Maxwell Loves Reptiles: He turned 9 & his FIRST pet!!

Maxwell turned 9 this June and I cannot believe that this is his last year as a single digit child. 

Currently, Maxwell is into video games, particularly Gorilla Tag. He loves reptiles, dinosaurs still and enjoys drawing and anything artistic. His favorite movie currently is Inside Out 1 and 2. 

What started off as asking 1 friend to come visit for his birthday turned into a full-on party with a few friends, cake and even the one drink he's been asking to try for months...Prime. This is a no-go in my house of non-toxic food/drink. But I did let him get this for his party, as a special occasion. I think that may have been the highlight of the party. Ha ha. 

We also decided that this would be the time to get Maxwell his first pet. With his love of reptiles, we embarked on the mission to find the easiest and friendliest lizard we could find. To which we were pointed to the Leopard Gecko. Now, I will say, I think that Tyler was almost more excited for this than Maxwell. While it was a surprise, Maxwell had been asking for a pet for a few years. It was that or a iphone and a cell phone was NOT gonna happen quite yet. 

In typical Tyler fashion, he did a thorough investigation into everything that leopard geckos entail and ordered everything under the sun for this new pet. Boxes upon boxes kept arriving at the door and after the front door started looking more like a wall than a door, I finally questioned Ty as to what exactly he bought for this lizard. lol. Turns out that a simple lizard isn't so simple after all. An entire live ecosystem, 4 lights of different temps, a temp laser gun,  large encasement with stand, numerous gadgets that I'm still not even sure what they are for, later...and we had everything we needed besides the actual gecko. 

Tyler couldn't order from a pet store within driving distance. No, that would have been too simple. He ordered from a professional breeder in AZ and had it overnighted to us. I'm starting to think that Tyler is lot more like Clark Griswold than I ever realized. Even that shipment process was an escapade. While it was super hot in both AZ and TX, the breeder assured us that if she shipped at night and it arrived the next morning, it would be fine as it is sent with cooling box. When Ty arrived early the next morning at the pick up station, he was dismayed to find that the lizard was NOT in fact there. After calling the breeder and assessing, we found out it was delayed in Tennessee. So at this point we didn't even know if we were going to get this gecko here alive. We had not told Maxwell about his present yet, so that was the only positive aspect to the whole debacle. 

On the next day, Ty showed up yet again at the pick up station and thankfully.....Ms Nelly aarrived and was alive!! We brought her back and set her all up in her new home. Ty spent the next 2 weeks fussing over her and making sure she had everything she could possibly need. When Maxwell got out of school that day, he was elated by his new little friend. He named her Nelly and she's been happy at home since. Although she is nocturnal and doesn't do too much, Maxwell finds having her to be a fun first and loves holding her and helping to feed her the mealworms. 

Maxwell's 8th Birthday: Lego Land & CA

 

Carrying on the theme this year for birthday trips, we surprised Maxwell with a trip to LegoLand Ca for the big 8! He had no clue where we were going. All he knew was that we were taking a plane to get there. He kept asking for hints along the way.  When we arrived, there was sheer excitement as he walked up to the Lego Castle! It carried on into the room decorated with birthday items for him and as they explored the fun castle- themed room! 

I was really surprised by how much we loved staying here. I figured this was going to be a trip that we did for the kids and just lived through their enjoyment. But in all honesty, I had JUST as much fun as the kids. I loved watching them find the clues throughout the resort to open the gift lego box in our room. We had pool time and plenty of snacks and drinks were served. They had many activities going on all throughout the afternoons and into the evenings including interactive shows, movies and if they weren't about that, you could play of the awesome playground for kids. The park was also a good time. Maxwell was SUPER excited that he found Mr. Gold!!  There are only 8 hidden throughout the park each day. They are with staff members and you have to go around asking for them. What are the odds....he found Mr. Gold on our first day! And traded it in for a super rare lego- a birthday moment he will remember. 

Maxwell doesn't enjoy too many rides. He takes after his Dad in the fact that if he can't drive it or control it, he isn't sure he wants anything to do with it! lol. But there were a plethora of ride options both chill and thrill. His favorite ones were the driving cars and getting his "license" as well as the firetruck race. Ty was born for that ride. He was reliving his firefighter days and made sure they won that race! ;)  Mini Land was super cool to see. Maxwell's love language is gifts. So we left with a couple bags more than I really wanted to buy him. Ha. But, you only turn 8 once! 

After 2-3 days at LegoLand, we packed up and stayed the rest of the trip in La Jolla CA. This was partly to let the kids go explore the beach and somewhat also for a bit of relaxation for Ty and I. We rented an Airbnb with ocean views and lots of windows. The rest of the trip was just relaxing. We went to the beaches, I was surprised at how cool it was there in June. We booked some great restaurants to eat at. A fav was the views at George's at The Cove and Duke's which was Hawaiian food. Loved that one. We also did morning walks to get Maxwell's favorite treat, at Dodo Bird Donuts and explored the shops and cafes. Next year will be parties and I'm already missing these birthday trips! The best memories are made during these trips. :) 

Back to School 2022. 6th Grade & 2nd Grade

 

Scarlett is now in MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!! It took a bit to process that. She score high on her initial start of the year tests (As she always does).  She wants to try Volleyball and Gymnastics this year. Horse lessons still are front and center in her world. We may find some new stables to try out some new ways of riding. Scarlett adjusted well to the new HUGE middle school and not knowing anyone in any of her classes. She is of course, making friends quickly. Loves reading and wants to travel so she can vlog about it. Ha ha.  

Maxwell started 2nd grade. He spent the summer with his tutor learning to read as he was a bit "behind" according... to the state apparently. Lol. I took it with a grain of salt since he's the youngest in his class and the first year of school for him was a joke with the pandemic. But still I wanted to make sure he got the support he needed. He ended up loving his tutor, Trevor, and so we kept him around into the new school year! He made reading fun for Maxwell. They wrote comic books together and had his super hero toys take turns reading to see who could read the best. Maxwell instantly bonded with his tutor and he's doing really well already in the first month of 2nd grade. Strong in Math and STEM. Getting better at his reading. Maxwell is my little homebody who likes to stay home and build all sorts of cool houses on the computer. 

Maxwell 's 7th Reptile Birthday Party

 

We had the best time celebrating our fun boy turning 7!! It was all about the reptiles this year. I always have fun planning parties. We like to change it up. Some years we do parties and some years we do travel/experiences. Maxwell had been asking for a friend party so we decided to throw him something special. As you can see by the photos... they all had an amazing time. Thankful for all the friends who came by and helped us celebrate!!