Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Satchel Turns 11

On Sunday, my precious baby boy turned 11. Eleven! What?

He typically starts planning for his birthday on December 26th. I usually tell him I don't want to hear ANYTHING about his birthday until after mine, which is ten days earlier. Obviously ten days is not enough time to discuss all of the things a soon to be eleven year old MUST have.

This year, he really only wanted one thing--a puppy. With an elderly, incontinent dog already in the house and a summer of travel ahead, I finally convinced him that he could definitely have a puppy, just not on his birthday. So then he moved on to some other wants--a new bike, a cool backpack, and some cold, hard cash. He also really wanted to have a sleepover and then play paintball.

Of note this year...Jiro was not invited to Satchel's sleepover. He willing went to my mom's house. He even bought Satchel a present with his own money before going!

Satchel made a shopping list and we went to the store Saturday afternoon to prepare for the sleepover.

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That's right, lots of healthy snacks and protein for growing bodies!

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This is Satchel's masterpiece trail mix--pretzels, Takis, Funyons, and Smart Food. It was a hit.

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The one benefit of the kids eating a bunch of crap right off the bat was that no one wanted anything at the movie theater. We saw Oblivion, which was pretty good until it got super cheesy at the end.

On Sunday, Warren spearheaded the Paint Ball excursion. The website says it's for 10 & up, so I planned to hang with Jiro. Then I got the call that kids under ten could go with a parent, so Jiro & I also made the trek out to Arlington or wherever that place is.

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Paintball was interesting. The boys loved gearing up, loading the guns, shooting the guns and whatnot. What they did not like was getting hit. (It hurts!) Also it's a bit intimidtaing to play with dudes who obviously center their lives around the game.

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Fierce!

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Proud mom (just kidding).

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The balls are like little tiny bird eggs filled with bird poop.

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Poor Warren got hit point blank in the hand on accident by Jiro.

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There are several different courses, and the group rotates through them as the day progresses.

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There were about 20-30 players by late afternoon, and it became less fun for the boys. We saw a couple of private groups of about ten people. I definitely think that is the way to go, especially with the youngins.

The dudes eventually moved to the target range to use up the rest of their ammo. (Warren bought a box of 2000 paintballs!)

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Everyone was all smiles when we left, but I'm pretty sure Satchel won't be begging to go back anytime soon! It was a little intense for him.

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Jiro actually mentioned having his birthday party at the paintball park, but I gave an emphatic NO. I definitely don't think a bunch of 8 and 9 year olds are ready for it.

Back at the house, we had ice cream cake. I appreciated the fact that Satchel picked out one that was just the right size for the six of us.

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I let the kids play a while longer and then we headed to Boneheads for family dinner. I made the mistake of telling Satchel he could have whatever he wanted for dinner. He ate THREE meals--two salmon and one tilapia.

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Then on Monday, Satchel and Jiro rode bikes to school. Satchel is very happy to have a bike that fits.

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All in all, it was an action packed weekend. The eleven year old was pleased.

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