Owen's birthday fell on a Monday this year so he got two cakes. Willow made a sprinkle cake recipe from her Radish Kids box for his actual birthday.
It turned out great!
The following weekend he had his first sleepover with a couple Pokemon-loving friends from school. It was the best sleepover we've ever had! The boys were so kind and respectful and cleaned up and went to bed when asked! It never got crazy loud and they all had a great time!
Owen got this Pokemon trivia game for his birthday, so they played that if you got the answer right you got to punch out a prize from the Pokeball cups.
Whiskers tested out the beds to make sure they'd be ok!
Sooooo much Pokemon talk! I wish I'd gotten a video of when Owen opened his card packs his friends got him. It was full of excitement, cool-kid words, and was overall epic ;)
Owen gave us a "couple" choices of what to get him for his birthday:
How old are you? 10
What's your favorite color? green
What is your favorite activity? playing outside
What is your favorite fruit? apple
What is your favorite TV show? Last Kids on Earth
What is your favorite thing to eat at lunch? grilled cheese
What is your favorite type of clothes? tshirts
What is your favorite game to play? Minecraft
What is your favorite snack? granola bar
What is your favorite animal? bobcat
What is your favorite song? Under Pressure from Encanto
What is your favorite book? Wolf Walkers
Who is your best friend? Xavier
What is your favorite cereal? Life
What is your favorite thing to do outside? play with sticks
What is your favorite drink? apple juice
What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
What do you take to bed at night? Buddy Buddy
What is your favorite thing to eat at breakfast? cinnamon toast
What did you have for dinner on your birthday? Dairy Queen
What job do you want to have when you're older? working in a Pokemon factory making Pokemon cards
* Owen's favorite things these days are Pokemon and Minecraft. He organizes and reorganizes his cards regularly. Chris enjoys battling with him using decks that Owen creates. His teacher had to ban Pokemon cards at school because it became too intense and distracting in class with all the trading going on! He enjoys reading through his character essential handbooks. His memory is incredible and he can name attacks and damage if you name a character. He's enjoyed creating many worlds on Minecraft and especially enjoys when he's able to get on Minecraft with Hannah and Hunter to play together. He continues to be quite an artist and will redraw Pokemon cards or create his own (often versions of Tilly, Whiskers, and Alli). We are drowning in Legos which don't come out as much as they used to. He doesn't read or talk about Star Wars as much lately but does enjoy watching Mandalorian and Boba Fett.
* Owen continues to take his Ninja class once a week. We were sad that he didn't want to play baseball this spring but he's really shown an interest in basketball lately and said he'd like to play on a team next winter. He goes out daily (sometimes multiple times a day) to shoot hoops, so we're optimistic that he'll enjoy that next year. His school offered a Lego Club this year after school for 3rd-5th grades. He wasn't interested but his mom signed him up anyways ;) He was pretty grumpy about it most weeks but at least he was interacting with his peers more and taking on Lego challenges.
* Owen had a great school year academically. He maintained straight As all year and passed all of his SOLs (even Pass Advance in VA Studies!). He switched classes for English, Math, and VA Studies/Science and had positive reports from all teachers at his conferences.
* He loves to play outside...usually with a stick in his hand. Due to some hurt feelings, he hasn't played with the neighbor down the street much any more, and I think he misses having a buddy to play around with. We've reached out to another neighbor his age without much luck. He seems to always have someone to play with at school when he's interested. When they got to return to the cafeteria to eat when the COVID numbers went down, he was excited to have an assigned seat with his friend Xavier. His other friend, Owen, is in another class but I'm in touch with his mom and we get together occasionally outside of school.
* Owen is still an early riser. He can't get out of bed until 6:00am but who knows how long he stares down his clock because his light switch regularly turns on right at 6. He goes to bed at 8:00 on school nights but enjoys staying up until 8:30 on the weekend. He's gotten a lot better about eating his dinner WITH us. There are just a few meals where a timer gets set for him to finish. We're glad to be past those battles! School has had free lunch for everyone during COVID so he's enjoyed having school lunch every day. He'll miss his daily chocolate milk this summer!
* Owen loves animals and can't wait to have a ton of cats and dogs when he's older. He wishes our cats were interested in cuddling more and still prays for Alli.
The Caldwells brought their jet ski for the first time and the kids each took a turn with Chad. It was a hit!
Sunday morning we headed on a hike to the lookout while the Caldwells had their turn on the speed boat. 
We each took lots of turns getting pulled behind the speedboat. We each told the driver our special requests for tight turns or not. Everyone had a great time!
We each took lots of turns getting pulled behind the speedboat. We each told the driver our special requests for tight turns or not. Everyone had a great time!
This mom prefers a relaxed speed, which some may consider boring. 
Hunter had a birthday party with his friends at the bowling alley. The kids enjoyed pizza, cake, and bowling!
Monday morning we took the kayaks out before heading home. It was our first time having them out for a couple of years. We had bought a 3rd oar, which Owen used, so we teased Willow about being the "princess" since she was the only one who wasn't paddling. 
Willow and I made Hunter's Lego cake! He actually doesn't like cake but wanted candy Legos, so everything but the Legos were just a formality. ;)
