Brock's 13th Birthday

A Wednesday birthday for Brock meant he got to celebrate ALL week! We started on Sunday night as Brent was unfortunately scheduled to be out of town for work on Brock's actual birthday. 

A Carvel Ice Cream Cake in the middle of January - why not? 

I surprised Brock with his big number balloons for his birthday. Numerous people asked me whether we were celebrating 13 or 31 at the store - do people still get number balloons for those birthdays?? 

Brock chose Red Robin for his birthday dinner, but he did not want anyone to sing to us!

The immediate Saturday following his birthday, we had originally scheduled a fun sleepover. The weather had other plans so it ended up being a full afternoon/evening birthday instead so everyone could get back to their homes. 

We still had fun - bowling with three of his best buddies - can you tell they are all swimmers?

Brock is actually the youngest in his friend group - the last to turn 13. Look at these boys doing what teenagers do! (They are all playing a game together with various electronic devices!)

Papa Johns pizza followed by homemade cupcakes! I made the "mistake" of putting all 18 cupcakes down at the table and between the five of them, they DEVOURED every last one! 

We all woke up on Sunday to an icy winter wonderland! The streets were all frozen and the grass had a light dusting of sleet. 

Thankfully Monday was already a teacher workday, but this ice resulted in two days of remote learning and two days of 2 hour delays! Brock thought it was a wonderful extra birthday present! 

Happy 13th Birthday Brock!!

Ranger Rookie Wrestling Tournament

Kade has been working exceptionally hard at this new sport! Practices are one hour long, three times a week and he is SORE when he leaves. The wrestling club we joined in September seems semi-new - the coaches were all former college wrestlers and working to grow their business.  Triangle Wrestling Academy meets in a rented warehouse/office space with new kids joining each week; they are finally expanding the facility in the Spring! 

Kade said he was ready to compete so we signed him up for the Ranger Rookie Wrestling Tournament! This was all new to me, but Brent seems to be in his element! 

Weigh-in's started at 7am (an early start for all of us!) and then we could sit and have some breakfast. When Kade was mostly digested, it was time to warm up. Brent helped ease some nerves and started the warmups with him. 

I love that Brent loves to give his little wrestling advice. It's adorable to see these moments. 

The team met at 8:30am to properly warm up - running, stretching and shooting drills and then finished with a group huddle. 

Kade was awarded a bye in the first round, so we had to sit awhile before his first match. But here it was! And I was so enthralled, I was so focused on the video - I took no pictures! 

Kade used a half nelson to pin his opponent! Just amazing!

I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching the video and watching his coach really go through the motions and yelling directions to Kade. I also loved how Kade looked up mid-hold, had enough power to hold his opponent, and then followed through! 

Now we are getting the hang of it! One wrestler wears red around the ankle and the other green so the referee knows whom to score points. 

The next opponent was a little more of a challenge. 

Kade did fight really hard in this match. I so wanted to reach out and give him the extra boost of power to help!

He made it to the second period of this match before succumbing to a pin. 

The third match was a surprise - he was paired against another TWA (Triangle Wrestling Academy) friend. I think it put both boys at a disadvantage because the Coach could not help either boy and simply told them "Good luck boys" before the match! 

The boys were very evenly matched though and they took it through all 3 periods before Kade finally won on points. Tough match!

As this was all new to us, we assumed we would be done at a certain time, however that was not the case and we were still there waiting for Kade's final match well after lunch! We were all exhausted from the loud crowd and sitting around - and Kade was physically exhausted. 

After his opponent was a no-show at match time, Kade had to wait and watch two other matches until he finally arrived. We definitely saw a difference in "first/second-match-Kade" to fourth-match-Kade." Poor guy wasn't completing his attacks which left him vulnerable. 

Neverthless, Kade had a great first tournament winning two and losing two, earning him a Third Place finish! 

Kade scooped up his Bronze metal and posed for a picture on the podium. Great job Kade!!