Happy 2nd Birthday, Ethan and Ehlana!
This has been one of those really great days, full of fun,
adventure, and surprises for everyone.
Ethan and Ehlana were awake early, and I caught up with them
before we all went into Mom and Dad’s room to give them their wake-up
call. There was a pair of birthday gifts
for the twins to open while cuddling in bed with Mom and Dad. We went outside for Tai Chi after that,
though I put a pot of coffee on to brew for Mom and Dad while they got ready to
exercise first. Pancakes and sausages
were the breakfast offerings that Ethan and Ehlana picked, and Violet helped
Dad with the cooking while Mom and I took turns getting ready and helping the
twins to get dressed too.
There were more gifts for Ethan and Ehlana to open at
breakfast, and that was a little blast of fun before four out of six of us
needed to get some work done. For Dad
and I, that was the minimum yard work that absolutely needed to get done – especially
since we were having quite a few guests over for a birthday barbeque dinner and
play night here after we get back from our Quarry Lake adventure. For me, that meant cutting the lawn and
giving the gardens a super-quick once-over.
While Dad and I were busy in the yard, Mom had help arriving
throughout the morning to help with getting everything ready for both our trip
to Quarry Lake and the birthday dinner. Alicia was working; Grandma and Aunt Leanne
both came over to help out with making salads and packing the picnic and
everything else we’d need for lunch and the afternoon. Grandpa did a lot of the running around town
to pick up everything from cases of pop and adult beverages to an Olde Bakery
order and a few grocery supplies.
I was sent off to grab a shower at eleven and get dressed
for a swim and play afternoon at eleven o’clock, and needed to rush that with
an eleven-thirty departure time for Quarry
Lake. It wasn’t until I got downstairs again that I
found out that Ethan had invited Michael to the party; and my brother was quite
pleased with himself for pulling that little surprise off. He’d needed some co-conspirators; and Aunt
Leanne had been happy to help him out with that by making sure that Michael had
a ride back to town in time for his ball game this afternoon at three. She and Uncle Adam are going to come back
early so that she can have a rest before joining the party again in time for
dinner.
There were quite a few people invited to the party, plus
some extra kids and parents going along to join in on the fun; and for the
adults – help out with kid control.
Rowen had worked this morning too, and Owen was one of the drivers;
though he wasn’t staying at Quarry
Lake. He was mostly driving because Patrick and
Scott were going along, and Michael, Rowen, and I went with them. Patrick wasn’t very happy about that; he
didn’t say a word to Michael all day; and barely said anything to me anytime
Michael was with us.
Patrick and Scott weren’t the only kids or teens from town
who were spending the afternoon at Quarry Lake; and the next surprise for us
was finding out that Tim, Nora, Vanessa, and quite a few of our friends were at
Quarry Lake for the afternoon too. We
didn’t need more than a first pair of smug glances from the girls to know that
it wasn’t a coincidence that they’d decided to have a play day there too. The fact that they’d even play those kind of
games when we were just trying to have fun with Ethan and Ehlana on their
birthday was more than a little annoying to me; but I was too busy for the next
couple of hours to even pay any attention to what they were doing.
First up was helping Dad, Uncle Adam, Uncle Nick, and some
of the other parents with unloading vehicles and setting up our little camp by
the beach and lake while the Moms and Grandparents mostly handled kid
control. Michael and Rowen helped with
that too, and then we had time to have a quick swim with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi,
Sophia, and Aiden before getting put to work helping with lunch.
No, Rowen, I’m not going to skip the effect my new swimsuit
had on Michael – or that ‘Tommy’ had a similar reaction to you today
again. That was an earlier start than we
expected to have for Phase One; and that did help offset the Vanessa-Nora
annoyances quite a bit. They certainly
weren’t happy to see that Michael was having fun with us, and not only didn’t
look miserable from missing out on the best tween fun; but didn’t even pay any
attention to them at all. I certainly
didn’t have a problem with the fact that Michael didn’t find watching Vanessa
more interesting than hanging out with me even though she fills out a swimsuit
better than I do even if I am starting to slowly catch up to some of my older
classmates.
Getting back to the birthday party, Michael, Rowen, and I
were kept busy during lunch with all of the younger kids; we helped with the
clean-up; and then we had about an hour to play again before Michael needed to
get back to town for the Wranglers’ game against Palmer’s Posse. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne weren’t the only
people heading home then – Aunt Deborah and Leah wanted to have a nap too, so
Uncle Nick took them home; and Grandma and Grandpa went back to our house to do
a little work to get ready for the dinner party.
I’d better add that Tim obviously needed to get back to town
for the game too, and Vanessa and Nora were probably very happy when they found
out that I didn’t leave with Michael – especially after making sure I knew that
they’d be there to support the Wranglers.
Other than finding out that the Wranglers won again, I didn’t ask
Michael about how the tween part of his afternoon went; and he didn’t offer to
talk about it.
While he was busy winning a ball game, I spent the next
couple of hours playing with Rowen; Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends; and the
remaining parents, kids, and teens. We
had two long water play sessions split up by a snack and playground break; and
then Rowen and I were on the clean-up and packing crew for the last half-hour
of our time at Quarry Lake before we needed to round everyone up and head for
home.
Now that I’m writing about it, there was actually quite a
bit of work mixed in with the fun today.
We were on the unloading crew when we got back to the house and helped
set up tables and chairs after that before leading some toddler-rated back yard
games that kept the younger kids busy until dinner was ready. Ethan and Ehlana were at a double table with
their friends and some parents; while Rowen and I ended up a few tables away
from them; and we sat with Patrick, Scott, and her parents – once they came
over after closing the store for the day.
This party was a lot different than my second birthday. Getting to share the day with our family and
friends was really great, but the toddler-age gifts were sometimes really funny
– especially for the few of us who know just how extraordinary Ethan and Ehlana
are. The twins did pretty well with
playing their part, and I guess it is good for them to have age-appropriate
props for their rooms; but I don’t expect them to ask me to read them the books
meant to help them with things like first language or number lessons. There were more practical gifts too, like
clothes and outdoor-durable drinking cups or bottles; and they liked having
some new toys for the back yard and in the water too.
I think that the toddler act was taken a bit too far during
the cake and ice cream dessert, but most of their friends were just as messy by
the time they were done; and it did give us an excuse to dunk them in the river
and play with some of those new toys.
The puddle jumpers work great, and though we still need to stay close to
the kids for appearances; they really only need help now getting in and out of
the water.
Rowen and I were in on the swim-dunk, but then we were put
to work again with the clean-up while the younger kids all went to the park for
some grandparent-supervised playground time.
Most of the parents were able to take a little break then, but Rowen and
I needed to set up two tents for the camping with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, Sophia,
and Aiden that had tentatively been approved pending the overnight
weather. We had that done, and the basic
gear moved in by the time the younger kids were back; and Ethan and Ehlana were
thrilled with the bonus birthday surprise; though we still had the campfire to
go before getting to the camping.
We had fewer people around for the start of the campfire
because most of the Moms with babies – like Aunt Deborah and Hannah – decided
they were ready to go home for the night by then. That was only temporary, and we had new
arrivals join the fun once Dad started playing music. Ethan and Ehlana wanted to hang out with
Rowen and me once we sat down on blankets; so we had Naomi, Sophia, and Aiden
with us a lot too. We had fun helping
them toast marshmallows and making s’mores; doing the actions to some of the
campfire songs; and cuddling while the stories were being told by Grandpa and
some of the other men.
My favorite part of the campfire was when Michael, his
family, Stephanie, and Dillon came over after closing the Inn
for the night. Michael and I weren’t
cuddling together like the teen couples were, but we did sit close together
while holding the twins in our laps; and held hands quite a bit too. Ethan instigated one last surprise for me
then too by ‘asking’ Michael to stay and camp with him and Aiden in the second
tent. I didn’t expect Michael to be able
to turn down the offer, and that made it easier for Rowen and I to take care of
the five toddlers; but I also had thoughts of laying on the dock and talking
with Michael for hours like we did the last time he was camping with us.
Okay, Rowen, so maybe we weren’t always talking in those
thoughts; but I am here in the tent with you and not doing that instead right
now.
The campfire started winding down shortly after the Stone
family joined us, and Rowen and I had one of our junior campers tucked into a
sleeping bag and out for the count a half hour before we were ready to tag-team
getting the other four kids ready for their camping adventure too. Michael needed to run home and pick up a few
things then, and Rowen and I were able to go and get changed and take turns in
the bathroom while Mom and Dad had help with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and
Aiden. We were all out in the tents by
the time Michael joined us again; and the last thing I did before getting into
the ‘girls’ tent was leave Ethan and Aiden giggling when I gave all three boys
goodnight hugs and kisses.
Since zipping up our tent, Rowen and I had a little bedtime
chat with Ehlana and Naomi while we listened to some music on my computer. They fell asleep about a half hour ago, and
Sophia hasn’t stirred – even when the rest of us were getting settled into our
sleeping bags and moving things around so we could all be more
comfortable. It’s after midnight now, so
I should probably wrap this up, and we should get some sleep so we’re ready to
help Mom, Dad, and Violet with everything we’ll collectively need to do before
going to church in the morning.
The only plans we have for tomorrow are to show off new
dresses at church, and the late dinner buffet at the Inn, so once we get
through the morning rush; we should be able to have a lazy play afternoon and
evening to give us a chance to recover from the nearly non-stop action
today. I’m ready to get started on that
with some sleep now, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
