Happy 11th Birthday to Owen

Owen - you are ELEVEN years old!! My, my, the years keep speeding by. You are getting so big so fast! Even though I can no longer pick up up (you are ALMOST as big as your mom!), you will always be my baby.

As you've grown, your interests have changed (well, as least some of them). You have quite the knack for technology. Whether you're on the Chromebook, the iPad, or the Smart TV, you're our go-to-guy with any techie questions. You know far more than me about each device. You can spend hours online with your electronic device of choice, researching all there is to know about movies (especially horror or dino flicks), games (Roblox and Minecraft are your favs!), books and more.

You've become our resident movie expert. You love to watch YouTube videos about film theory, twist villains, movie logic, plot elements, and lots of other movie terms that I have no clue about. You are quite the movie buff, digging deep into the various scenes and pointing out inconsistencies and errors in the filming. YouTube is your number one resource for movie reviews and gaming tips and tricks. In fact, one day you want to make your fortune on YouTube. You've explained it all to us and use your YouTube heros as prime examples of how to easily become a millionaire from posting videos on YouTube (Seriously, google Ryan's Toy Reviews - he makes $11 million a year! I honestly had no clue!)

You are a bit obsessed when it comes to your favorite online games. Minecraft USED to be your favorite by far. You could spend all day building amazing mansions, complete with gardens, a fountain, pool, and even art on the walls. But then the unimaginable happened. After years of work, you accidentally deleted your account. It was a rough day to say the least. You were devastated. But you turned your interests to another poplar game - Roblox. Now Roblox doesn't require much creativity, but you sure do have a blast playing the sometimes strange, occasionally intense games. You are a bit obsessive over your Roblox character and his outfit and accessories. It's quite shocking considering you couldn't care less about clothes in real life. But your character's ensemble just has to be perfect.

Owen's perfectly coordinated outfit and accessories in Roblox

Your other passion, next to movies and gaming, is reading (especially when you lose your electronics privileges!)  Lately your kindle is always in tow while you plow through novels in just a few days. Your most recent read was "Meg - A Novel of Deep Terror" about a prehistoric megalodon.  It's of course a thriller about some creature from the dinosaur era. You read the 534 page novel in just 3 days!

Your love of dinosaurs is still going strong, although you no longer play with what was once a huge collection of dinosaurs. You donated most of them a year or so ago. Instead, you watch every realistic dinosaur movie ever made - often viewing the same show dozens of times. Your all time favorites are the Jurassic Park/World series. The original trilogy (yes - there were indeed 3 Jurassic Park movies made) is currently on Netflix and constantly streaming. You love showing all three of your younger siblings the movies - even Kate! You'll pull her up in her high chair right next to your seat so you can enjoy the show together. Of course, she doesn't care, but you are adamant that she will grow up to be a huge Jurassic Park fan one day!

When the new Jurassic World movie "Fallen Kingdom" came out this year, you begged and begged to see it in the theaters on opening night AND both mom and dad had to come with. We had a great time at the movies and you loved every minute of it! You talked about it for months! You couldn't wait until it came out on video. You knew the exact release date and patiently counted down the days until you get your hands on the DVD. You are now the proud owner and can watch it any time you like.

Water is still one of your favorite things to play with - the hose, the rain, in the shower or at the pool - you can not get enough! You can spend hours by yourself splashing away. This year you started up swimming lessons again - this time at Foss. After only 1 lesson, they called asking to move you up to the next class. You are a born swimmer! You love experimenting and usually water is involved. I'll find all sorts of toys in the freezer frozen in a solid chunk of ice. Or empty juice bottles that you've refilled with water, soap and who knows what else. You are always coming up with some sort of strange experiment.

You are definitely the dominant child of the house. You have your brother Cole wrapped around your finger. You send him on the errands that you don't want to do yourself, like grabbing you a blanket or another item from your room. And if it's Cole's turn to pick the TV show, you somehow finagle him into agreeing to whatever it is you wanted to watch. Your sister Rose, however, is more feisty and head-strong. She puts up a good fight to your need to rule the roost, which often leads to lots of arguments between the two of you. As for Kate, you absolutely adore your littlest sis. You love holding her, carrying her around (despite my uneasiness as you have two left feet and carrying Kate is like lugging around a 20 pound turkey - she's one solid girl!), playing with her, and teaching her all about Jurassic Park, of course!

You have held study over the years with your dream of getting a dog. You still ask quite often, "Can I get a dog?" and when I respond with the long list of responsibilities that come with taking care of a dog, you usually realize that it's not a great idea, because no, you DON'T want to pick up its poo OR walk it in the winter OR do the many other things that one must do to properly take care of a dog. Let's hope for Mom's sake that you continue to be relatively easily convinced!

This summer, you had been hoping to go to Nana Bev and Popi Jerry's house for a visit. You love spending time in the sleepy little town where they live because "everyone knows me there." Going to work with Nana at the grocery store is one of the highlights of your trip. But Mom wasn't too thrilled about being trapped inside a car for 7 hours with crying and screaming kids, so instead, you agreed to go on your own.  At the end of August, Pa dropped you off at the halfway point and Nana and Popi picked you up for your vacation. Although Mom had one stipulation - that you had to come home by your birthday. On the day of your big 11th birthday, you made the long trip back home with Nana and Popi. After getting home, you excitedly ripped open your present from them.

Then we were all off to dinner at your favorite restaurant - Orchid (a local Vietnamese restaurant). You LOVE their orange chicken (minus the orange sauce - it's basically chicken nuggets!) and white rice.

After your fill, we set off for home and continued the celebration with cupcakes. It was so good to have you back home and to celebrate your big day with you! We love you forever and for always, Owen! Happy 11th birthday!