Wednesday Night Split

Blake and Nash both had big nights one Wednesday so Troy and I had to divide and conquer. Nash had a Blue and Gold Banquet for scouts which typically involves a cake contest. But this year, they decided to simplify and have a cookie contest instead. We made homemade Oreos and Nash constructed a tray out of LEGO bricks, with LEGO minifigures surrounding as guards. 

Blake missed out on the Blue and Gold Banquet because it was a requirement for him to enter the science fair as a member of the Robotics team. He poured a ton of time and effort into researching robotic roller coasters and based his science fair project on what he learned.

In addition to his trifold poster, he created a Google Slides presentation with video demonstrations of current robotic roller coasters.

It was a great experience for him and it pushed him to work hard on a project that was optional for most other students. 

I wish I could have been in two places at once but they both ended the night with some participation awards that they were pretty happy about. It is so much fun to see their ideas and creativity come to life.

27 Rides in 10 Hours

Our very last Disney day before our annual passes expired deserves its own post because if you ask Blake, this was the best day of his life to this point.

We set out early on our traditional birthday date and arrived at the park just before opening. I surprised him with MaxPasses for the day, which meant we could reserve our spots in the FastPass lines from my phone. It was our first time trying it out and it made the day so efficient. Instead of running all over the park to collect FastPasses, we scheduled them with a few clicks while we were riding on rides. The nice cast member that wrote on Blake's birthday pin also gave him a front of the line pass to any ride he wanted. 

With the combination of our MaxPasses, an extra front of the line pass and the park not being too busy, Blake and I hit 27 rides in 10 hours. That has to be some sort of record! He's the only one that can keep up with my pace and his birthday date was the perfect way to cap off our annual pass. 

We could have left after hitting 27 rides, including all of the big rides, but neither of us were ready to call it a night. We stayed to watch World of Color.

We had to go see It's a Small World all lit up as well.

We said Farewell to Main Street all lit up for Christmas.

It always makes us sad when we say goodbye to Disneyland, not knowing when we'll be back again. We clocked 24 days this year and considering weekends and summers are blocked out for us, I'd say we made the most of those passes. The lyrics from the Paint the Night parade sum up how we felt about our last Disney night perfectly:

Put your hands up, ’cause the night is young!
Kick your heels up when you join the fun.
As the magic sets us all aglow,
I gotta know, my friends,
When can we do this again?

Our Disney days have become so much more than fitting in fun rides. They mean uninterrupted time together when school, friends, homework, housework, sports and our crazy busy schedules fade away. They are our escape from reality. I know not everyone loves the crowds and expense of Disneyland, but for us, we life in the present the most when we are there. Is it sacrilegious to say I have a testimony of Disneyland? Ha. 

Thanks for the memories Disney, we'll be back soon!

Christmas Piano Recital

Nash joined Blake in piano lessons only about six weeks before recital time and he was brave enough to perform a simple version of "Jingle Bells" at his very first piano recital.

Blake performed his Christmas favorite, "Carol of the Bells."

He was also the recipient of a pretty major award. His teacher implemented a year long point system contest. Students could earn points for practicing, coming to lessons prepared, playing with metronome, finishing books, performing in recitals and memorizing music. Blake took this contest very seriously and did whatever he could to earn more points. He ended up winning first place out of 90+ students. It was such an accomplishment and I can't think of a better way to be rewarded than for hard work.

The trophy he was given was no joke.

Nash hadn't been participating long enough in the point system for an award, but he still earned a new student pin that he was pretty excited about.

We were so proud of both boys for pushing through discomfort to do hard things.

Blake is Ten

Blake let it be known that his 10th birthday was a big birthday. We had a hard time locking down what to do to sufficiently celebrate his advancement in age, until I found a great deal to stay at Great Wolf Lodge. The boys had seen their commercial advertisements for years and I knew they would be beyond excited about the getaway.

Blake opened his gift that contained an event ticket the day before the big stay. He jumped up and down and so did his brothers.

Blake had a Robotics competition on Friday night that delayed our arrival a bit, but we enjoyed the novelty of being in a hotel on Friday night and geared up to spend the entire day on Saturday at the indoor waterpark.

We hardly saw the older boys; they were hopping from one slide to the next all day.

Even Finn couldn't get enough of the waterslides.

It wore him right out.

The whole lobby was transformed into a winter wonderland and we enjoyed some shows there in addition to swimming our hearts out.

Now all of the boys think that when they turn ten they will earn a night at Great Wolf Lodge. Sounds good to me, I always prefer experience gifts over toys!

Ten things I love about Blake:

1. He works hard at things that don't come easy to him. He has had to work through frustrations and setbacks in piano, school and swim this year and he keeps trying no matter what.

2. He is loyal. When I throw out options to switch swim teams or swim groups within his own team, he won't even consider it. 

That brings me to...

3. He is not a quitter. He finishes what he starts.

4. He is willing to try new things. He picked up cello and Robotics club this fall in an already busy schedule filled with swim, piano and scouts.

5. He values his free time and spends it well; typically building things, riding his bike or scooter, or jumping on the trampoline. He does not like to waste time.

6. He is grateful. He notices small acts of service and he is the first to thank me for taking him on outings.

7. He is responsible. He wakes up before everyone and packs his lunch for school. 

8. He respects rules and authority. He loves to be in charge and make sure everyone else is following the rules. 

9. He is the first one to feel remorse when he makes mistakes and writes me beautiful apology notes.

10. He's such a conversationalist. He shares lots of details and asks lots of questions. There is never a quiet moment riding in the car with Blake and I love having him in the front seat with me; talk, talk, talking away.

Happy tenth birthday Blake!

Blake the Olympic Swimmer

Blake was my second child that stuck with the same costume he wore last year. Since we moved to a new neighborhood and a new ward over the summer and costumes aren't allowed at school, he figured no one had seen his Micheal Phelps costume yet. It was such a good costume that I was glad to see it get another use.

Fall Swim

Blake made it past the one year mark of year round swimming and he really started to find his stride. He advanced into a higher level which meant his practice time increased to 1.5 hours, three days a week. Each practice consisted of swimming well over 1000 meters. Practice was definitely not easy but Blake was incredibly loyal to his team and pushed through a lot of discomfort. 

I rarely stayed for practice because I was usually running the other boys in three different directions, but occasionally I'd sneak in early and admire the golden light shining across the lanes.

I happened to catch a balancing game they were playing at the end of practice one day.

Blake's hard work paid off during swim meets. His times consistently dropped. It's amazing how much excitement there is over a drop of a few seconds.

Blake's friends came to support him at one of his particularly scorching hot meets. 

He beamed from all that love and support.