Austin Wakefield - A Teenager!!

Yesterday was Austin's 13th birthday!! He is officially a TEENAGER. Oh my, where has the time gone??

On Saturday we went to Africam in the early afternoon, to see all the neat animals and for Austin to do a cool zipline-obstacle course. We got there thinking that it would go the same as every other time we've visited Africam- A nice, leisurely drive through pathways lined with beautiful animals, with atleast a couple hundred feet between you and the next car.

This was not the case on Saturday! This is what the entrance to Africam was like. It took us quite a while to get into the park, and after that, the cars spaced out a little bit. 

Front seat & back seat!

First thing we saw when we got into the park was giraffes! 

Look at his front legs! We all got a laugh out of how he had to put his legs so far apart to bend down and get a drink of water. So funny.

Here's an elephant that looks like he's smiling. :D Haha.

Tiger!

 We finally made it to our main destination! The zipline-obstacle course! Beth and I were both wondering if he was actually going to go through with this feat, but he didn't try to back out, and made it through the whole thing without even ONE tear! LOL.

Austin and Dad strapped up and ready to go

First they had to climb up this really tall ladder to get to the starting point. Then they stepped onto this ladder high up in the air...

 He was a trooper!

The cheerleaders haha

After the ladder came the net! They fought their way through this to the next stage

Here they are on the 3rd part of the zipline course. 

The tightrope!

You can see the net on the left. They went from the net, to the tower landing behind the tree, and then walked across the tightrope.

Dad went after Austin...

Whew! Here's Austin finally made it to the next tower! Austin met a 14 year old kid on this trip. He had a pretty good grip on the English language and would try to cheer Austin on. It was cute. He was ahead of Austin, so he would make it to the tower/landing first and then yell back to Austin, "You can do it! I believe in you!" Hahaha.

Austin on the tightrope and his friend in the tower.

Just looking at Austin and Dad go through this was making my heart hurt, but also wishing that I was up there too! 

After this they zipped their way to the ending tower!

Beth and I with our big brother, the obstacle course champion! :)

Once we got home we got everything together for his party!

We surprised him with a  Minecraft themed party... The meaning and point of Minecraft was completely lost on everyone one but Austin. I do not get this game... But Austin appreciated all of our effort and creativity, even if we didn't understand it! 

I know you build things in Minecraft... Maybe Austin likes it because its like Legos in a computer!

Here lately, Austin has been spending all of his free time on the third story with the construction guys. He is quite enamored with all things construction. So what did he ask for for his birthday? Construction tools! And he got them! He is so anxious to show them off to the workers and compete brand names. LOL

This picture makes me laugh. I have no idea what exactly is going on... My lip stuck out and Austin smelling something horrible :))

 

 I really cannot believe how much this boy has grown in the past couple of years! He shot up so quickly!

Goodness he's big. He just weighed himself the other day at 142 pounds!!! (He says to tell you all that it is pure muscle.) HAHA.

^I aaam sitting okay... He's not THAT tall!^

Happy Birthday to a sweet little big brother. We love you!

*Nicole*