One of the great features of having Stride Pro Wrestling having a new facility is the ability to do some things outside the box. If you haven't been by the new location at 1130 N. Division Street in Carterville, I'd recommend coming to the Dec. 8 show. Bell time that night is 6:30 p.m.
But Stride now offers birthday party packages for young fans. I guess old fans can partake too. We don't discriminate here. Imagine a chance to celebrate your child's birthday inside a pro wrestling ring. As a kid, I would have popped like a bag of Orville Redenbacher at a chance to celebrate another year on Earth like this.
Here's what you get when you celebrate a birthday at Stride Pro Wrestling:
2 hours of hanging out with members of the Stride roster.
Wrestling training for the kids.
Matches from the trainers,
30 minutes of ring time for the attendees.
The cost for the party is $200. You can book by reaching out to Stride Pro Wrestling via our Facebook page. Go here and send a message.
September 3, 2010, the My 1-2-3 Cents brand was born. At that time, I was just looking to start a wrestling blog and share my opinions and memories about my favorite pass time. Some have questioned the name, My 1-2-3 Cents, so for those who don't know it's a play on the phrase, my two cents. The referee in a wrestling match has to make the three count, so I went with My 1-2-3 Cents. Each year when I write a post commemorating the anniversary I thank Jeff Rose. He's a friend of mine and the most successful blogger I personally know. He gave me the idea to focus a blog on just wrestling. Of course, through the years this page was tweaked and I added other content to it, but since developing another brand this year, Kevin Hunsblogger, My 1-2-3 Cents has returned to wrestling only content.
Tom Harness & Kevin Hunsperger at a Cape Championship Wrestling show
I'd also like to thank my buddy Tom Harness from Harness Digital Marketing. He's helped with getting the word out about all my products and has given me some solid ideas for growing the My 1-2-3 Cents brand. Look for some new endeavors coming up in 2018. My hope this year is also to reach one million page views. As of this posting, the page sits at just over 957,000. It's been a long time coming but I have no plans on giving up.
Thank you as well to everyone who reads and shares this blog. It means the world to me to see it reshared on Facebook and Twitter. I even occasionally run into people in public who comment that they've read the blog, watched the YouTube channel or listen to the podcast.
Your feedback is critical to the development of the My 1-2-3 Cents brand. You can comment on this post or leave an anonymous review here.
My daughter recently turned nine. With a wife working full time and up to her eyeballs in research for her thesis, I told my daughter I'd plan her birthday party. I've thrown some successful shindigs in the past, so I thought this would be fun (and it was). This year must be the Year of Owl, as it's all she talked about for the months leading up to her big day. After scouring Pintest for ideas, we came up with several things to do during the party, which included a sleepover. My wife pinned some ideas my way too, which made the planning process all the easier. Add my parents into the mix to help tie up the loose ends and we were ready to par-tay.
Pinata: Before & After
Brooke really wanted an owl pinata at her birthday. Owl party themes aren't all the rage these days, but I did find a huge one at Party City, but it was damaged. When I was a kid, my parents made the pinatas we had at our birthday parties. So I figured, what the heck, I can do that. I found a "recipe" for an owl pinata at this website, which made it much easier to do. Since I usually procrastinate, I actually started this a few days early, as the process requires time for the paper mache to dry. I tweaked the instructions a bit, and used the colors from my daughter's school instead.
Once it was complete, we filled it with nine bags of candy (thanks mom). There were nine girls at the party, and each got three swings at the owl. On the ninth girl's final swing, the owl dropped from his perch and candy spilled everywhere. It timed out perfectly.
Painting time
In an effort to encourage some creativity (and eat up some time), my wife suggested everyone do a painting. We both read up on how to paint owls. I got each girl a canvas square (you can find these probably anywhere, but I got our's at Hobby Lobby). We squeezed out ample amounts of acrylic paint and let the girls' creative juices flow. We ended up with some wonderful works of art.
Owl cupcakes
What's a party without sweet treats? My mom and Brooke baked cupcakes the morning of the big day. Each girl got her own, along with some icing, candy corn, M&M's, and miniature Oroes to create their own owl cupcake. Some went with just an all-candy topping which didn't come close to resembling an owl, but that was okay, as it was all part of the fun. Those are just a few of the things we did before winding things down for the night. All in all, I think birthday number nine ended up being a memorable one from the planning process through the party itself.
My son recently turned 14, and man have the years zipped by. The Chuck E. Cheese days passed our boy a long time ago. In the past we've done indoor pool parties, Harry Potter inspired scavenger hunts, and a trip to Lambert's for their famous "throwed rolls" in Sikeston, Missouri. This year, we were looking for something to top all that. So why not mark the occasion by zip-lining in the beautiful Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois?
We weren't sure if it would be possible to do it in the winter, but after checking with the folks at Shawnee Bluffs Canopy Tourit was a go. The only thing that prevents a tour is dense fog, ice, or thunderstorms. Luckily, considering the negative digital temperatures we're experiencing this week, plus the snow, our tour was booked on a day when the mercury reached a balmy 42 degrees.
Zipping in
My son, a couple of his friends, my wife, daughter, middle son, and even mother bundled up in coats, sweatshirts, and hoodies and headed to Makanda, Illinois to embark on our journey. My wife, boys, and I had zip lined before, but in Mexico. This was something my mom had always wanted to do, so we surprised her with the trip to show our appreciation for all she's done for us. Our daughter, Brooke, has always come in just under the 70 pound weight requirement to zip, so that's part of the reason we didn't do this over the summer, after Shawnee Bluffs opened.
The guide's POV
Despite being a little chilly, I think we all had fun on the three hour tour. No one got lost and best of all no one got hurt. The guides, Marc and John, were amazing and very helpful. They put some of the first timers at ease, and Marc zipped tandem with our daughter who didn't quite have the umph to make it through the last three lines. Safety comes first, as we were all assisted with the gear and checked multiple times as we walked and zipped through the forest. The platforms in the trees are designed to hold 12 people who each weigh 270 pounds, so we all felt safe as we looked down on the forest below.
Some fast facts about Shawnee Bluffs: Like I mentioned, it's a three hour tour. There are eight zip lines, with the longest one being more than a thousand feet (1,016 feet to be exact). I'm not quite sure how much speed we had on them, but watch the video below and you'll get the idea. There are three short hikes too. Like I said, it's a lot of fun. The cost is $85 per person and the guides appreciate tips. Sure it was more than the average birthday, but we had a ton of fun and made plenty of memories. My dad, who is not a fan of heights, is actually talking about going the next time we venture back into the trees! We hope to do it again when the leaves are out and some of the destinations are disguised. You can click this linkfor more details.
My daughter's birthday is right around the corner. This year, we decided to get her a trampoline. She's big into gymnastics, so we figured it would be a good tool to help her with her training. I'm aware of the dangers involved, so please if you're thinking about raining on our parade, don't.
My parents were recently in town and since we were going in on it together and I knew what a pain in the butt putting together a trampoline would be, we got it for her early. To make it more fun, we decided to come up with a scavenger hunt for Brooke to find her new gift.
Since I'm the creative genius in the family :), it was up to me to come up with the clues. So during the three and a half hours my dad and I spent putting the trampoline together, I came up with this... not exactly clever, but it did the trick.
Clue #2 Birthday Scavenger Hunt
Today we are celebrating the day you were born. Go to the freezer and find the corn. (in the freezer) Your gift isn't here, but try to stay nice. If you use it wrong, you might need some ice. From here go to your bathroom sink. When this mission is over you'll need a drink.
(in the bathroom) This isn't your gift either, but do not fear. Go through the back door and let out a cheer.
Surprise!
She went from clue to clue, reading each one out loud, wondering exactly what it was she was getting herself in to. At times, I think she was nervous about it and clues went right over her head, but she had a good time on this mission. She had been asking for a pogo stick for months now, since we told her last year she wasn't going to get a trampoline (mom caved on this, not me. I always wanted one.)
Jumping for joy!
The pure look of joy and squeal in her voice when she put it all together is a memory that will last me a lifetime. She's turning 8 this year, and I know there won't be many more chances like this, especially since she's our baby.
This isn't the first time we've done a scavenger hunt. In 2011, we did a photo version with our oldest son. We took he and his friends to the mall and gave them a list of things to take their picture in front of. Since my son is an avid Harry Potter fan, everything we came up with was something out of the books. That too was a lot of fun, and watching the two teams compete for the most photos in the allotted time was memorable.
Now to start planning the actual party. I'll write up something about that once everything is wrapped up. Thanks for reading.
