Morning exercise is always more fun when we’re all together, and Dad cooked up the full country breakfast for Mom, me, and Rowen while we took care of Ethan and Ehlana; and got ready for a yard work day. (Store work for Rowen) That made for a fun start to the day, but then the next few hours was all work and not really very much fun.
Ethan and Ehlana had offered to help us, but for some reason, Mom and Dad wouldn’t let us use our telekinesis for the yard work. Mom and Alicia had work to get done around the house, but they did spend an hour working on the gardens while the twins watched on from their stroller. I had the lawn cutting to do first, as usual now; and then I swept the porches and walks; washed the front and back doors and windows; and helped Dad with washing the van and truck. That was my last job, and when we were done, I was set free to go have a shower and get ready for our afternoon shopping trip.
Rowen and I found out that we had two shopping buddies to take us to Crystal Springs when Aunt Leanne and Aunt Deborah both picked us up; me at home, and Rowen at the store on our way out of town. Note to self – get Aunt Leanne to borrow Mom’s minivan for shopping trips! The back seat of her coupe isn’t very comfortable after three hours of driving in one day, and watching movies are an option for when the older girls want to talk about boys.
We had a small shopping list to take care of for Mom, but were going to do most of that last; after we were finished at the Mall. Aunt Leanne wanted to play dress-up for a while before we took care of shopping for all of the gift-buying that had been the main reason for the trip. Rowen and I picked up a new outfit and some jewelry for Sally; several anniversary gifts for Mom and Dad; birthday presents for Nick, who is going to be twenty-four this Friday; and a few smaller gifts for other upcoming special days for various people. There was one other gift that I picked up; but I didn’t even tell Rowen about it; hiding the purchase in plain sight with a few games and movies for the lounge.
A fast food dinner at the food court was fit into our busy shopping schedule between the jewelry stores and a half hour of bookstore browsing. When we had pretty much covered the entire Mall, we loaded up the car and headed over to Wal-Mart for another hour or so of shopping fun and excitement. Aunt Leanne needed just one last fast food stop on our way out of town, and Aunt Deborah, Rowen, and I picked up travel snacks to go too so that she wouldn’t be eating alone. Rowen was scaring me a bit when she acted like she was worried about those extra calories, but I had both of us in giggles after quietly promising to heal her if that was ever a real problem. Hey – there ought to be a few advantages to being a Magi Master; and helping your friends should definitely be one of them!
The trip home was fairly unexciting, and Rowen and I were really glad to get out of the back seat of the car by the time we pulled into Rowen’s driveway to drop her off first. We all helped to get her things into the house, and talked with Patricia and Owen for a few minutes before Aunt Leanne and Aunt Deborah drove over to my house next while I raced them on foot so that I didn’t have to climb into the back seat again. We repeated the process there; though I had a bit more to unload than Rowen did – including everything that Mom wanted. There was another short visit, and then Aunt Leanne and Aunt Deborah moved on to plans they had with Uncle Adam and Nick.
I’ve spent the last couple of hours hanging out with Mom, Dad, and the twins. That included putting the supplies away, a long shopping story and telepathic question and answer time; and a bedtime snack. I’m doing this while taking care of a little telekinetic gift wrapping that Mandy is finding very entertaining as she tries to pounce on the floating paper, ribbons, and bows. That does make the job a bit harder for me, but we’re having fun, and I’m almost done. My Jacuzzi and bed are both calling to me, so it’s time to literally wrap this up and get on with some quality soak before sleep time. Hopefully we’ll have a slower day tomorrow – I could really use the break!