Turning 12

 

Turning 12 years old

Dylan turning 12 was a bittersweet experience for me this year.  Months and months ago, Dylan asked to go to Cedar Point, in lieu of a gift and a birthday party.  We agreed, and put the plan in works.  We would go as a family for 3 days.  Also, his cousins were going to come as well, to ride roller coasters with him!

Three days before we were ready to go, Dylan and I were playing wiffle ball in the backyard.  I pitched it to him, he cracked it, and before I could react it came back and smacked me point blank in the eyeball.

Needless to say, I was out for Cedar Point.  Eva stayed home with me. Bittersweet, because I wanted to be a part of his special trip.  However, they had an amazing time. Just the boys.  Eva and I fended for ourselves.  We watched Dirty Dancing with Tia Linda.  We did Twilight marathon.  We door dashed!  Most importantly, I could see so shut up and count your blessings!

Happy birthday Dylan!  Here are some birthday highlight photos!

The three cousins!

Birthday dinner!

Eva kept busy with One-Eyed Wagner

Not funny Eva...nice eyeball joke..

Eva's Post Post Post birthday celebration

 Pobrecita.

Eva suffered from a near strep throat condiiton that impacted her birthday weekend.  It was a last minute planned get together that was soon cancelled.

Fast forward a month.  

We rebooked a party.

We set up tents.  And a covered play space in the backyard.  

Eva made up game.  Lots.  With prizes!

We created a menu, the theme was 'dipping.'

And then, enter the monsoon.

Seriously, "It wouldn't be a Wagner party without a monsoon!"

Eva had some great games!

The cousins did prize on a string, taste test, oreo slide, make a friend laugh, and many more!

After, there was a bonfire and s'mores.  The ninos slept out in tents for the nights.  

What a fun evening for the cousins!

Building muscle

 Dylan has always taken his hockey very seriously.  Now in fact, he is starting to work out so he can develop his leg muscles to skate faster.

We joined the YMCA, again.  This time we are more focused and have an agenda!  It is really lovely there.  Today Dylan met with a personal trainer, who designed a workout regimen for him.  He took him around the facility and introduced how to use the different machinery.  

It is good that Dylan is so determined and he definitely has the drive!

Yes, Eva loves it too.

The Remodel from Hell

 Jeff always says, "No good deed goes unpunished."

When I got my bonus check from the contract settlement, I told Dyleva that they could fix up their rooms a bit.  Wow, did this backfire on me. 

Dylan's situation wasn't too bad.  We looked around for awhile, but eventually, and convincingly, he chose a new bed.  Time to move out the bunk beds.  I went to touch up a couple of spots on his wall, and accidently used a shade too dark.

Ugggh!

So I had to go out and repaint the most of the room.  Seriously.  Dylan realized how many things Eva ordered, and became angry, even though his bed equaled the amount Eva spent.  Then Dylan cleaned out his old toys.  

It filled up the entire dining room.

Some family friends took some toys, I donated many to Dyleva's old daycare, and the rest to Amvets.  

Dyl's room looks great!

Now Eva's room was supposed to get a quick update.  Some new furniture and fixings.  Quick. 

Self-admittedly, Eva is a bit of a perfectionist.  Which means everything takes an extremely long time.  Its good that she puts in so much hard work, but the down side is that we really cannot help her.  

Cleaning the fish tank was essentially an entire day process.  She decided to paint her dresser and the hardware; that took two days.  Then her closet and storage containers, another day.  Her room looks beautiful.  She has put in a lot of hard work, but it is sad because in her eyes, it is still not perfect.

Her theme is clouds, which is really cool.  It is going to be beautiful once she is done.  She worked really hard on her room, and it came out beautiful.  Nice job Eva!