turning ten

 

caleb celebrated the big one-oh by enjoying over-the-top milkshakes in the desert (and a diamondacks game later that evening). his dad took him to an arcade to live his best life playing hours of video games and laser tag with his sibs and opa d. enormous monkie kid lego sets and advance copies (all they way from the uk) of the new minecraft zombie books were waiting for him at home, and a special collector's edition of fortnite monopoly showed up at the house in scottsdale. 

it was a great day to turn ten.

first things first, caleb loves fortnite. now, i don't know a lot about video games since my glory years yonder--may they rest in peace--but apparently in video games these days, basically, you use real money to buy fake stuff (outfits, maybe?), and it turns out, said fake stuff is very, very important to the emotional well-being of those who love these video games. so bryan came up with this ingenious idea (now stay with me here) that our kids would not be allowed to use real money (USD) to purchase fake money (v-bucks) to buy fake stuff in fortnite, but instead, they have to earn fake money (dad-bucks or d-bucks) in real life by accomplishing real goals, and then exchange the fake money (d-bucks) for real money (USD) to buy other fake money (v-bucks) to use in fake life (fortnite). trust me, it works. and bryan is killing it on the exchange rate arbitrage. 

all this is to say that caleb is an ever-motivated goal-crushing machine. (dallin, on the other hand, gets distracted by a lot of side quests...)

caleb's most recent sphere of goal-crushing domination is solving speed cubes. after reaching his initial goal of learning to solve one in the first place, he upgraded to a magnetic cube and slashed his solve time in half. he's currently learning a new algorithmic strategy to solve it even faster AND has taught afton how to solve it. 

caleb still loves hot food and hates going to bed. he's very much socially fueled and is the most extroverted person in the family (edging out bryan and summer, who are hard to beat). being bored is his absolute kryptonite. he's very particular about his hair and his shoes. he loves cats and kiwi birds. is confident. capable. quiet. constantly soaking everything in. caleb loves to be on time.

he is eager to make his way in the world, and i love discovering the vastness of his capabilities. caleb is our heavy weight: tall, sturdy, stoic.

happy, happy birthday, bobby! may ten treat you right. 

and on! on to victory! on to victory royale!