April 28/29 2015

Since we were gone for a couple days I decided to combine both of April 28 and the 29. Well, it all started when Dad told us on Thursday that we were going to a place called the Great Wolf Lodge. After showing us the website, we were so excited. The Great Wolf Lodge is a huge hotel and water park combined in one awesome building. On Tuesday we began packing. Dad got home around 2pm and we loaded the car and hit the road. From our house in Travelers Rest to Concord/Charlotte North Carolina, the drive took about two and a half hours. When we got there we unpacked our car and head inside.

   

   After surveying the area and receiving wolf ears, we headed up the elevator to the fourth floor. From there we walked or ran down the hallway to the Grizzly Bear Suite or at least that is what it is called on their website. The room was so awesome. It had a small kitchen, three beds, a couch, two chairs, a balcony, two TVs, and a bathroom. For thirty minutes we situated our room. During that time the kids displayed their best wolf imitation.

   

Then we walked downstairs and into the water park. And the best part is that the park is inside so you can't freeze to death. The park had a huge water playground, a smaller playground, two huge slides called the Howlin' Tornado and the River Canyon Run, a racing slide called the Mountain Edge Raceway, two smaller slides, a few basketball goals in the water, and an obstacle course. We stayed for about an hour. Then we went up our room and changed. After that we went out to eat at a Mexican place. When we returned, we put the younger kids to bed. The big kids and mom and dad watched Chopped and played a card game. In the end, Dad was triumphant. We went to bed shortly afterward. When I got up I crept outside and propped open my Bible. Two hours later we were riding down the Howlin' Tornado for the forth time.

Then we went down so many other slides that I probably for your sake not go over them. I think my favorite slides in order are The Howlin' Tornado without a thought. Then the River Canyon Run, the Mountain Edge Raceway, And then lastly the two smaller slides.

After a whole day of fun at the water park, we sadly changed out of bathing suits and left the Great Wolf Lodge. In only a few minutes we were on the road and headed to a gigantic european store called IKEA. After purchasing a fold out couch for my Dad's office we went into their warehouse and looked around. While in there we found a bin of hats and tried them on.

 
A couple hours later we were in Downtown TR eating Hot Hawaiian and Mushroom pizza at Sidewall. When we finished we drove home and got in bed.

April 25, 2015

At 7:26 I was woken up by my wristwatch. (which never happens). When I approached the hallway connecting the stairs and the kitchen I realized that it was covered with streamers. Suddenly I registered that it was Jack and Eli's 4th and 6th birthday. I hurriedly bustled over to them and congratulated them on a having lived this far. And after watching Jack pull every single box of cereal we had out of the pantry. So after pondering the fact that I couldn't just sit around and watch them devour the cereal I rushed to open a box of marshmallow cereal. But before I could get the chance the pour my bowl dad came running in from the garage. Quickly he hurried over and whispered in my ear, "Hazel had her kittens!" Speedily I ran outside and into the garage. Sure enough Hazel was laying there with seven little cute baby kitties around her. Ten minutes seemed to fly by. And yes, every second of that ten minutes was devoted to lovingly adore them. Sadly I had to go inside and eat.       

 
Soon we finished our breakfast and the  little ones opened a couple of their presents. Then they did a tradition in our family that we have done for a while which is running through a web of streamers. 

 
Slowly an hour passed and we made our way through the garage and into our chevy suburban. From there we drove to the YMCA. While their we played basketball in the gym, ran on a treadmill, mom and dad did a kettlebell class, and we swam in a indoor pool. For about forty-five minutes Travis chased me around every inch of that swimming pool. 

   

Then we left the Y and drove to Zoe's Kitchen for lunch. I got a delicious steak sandwich. Then we headed home to prepare for later tonight. At around 5:00 our cousins the Babingtons came over for dinner and presents. To cap off the night I ate a cinnamon role and watched a beautiful sunset.

 

 All and all happy birthday to my little brothers Jack, Eli, and to the kitties.

April 24, 2015

   Today, after working and scrubbing this house till it sparkled, we left our house and journeyed across town and into Greer. From there we headed towards Century Park. It is a playground, disc golf, baseball field, a mini and a large playground. We unpacked our lunch and ate near the bigger park. After lunch I pushed myself to pump my legs fast to avoid getting tagged. Minutes later we were in the car and made the journey home. At around 3:30 Caroline told me that she wanted me to film a movie. Well, after being inspired by the new film Annie, Caroline was convinced to make a movie some what based on foster kids trying to escape their insanely crazy caretaker. After a few minutes of filming, I decided that if this movie was remotely going to succeed that I myself would have to take the role of Director/Producer. From there we filmed until we were called to dinner. Dad, who rushed home quickly, gathered us children together and headed out the door. We were, in fact, headed to the second Redeemer softball game.

   

   

After a very close 9th inning, The other team was crowned and after letting the younger boys run the bases we traveled for five minutes until we got home.   

April 22, 2015

Today was another one of those days that seemed to run together with lots of other days. In other words, nothing really happened. Mom took Jack and Eli on a birthday date seeing as how their birthday is in a couple days. And later in the afternoon some of Jack, Ben, and Eli's friends came over to hang out. Well, the real fun started when Dad dropped Travis and me off at youth group. This week was our youth group's game night. When we arrived, the church had already set-up the gaga-ball court. In case you have never heard of Gaga-ball, it is an amusing game. It is played simply by making a fifteen by fifteen foot ring out of plywood and then getting a street ball. Then from there you toss the ball up in the air and yell "ga-ga-BALL!" Then you bat the ball against the plywood walls until the ball hits someone's knees or below. If that happen than the person who got hit is out. Ok, let me rephrase that incase you misheard me. OUT! O-U-T out (an act of putting a player out). Ok, you probably get it now. So along with that we played a game of Ultimate Frisbee. If by the slim chance that you don't know how to play Ultimate Frisbee then you are permitted to look up rules, instructions, ect. for the game. So anyway we played Ultimate Frisbee (also known as Ultimate) for about thirty minutes. When 8:06 came around the corner all games stopped and we made our way inside the church building. At 8:28 however, youth group ended and people started streaming out the doors. However Travis and I had made plans with a few of our friends to film a scene for the Damon Supremacy after youth group. We quickly changed into our costumes and began. About an hour later I was nodding off into a deep sleep.

April 21, 2015

Today I woke up to Jack screaming his head off. And he went on screaming for forty five minutes after that. I think it was something about a lego figure. This Tuesday is our Tuesday Poetry Tea. We usually do it in the afternoons, but Travis and I were going to go to a friend's house so we decided to do it during breakfast. Mom always makes tea and we sit at the dining room table and take turns reading poetry. During this poetry however, we ate french toast and drank hot tea. At 1:00 Travis and I were dropped off at the Kolarik's. When we used to live in our neighborhood the Kolarik's land was about 200 feet away from our backyard. While we were there, we walked around their property and played a round of airsoft. At 4:00 they dropped us off at our house. Today my mom and dad had to go to a special event for my dad's work. After they left, we cleaned up the house and ate dinner. Then we went downstairs and watched a some Food Network shows called Cutthroat Kitchen and All-star Academy. When the clock struck eight, you could see Jack running in the opposite direction of his room. When Jack and Travis met half way up the stairs, Jack completely refused to go anywhere. Travis, in desperation, called mom. She asked to get on the phone with Jack. And after a series of talking, Jack gave in and got in bed. Me and Caroline got some games and headed upstairs into my room. We ended up playing Settlers (which I love) and several different card games.

April 20, 2015

   Today I woke up feeling great! Especially since the day was bright and sunny.

Rushing downstairs, I grabbed a bite of breakfast and did my chores. After pulling open my curtains I realized that clouds had slowly gathered together. Slowly throughout the morning they had steadily formed together to make a mass of dark heavy clouds. Soon within minutes it had begun to rain. In a couple of minutes the whole deck was covered in a thick blanket water.

                                       

Sadly today was another rainy day. This past week it has rained every day. And today I was really looking forward to a day of sun. But after a couple of hours of getting used to it, I found that another rainy day would be welcomed. After lunch the younger kids went into their rooms and played while Travis, my friend James, and I played Settlers of Catan. This time we played, it was ten times as fun. This time we had two expansions. Expansions are extensions to the original game. In these expansions you can deploy your knights in different sections of your kingdom, defend your empire from pirate and barbarian war ships, build ships across uncharted waters, build cities and settlements on gold tiles, and build giant gold metropolises. In the end however, Travis was triumphant. After cleaning it up, I walked over to the nearest window and looked out. Amazed I realized that the clouds had cleared and a shining blue sky took there place.

But I couldn't go outside because the ground was wet and muddy. So I read and waited. And waited...... and waited....... Until the mud slowly dried. And soon after eating loaded baked potatoes, I was able to go outside and throw a softball and shoot some hoops.

So I will conclude this post by saying, "I very much dislike it when it rains in spurts."

April 19, 2015

Today Dad and us five boys piled into our car and headed to church. This Sunday Caroline and Mom were both gone. Mom was on a women's trip to Pensacola Beach, FL. And Caroline was at our cousin's house for sleepover. Our church's sunday school starts at 9:00am and the service starts at 10:00am. After sunday school and the service Me Travis and a couple of our friends came over to film a quick scene for our short film that we are making. This past February our youth group did a thing like the oscars called the Raymond Awards. Before our youth leader started here he worked at a church in Florida. There with the help of our YG leader a guy named Raymond started a movie showing. Soon it became a tradition for their youth group. Every year they would make it better and better. But back to the point. In February we did a short film based on the first Bourne movie, the Bourne Identity. Today we started filming a scene for the second Bourne movie called the Damon Supremacy. After a solid forty five minutes of filming, we finished and ascended the stairs into our kitchen to eat lunch. During a period of ten minutes, I pleased myself in eating baked beans and hot dogs. Contented with fact that sadly the food was gone I got up and followed the procession that lead to the basement. There we delighted ourselves in watching the Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

 
And following the departure of our good friends I sat down and began on the job of writing this post. Since the day is still young and I cannot read the future I must finish my post.

April 17, 2015

Yesterday was our church's first softball game. Two years ago we had gone undefeated the whole year. Unfortunately for the players and the fans of both sides, it had rained the whole day. The infield was insanely slushy. Every time someone fell they would come up covered in mud. After a few wet innings, sadly the other won. After the game our uncle and little cousins came over to have a sleep over. After making a quick pitstop at the grocery store, we headed home. At around 9:00 dad put Caroline and down to bed with the cousins. Leaving Uncle Ron, Dad, Travis and me up. And after scouring every second of special features, we began the Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner. At midnight we finished it and climbed the stairs into my bedroom.  

April 15, 2015

 
Today Me, Caroline, and Ben played the game (for our sixth day in a row) Settlers of Catan. In the base game Settlers of Catan, You build settlements, cities, and roads along wheat fields, mountains, forests, sheep pastures, brick deposits, and a desert. Using resources you have collected over the course of the game you can buy Development Cards, Cities, and Settlements. You can also deploy the robber on your opponents land. By getting the Largest Army and Longest Road cards you can insure a victory. By purchasing cities, settlements, longest road, and largest army you gain a certain number of victory points. The game ends when a player has reached 10 victory points. Well anyway back to our game. Usually when my younger brother Ben gets thwarted and trapped he either starts groaning in disappointment or he gets extremely hyper. Today me and Caroline placed our pieces completely around his pieces. A mix of supreme hyperness and anger. Throughout the entire game he was reminding us of the bad choices we had made while placing our pieces. He finally stopped when I reminded him that he was beating both of us. In the end however, I was crowned victorious!

April 14, 2015

This afternoon me and mom went on our weekly Pub run at a local pizza place called Sidewall. If you are familiar with Downtown TR than you will know that the Swamp Rabbit trail runs through it. Our church started it to bring the community together. There are three courses that we rotate between each week. Each course is around three miles long. If you run all three courses you get a really cool t-shirt. And it so happened that today if I ran this course I would get it. Today's run was especially hot. Unfortunately on this course there isn't a lot of shade. After twenty three minutes, I finished the course. After receiving a T-shirt and a dark chocolate and Almond ice cream, we exited Sidewall and preceded on our way home.