Eleven and Driving

A Scandia birthday celebration to remember.

I can hardly believe that October is finally coming to a close. Tomorrow will wrap up what’s known in our family as "The Birthday Week," the only trouble is, this year it’s been more like "The Birthday Month." All three of my favorite guys celebrate their birthday this month. My father-in-laws birthday is Oct. 22nd; my son’s is Oct. 23rd; and the hubby’s is Oct. 24th.

As you might imagine we see quite a flurry of activities in an attempt to ensure each of my special guys has a perfect day all their own, which is not as easy as it might sound.

This year I tried my hand at making Firehouse Crab Cakes, a treat that everyone of us enjoys, except perhaps my husband. They turned out a little spicier than I had hoped, so I’ll be making them again very soon, in an attempt to perfect the recipe (to my liking).

My son picked out an assortment of Cheesecakes from the local freezer case that turned out to be much better than expected, quite good in fact, and enjoyed by the three of us.

My baby just turned eleven. He actually had three big birthday events this year. Last month, we purchased a second Nintendo Gameboy, so that he and his father could hook them up together and play each other. We picked up duplicates of a couple of the games he already owned; because of course, you have to have two copies of the game, in order to play "together" on two linked systems.

Then a couple weeks ago, we did something we had talked about doing for ages; we visited the Scandia Family Fun Center, in Sacramento, Ca. Fortunately, we did the math and purchased wrist bands for the three of us and a friend, which turned out to be very economical. The Stockholm Raceway was a huge hit. My son was just tall enough to drive the go-carts on his own. Not only was it his first-time in a go-cart but he was also he able to drive for the first-time. How exciting for him! I can wait for the real thing though.

I must admit, his driving wasn’t too bad. You can imagine my embarrassment, when it was I who rear-ended him, after neglecting to hit my brakes and instead hit the gas. Luckily, he wasn’t injured. Nothing was hurt except my pride.

The guy’s road the Scandia Sky Screamer, which during the daylight hours is quite scary I’m told but much better at night. The Baltic Sea Awesome Bumper Boats were a drag, boring in fact but in the heat of the summer I image they would be a lot of fun, since they come complete with squirt guns.

Sadly, we ran out of time before we made it to the miniature golf courses but they looked like a great deal of fun. To be honest we were having such a terrific time at the Stockholm Raceway we didn’t want to stop. There were no lines what so ever during the day and hardly any at all during the evening. Homeschoolers have a distinct advantage this time of year being in the unique position of being able to go during the day, while everyone else is at school or work, since they open at 10:00 a.m.

This would be a fun field-trip idea for a homeschool group, especially this time of year when the temperatures are cooler and the lines are shorter (or non-existent). Discounts are available for groups making a trip to Scandia quite affordable, so be sure to check out their package deals.

Though we’ve had an incredible month, I’m just happy to have things getting back to normal. It’s been quite the month. Thank God October only comes once a year, it makes getting through Thanksgiving and Christmas seem like a snap.

Tags: activities, birthday celebration, Christmas, family, field trip ideas, fun, group, homeschool, homeschoolers, LocalHS, math, Scandia, school, summer, Thanksgiving