Happy 1st Birthday, Ethan and Ehlana!
Mom and I skipped Tai Chi this morning – we had enough on the go getting ready to be at the Inn for the buffet breakfast by seven. We had one gift each for Ethan and Ehlana to open before we left, but the morning for all of us was the amazing food that Jacob and Miranda put together for their very appreciative customers. Ethan and Ehlana were given a few gifts too, including one from Miranda, and since Dillon was working at the Inn with Jake all day; he and Violet gave the twins their presents then too.
We were on the road by eight o’clock, and Rowen and I went with our Moms, Aunt Leanne, and the twins. Violet drove too, and she had Stephanie and two of their friends with her. The trip to the Mall was a fast as it always seems to be on the way there, and then it was time to get on with the shopping!
One thing that was different for this trip was the make-up of our shopping group. We didn’t have any teens with us, or any of the girls that Rowen and I usually ended up with. That was mostly because Mom and Aunt Leanne had set up our group to include Naomi and Sophia Bassett to hang out with Ethan and Ehlana. With the Moms, and Sophia’s sister, Jessica, we had a big enough group; so Rowen and I were the senior kids, and eight-year old Jessica was our adoring little shadow for the day.
I love everything about my life in Witch Falls, but today I did learn that Ethan and Ehlana don’t always have it better than I did when I was their age, and it was just Mom and me. The average one-year old probably doesn’t care at all about what they’re wearing, but I know that I did, and Ethan and Ehlana do. Unfortunately, they couldn’t exactly discuss their shopping choices with the Moms, Aunt Leanne, and Grandma today; though Ethan did venture a couple of well-timed ‘yucks’ that earned him some laughs and hugs. Ehlana didn’t have very many fashion choice issues as Ethan did, but then she did have some shopping support from Naomi and Sophia; while he had no guy-perspective help at all.
Rowen and I stayed with our group for most of the day, but we also had a little time alone with Aunt Leanne and Patricia after lunch so we could pick up a few things, like underwear, without the extra audience; and a pair of gifts for Ethan and Ehlana. Before doing that, we shopped until noon; took everything out to the vans and cars; had lunch in the food court; and done a little shopping with Violet, Stephanie, and their group before splitting up again.
As usual, we had a post-Mall stop at Wal-Mart for anyone that wanted to go there, and then we moved on to the usual steakhouse we went to for sit-down meals.
Dad and Angela were meeting us there from the courthouse, while Terry got there from a job site by the time we had everyone invited to Ethan and Ehlana’s birthday dinner from the shopping group together again and in the process of being seated at the group of tables that had been reserved for us. I didn’t get to see Terry and Angela very often, but Dad saw Angela around the courthouse during the weeks he was in the city, and always went out to dinner with her and Terry at least once every trip too; so Mom and I were kept up-to-date with Angela’s pregnancy. Hearing the stories wasn’t nearly as much fun as seeing her today at about six months along, and having her tell us some of those stories in person.
Taking a quick side note, we had one, little future plan issue to take care of today, and Dad and Aunt Leanne did that by recruiting Terry to work as a consultant civil engineer for all of the construction projects we were going to be doing – starting with some roads we’ll need to start the actual work on by September. He was really happy to take the job, and I was glad to see one more little piece of the puzzle drop into place.
Ethan and Ehlana were at one of the biggest tables in the restaurant, but Rowen and I sat with Violet, Stephanie, and their friends to leave two more spots open at the main party table. That made my end of our reunion with Dad short and sweet, and we missed out on some of the birthday action, but Rowen and I did really love getting to spend an hour or so with Violet and Stephanie. We’d met at the restaurant for six-thirty, and it was past eight-thirty by the time we were carrying Ethan and Ehlana’s gifts out to the parking lot, and loading up to head for home. Aunt Leanne ended up driving Dad’s truck home, and Patricia, Rowen, and I went with her so that Mom and Dad could have that time with just Ethan and Ehlana.
Back at home by a bit after ten; it was time to get some work done; unloading vehicles, and getting our purchases into various houses. Mom and Dad stopped in at our house first, but then she and Aunt Leanne needed to make a little run around town to drop off some other shopper purchases after we unloaded everything that was ours first. That included Rowen’s things, and I helped her carry bags to her house before we came back to my house again and joined the porter crew to carry everything up to the second or third floor.
Dillon and Jake came over straight from the Inn to meet up with their girlfriends; and the four teens stayed for a snack and chat with us once the work was done. Uncle Adam had come over too, and he and Aunt Leanne took care of part two of our future plans plan for today by talking about getting Terry hired as our civil engineer consultant, and moving along to another discussion of the lab that was all about nudging Dillon and Violet into thinking about career and education options that wouldn’t have been possible for them in Witch Falls before. I think we’re just about there with them, and Ehlana was particularly happy about that.
Rowen and I have a game in the morning, so she went home after our snack break, and I came up to my room to unpack my bags and then get to bed. I only planned on checking my email and writing this journal entry, but a couple of little work issues were waiting for me; so I took care of them too, and now it’s nearly one o’clock already.
I really need to be ready for the game, and though I’ve skipped over quite a bit of today’s adventures, that’ll have to do for now.
Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!