy. Today we went to see The BFG, Elliot’s first movie. We (I) have a thing for Roald Dahl and this was a great summer movie for the kids to enjoy.
Camp Akela
This morning I dropped Elliot off at Camp Akela, a Cub Scout camp. He will be staying for a couple of nights. It looks like they have some fun activities planned and we hope he has a great time.
