Isaac: 11 years old

 Isaac turned 11 a few days before Halloween. I can't believe I have an 11 year old in the house. I can see some teenager like behaviours starting to manifest- concern with his appearance, eating weird things like bbq and mayo sandwiches with a processed cheese slice, obsessively doing bicep curls around the house...

For his bday, he was lucky to have his Grandma and Grandpa here. We had crepes for breakfast, then they took him to the mall. There was an afternoon of swimming at the pool and he went to spend an evening with his friends out on a farm. After he came home, he ate the homemade oreo ice cream he had requested as his bday dessert. I won't lie- it was not quite the birthday I had envisioned. But I try and let my kids make as many decisions as possible on their special day, because when you're 1 of 5, you don't always get to have things your way.

For his party, he spent an afternoon at the pool with friends, and then we brought them back to our house and had pizza and a pinata.

Isaac birthday interview

Favourite movie: Terminator
Favourite colour: red/blue

Favourite book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Favourite subject:  gym

Favourite TV show: Teen Titans

Favourite passtime: computer games

Favourite animal: Elkhound and budgie

What do you want to be when you grow up?: Something with lots of money

What are you scared of?: Clowns and Brooklyn when she gets mad

What would your super power be?: I would have a magic notebook where anything I write or draw would happen or come alive (this is way more terrifying than clowns or a raging Brooklyn in my opinion)

Who is someone you look up to?: I don't admire anyone (Wowwwwww)

Describe yourself in 3 words: I. Am. Cool.

Favourite thing about being 10: Being double digits

What are you most looking forward to about being 11?: Being tall (I think this will be disappointing) and being able to go on more rides

Isaac has caused me to grow as a person, and a mom, in ways I couldn't have predicted. He asks thought provoking questions, is curious about the world, and challenges opinions and beliefs regularly. Sometimes I don't even know how to answer or broach what he is getting at, and I have to sit there and contemplate how to discuss a grown up topic with my 11 year old.

These last couple months he has put in more time to studying, exercise, and even cleaning his room than I've ever seen. He is noticing things like how he likes to sleep in clean sheets or pee in a clean toilet haha, and has some appreciation for the personal responsibility required to keep a house in order. He is of the opinion that janitors should be some of the highest paid jobs because they have to clean up everyone's messes. Apparently this does not extend to moms😂

When Isaac has something he is interested in or wants to accomplish he is very motivated to make it happen. He will research, he will make lists or notes, he will state his case and debate with Gordon and I like he is out of law school. He will work hard to make extra money to pay for the things he wants, and also understands the importance of doing research before you purchase something.

He is still picky about clothes. Will wear tshirts all year long, -40 and all. Fleecy sweats and pj pants are also acceptable, jeans and any kind of long sleeves are not. 

He loves history, especially WWI or WWII. He has an incredible memory for facts and figures.

Isaac likes a good outdoor adventure. He's into hiking and dirtbiking and likes excursions with his dad. 

He is a witty kid who always has a quip or a comment on just about everything. Even if he hasn't been invited to the conversation. Recently, Gordon and I were sharing a very rated G kiss in the kitchen. Isaac looks over says "Please stop. I don't want anymore siblings." It really doesn't matter whether you have asked for his opinion or not, because he will readily share it with you and defend it to the point of ridiculousness.

He likes listening to rock n' roll and when he first discovered Spotify, it was like a throwback to living with my dad. 

Isaac has worked on his dirtbiking skills this last year and can now do most things with his bike on his own. He did, however, get a nasty second degree burn on his leg from it that took a good two weeks to help up. Think he learned his lesson on wearing shorts while biking.

He is a strong swimmer and did really well in swimming lessons over the summer. Even though he hadn't been in official swimming lessons in a year and a half, because we couldn't make it work with judo, he passed his level with ease and now only has two more levels to pass in the regular swim program.

He also earned his green belt in Judo in June and was kind of bummed he just missed the age cutoff for the Winter Games, which are being held here this year.

Isaac would love to travel to far away places like Japan or Germany. He has been working on his German skills with Duolingo.

He still really loves Lego. There will probably be a room in the first house he buys that will need to be dedicated to his Lego. He is especially into Star Wars sets and has the displayed all around his room (which is a little bit of a dusting nightmare truthfully). He has even kept all the original boxes. He considers them his "investments".

Isaac enjoys computer games, but not board games unless he's 99% sure he will be the winner. He is fiercely competitive and a bit of a perfectionist which can be a scary combo.

We are almost finished reading Harry Potter together, and I thought he might not want to keep up with me reading to him at night. But he has already asked me what book we're going to start after we're done with Harry, and I'm glad he isn't too cool to spend time with his mom yet.

Isaac likes to put on a tough guy act, but the truth is he's actually quite a softie. He isn't too big to snuggle up to me during a movie, give his sisters piggy backs or carry their backpacks if they're heavy. He does do more than his fair share of teasing but tries to balance it out. We love this kid!

LAST SUMMER

 Literally have no other more name original for this post which took me a whole month to write. I am also suppressing the OCD part of me that wants to fix all the spacing between the pictures. 

It was busy, and flew by, and had waaaay too many smoky days for my liking. But we made the best of it, and still went out, made memories, road tripped, had late nights and pj days, too much sugar, and some maybe even some patience losing.

Our summer roundup

July

-Isaac completed his summer goal of solving a rubik's cube within a week of being on summer holidays.

-Canada day parade and fireworks

-Granny came to visit for a few days. We made our first trip to the spray park and the Grande Prairie Heritage Museum. Scarlett got her ears pierced. My mum and I also took the kids to Pipestone Creek and explored the bone bed and playground.

-We went to the SandZone with friends

-Granny took Isaac and Mia back to Calgary for the week. They went to Prairie Winds outdoor pool, Calaway Park, the Calgary Tower, go karting -where Mia won, much to Isaac's chagrin, and the indoor playground.

-I took the little girls to Down 2 Earth petting zoo. I conquered my bird phobia by petting an emu. It felt like Jurassic Park.

-Had our Jolie family reunion in Spruce Grove. We celebrated Brooklyn and my dad's birthdays with a barbecue and cupcakes. The day ended in a trip to the park with B wearing her new bathing suit, hot pink sunglasses, and flip flops. We also arranged for family photos at the St Albert Botanical Garden which was beautiful, minus being eaten alive by mosquitos. Brooklyn decided it to make it a memorable photo session by being the biggest grump.  . We went to Jurassic Forest and the kids loved looking at the dinosaurs-pretty sure that they added more since we had been there last. We also spent all day at the Science Center. The Lego exhibit was my favourite part.  Lily getting stuck head first in the rocket launcher area was a not so favourite part. The girls got soaked playing in the water feature. Brooklyn later had a meltdown about wet socks, and then wearing shoes with no socks, and ended up walking barefoot through the rest of the science center and across the parking lot when we were ready to go. We had lots of cousin time and we played many many rounds of Anomia and Exploding Kittens with the kids. We went to one of our favourite spray parks in Spruce Grove before we headed home.

                                 

-I took the kids to the park and threw the baseball around with Isaac, who had received a new glove and ball from Grampy. Had a couple races with them in which I was unfairly cheated of my win.

-I signed Mia and I up for a race in September. My first in person event since 2019.

-We met up with friends and spent a morning at the Reach Centre until it closed.

August

-Nish family reunion in Invermere. We played at the lake, built sand castles, swam, ate ice cream. Isaac and Mia played tennis with aunts and  uncles, did some shopping, and stayed up late playing lots of board games. We visited Panorama and took Isaac and Mia on their first white water rafting experience, and after we went to the swimming pool. One of the days we went to Funtasia and mini golfed, did bumper cars, and the kids fed goats and donkeys. After that we checked out a popular cliff jumping spot and Isaac did a couple jumps. The water was chiiiiiilly. Scarlett even plucked up the courage to do a jump of a smaller outcropping that Isaac helped her too. She immediately started crying once in the water, and a nice lady on a paddleboard let her hitch a ride with her back to shore. Even though the smoke started to roll in, we decided to hike Pedley Pass one of the mornings. Isaac had done the entire hike previously with Grandma and Grandpa last year, and we decided just to do a portion of it. Mia wasn't super enthused initially, but we managed to coax her into going, while Grandma and Uncle Michael watched all the rest of the littles. Isaac led the pack up and down the mountain, and Mia conquered some anxieties she faced on the trail. I was super proud of them both. On our last day we visited my Grandparents for dinner. I don't remember much of my great grandparents, and I'm grateful that at least my older kids will have special memories with theirs.

-We left the 4 older kids with Grandma and Grandpa after the family reunion and brought Lily back home with us. I thought she'd relish the opportunity to have all the princesses and barbies and lego to herself. But every morning she would ask "Where my Bookie go?" and proceed to ask about each of her siblings. I could tell she missed the older kids and then I missed them even more because she was stuck to me like glue haha. But they had fun playing with cousins, going to the movies, visiting Fort Steele, girls getting pedicures, and general spoilage.

-After Cranbrook, Scarlett and Brooklyn were dropped off in Calgary at my parents, and they go to do all sorts of fun things with Granny, Grampy, Auntie Paige and cousins Charlie and Georgia. They went to Calaway Park for my nephew's birthday, the trampoline park/indoor playground and the outdoor pool. This year was thankfully without hand, foot, and mouth!

-When Isaac and Mia were back, I took them to the petting zoo. I wasn't sure if it would be too babyish for Isaac, but he and Mia loved the little bunnies so much. They spent most of their time in the bunny pen with the bunnies climbing all over them. We were there for over 3 hours right until it closed. Lily just stuck to the playground and screamed at any daycare kid that tried to steal her ride on toy. We organized a laser tag night with friends for them and despite no pictures, they had a blast.

-My mum brought Scarlett and B back after a week, and she took B to get her ears pierced. Isaac and Mia were with Gordon and a work camp retreat in BC where they got to build and race cars (Isaac and Mia both won their heats), play games (giant jenga blocks), have their faces painted, went dirtbiking, river walk, had a movie night, and Isaac built a tree fort.

- Before Granny went back to Calgary we took the kids to the bike park and visited the Art Gallery for the first time. We popped by the library after and were pleasantly surprised to see how they have transformed the kids area since we moved here. The girls especially loved putting on puppet shows for Granny and I.

-Brooklyn asked to go bowling and ice cream for her birthday date (which happened a month late due to all our summer fun!). She nearly beat me and had to do a yoga stretch before each time she bowled.

-We harvested our garden and did well for our peas and carrots! I made some delicious carrot muffins with half of our carrot harvest and the rest went to roasting and stir frys.

-We had a very low key party for her and a few friends at luv2play. It involved me buying them pizza, watching them play, and then eating cupcakes at the end (rainbow and teal per B's request). My kind of party!

-While I was at the party with B and Lily, Gordon took the older 3 on one of many summer outdoor excursions involving the dirtbikes. 

-Our last week of summer vacation I took the kids to Edmonton for two nights, so they could go to their pediatric checkup. As much as it seems a hassle to drive 4+ hours for a drs appt, she ordered some blood work on Isaac and we found out he has low iron, so is now on a supplement. Isaac also sustained a second degree burn from his dirtbike two days previous which she was able to look at and give recommendations on treating. Our friends Tom and Jenice graciously let us stay with them, and we were able to catch up with some friends at our favourite spray park and do a wiener roast with my sister and her in laws. 

                                           

-Thanks to Gordon's work, we ended the summer with a final hoorah, spending one evening at the corn maze and one afternoon (Gordon took kids solo while I was working) at the car races!

It was jam packed and probably one of the quickest summers to pass that I remember. I hope when my kids grow up they remember their summers as some of the funnest adventures in their childhood.