Birthday Boy!

On December 12, 2009, Ian Alexander was born, and on December 12, 2020, Milo joined our family, which means tomorrow is Ian's 12th birthday and the first anniversary of Milo's "gotcha day." Ian's birthday celebration began on Thursday, which was also Aunt Janet's 79th birthday. A few years ago, we started a tradition of going to Great Wolf Lodge in December as a part of Ian's birthday celebration, but we didn't go last year due to COVID. We go with a homeschool group from New Jersey which enables us to pay less than half of the usual rate for our room. The room is decorated in the theme of a wolf den and contains twin bunk beds (Ian on the top and Nadia on the bottom), a full-size sofa bed (Oliver), and a full-size bed (Paul and I). Thankfully the resort just relaxed their mask policy earlier this month, so we didn't wear masks during our getaway. 

Usually, we arrive earlier on the day we check-in, but Thursday morning the kids attended a Christmas program at Camp Susque, which was put on by missionaries from Tanzania. Tab drove a carload of seven kids to the event. The same group of kids went roller skating together at a homeschool Christmas party on Monday, and the same group of kids are gathering for a play date at Tab's house in the afternoon on December 13 in honor of Ian's birthday. Paul, Milo, and I met them on their way home, and then the five of us took Milo to a pet sitter who lives 25 minutes south of us. This pet sitter charges $45 per night so we won't want to use them for a vacation as we paid far more for Milo than we did per person for the rest of us for this getaway! Owning one dog is far, far more costly than owning three guinea pigs. Milo was shaking as we were driving to the pet sitters, but thankfully he really enjoyed their dog, Penny, and he was very, very happy when we picked him up last night! When I take him to the vet later this month for his rabies and distemper vaccines, I am also going to ask for the Bordetella vaccine, which is required by kennels so that we will have the option of placing him in a kennel when 

we go on vacation in 2022, as the kennel charges around $25 a day which is more than we paid our friends but a lot better than $45 a day. The kennel, which is also MUCH closer to our home, wasn't an option this time because he hasn't had that vaccine. After dropping Milo off, Paul drove us to Great Wolf Lodge. After checking-in, I drove to Domino's and Dairy Queen to pick up our dinner. The kids were expecting pizza from Domino's, but they were surprised by the DQ Treatza (ice cream) Pizza I got for us to share for dessert. After eating, the kids played in the water park for three hours.

This trip was different from past trips because both Paul and I currently have mobility issues. On December 3 Paul hurt his back. We weren't sure if we'd be able to meet Jenna on December 4th, but thankfully we were able to go to the Christmas show and take her to dinner at Texas Roadhouse last Saturday. I am grateful I can walk on two legs, but I

walk VERY slowly. An elderly woman using a walker passed me out as I was walking into Christian Life Assembly last Saturday afternoon. In the past I've always used my camera at Great Wolf, but this time I just used my phone. Due to how much my ankle swells when I use it, I didn't take many pictures or videos. I didn't bring a swimsuit. Paul didn't go down any of the water slides because of his back, but he did go in the swimming pool, hot tub, and lazy river. Even the wave pool was painful for him. So, most of the time Paul and I were sitting in chairs in the water park and the kids were on their own. Thankfully I can tolerate my right leg dangling for longer periods of time than I have for the past 3 months. They had a great time, but Oliver was frustrated sometimes when he wanted to ride a water slide that didn't accommodate single riders as most of the time Ian and Nadia were doing things together. On Friday morning the kids and Paul slept in as the water park doesn't open until 10am. Paul brought back breakfast from Dunkin. We skipped lunch as the kids used the water park for almost 6 hours straight. We had dinner at Red Robin before driving to pick up Milo and then returned home. Some of the servers sang happy birthday to him at dinner last night, and he was given a free ice cream sundae. I had a coupon for 50% off one entree which meant that the $50 gift card covered our five meals and the tip. We used gift cards for Texas Roadhouse last Saturday, Dominos on Friday, and Dunkin and Red Robin yesterday. Now I'll start stockpiling gift cards for our vacation in May. Thankfully credit card points can be used not only for restaurant gift cards but also tickets to Busch Gardens and Universal Studios. 

We don't have any birthday celebration plans for today, but tomorrow Paul's dad and brother are coming up. Ian has requested pizza from Venarri's and chocolate cake with peanut butter icing from Aunt Millie, and he will also open his birthday gifts tomorrow. We gave him his biggest birthday gift from us two months early as I paid for an Amazon Music Unlimited annual membership in October which the kids access via the Echo dots. Nadia has asked to go ice skating with Paul for her half-birthday date later this month, but Ian hasn't decided what he will do with me for his birthday date. We are very, very grateful that Ian joined our family twelve years ago. I can't believe in one year we'll have two teenagers! Ian's new privilege is that he will have the opportunity to be paid to babysit Oliver when I need to take Nadia somewhere, and his new chore will be that he will be doing the dishes after dinner one night a week. I think Ian's birthday celebrations have gotten off to a great start especially considering his birthday was pretty much a nonevent last year due to COVID. which is partially why we got Milo on his birthday last year. Nadia is definitely his best friend, but I'm thankful that from December 6-13, he will have been able to spend time with Micah and Ean on three different occasions; he really likes those two boys but can go months without spending time with them. 

Dinner with Jenna at Texas Roadhouse on December 4

Craft time at Christmas Around the World - Nadia was at a different table with some girls she knows.