I’m writing this double report from Uncle
Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house tonight because Mom was talked into a second hotel
sleepover with Dad by Aunt Leanne. Since
this is a double report, though; let’s go back to the near past and cover the
shopping news before getting to the stories from today.
We were awake early on Tuesday morning, but
skipped Tai Chi and took our time getting ready for the day instead. That included some hair and dress-up play
time for Ehlana and me; but we still managed to be at the Inn with time to
spare ahead of the buffet breakfast that nearly all of the shoppers got in
on. There were a lot of shoppers
too. The final total this year was one
hundred and fifty-five shoppers. The mix
was one hundred and ten kids and teens with forty-five adults handling driving
and chaperone duties with help from some of the teens for one or both
jobs. We took thirty-five vehicles,
which is more than normal; but that gave us extra space for our purchases – and
that did allow the extra seating space that made Mom’s hotel sleepover possible
with just a few passenger shuffles.
The breakfast buffet was awesome; and then
we had fun on the drive to Crystal Springs too.
Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were with Miranda and Rebecca; so that was
especially entertaining for us even if Rebecca would have liked it more if
Lucas had been able to join us for the day.
She did meet up with Jenny at the Mall and they shopped together all day,
but if Jenny was missing Joel too; she hid it well.
I could be wrong about this, but I get the
feeling that Jenny is getting ready for the impending school year
separation. Joel lives too far away for
them to keep dating even with him having his own car; so she’ll break it off
with him by the end of the holiday weekend – or sooner; if it starts getting
weird.
When we arrived at the Mall, it took a
while for Mom and Aunt Leanne to make sure that all of our groups were matched
up and ready to go; but then we headed out into the Mall and got to work. Okay, it wasn’t exactly work for any of us;
but we did have a lot to get done. The
clothes were the top priority; but some of us also needed to get gifts for all
of the upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, and other special events. We have quite a few of them happening between
now and when I next expect to be in the city again; so that took some
effort. Tim’s and Michael’s birthdays
were at the top of that list along with Mom and Dad’s anniversary; but I won’t
bother noting everything about that – or all of the clothes-shopping action.
There were lots of fun highlights; with
some of the best moments happening while we – Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I –
helped out with Ethan, Ehlana, and some of the other younger cousins and kids.
Tops in my thoughts about that right now is
Naomi. Since her birthday is in January,
she’s starting kindergarten this year; so this was her first school clothes
shopping trip. I had a lot of fun with
my parts of helping out with that effort; and she is going to look
adorable. Ethan and Ehlana half-wish
that they could be there with her, but the other half of that sentiment has
them glad that they’ll still have another year of ‘home schooling’ that will
allow them to continue their college studies full time and leave them with lots
of time to spend at the lab and archive.
On the teen and boyfriends fronts, Rowen
and I had fun there too – both with Michael and Tim, and with our friends. There wasn’t any major weirdness; though
there could have been if Michael hadn’t insisted that he and Tim did not need
to be with Rowen and me while we shopped for underwear; and he then removed Tim
from that store while his best friend cracked jokes and tried to stay to help
us with those purchase decisions. That
scene really wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was memorable; and it’s a nice
little example of the little things that Michael does that makes me love him so
much – and I guess we can ditto that for Rowen with Tim; if for a different
reason!
My shopping day was fairly evenly split
between teen and family time. Helping
out with kid control and the shopping for the twins and their friends was
great; but I also really loved getting to watch Mom and Aunt Leanne play
dress-up with Brianna for the first time.
Zack was not very enthusiastic about their attempts at that with him;
but I think that Brianna is a natural shopper.
She was all smiles and gurgles pretty much every moment she was awake;
and loved all of the attention that came with being the target of her mother’s
and aunt’s efforts at finding her some beautiful clothes to wear – even though
she won’t fit into them for long, or yet; depending on which sizes they
bought. She’s definitely set for fall
fashion now; and there’s a very good chance that Brianna was the number one
shopper for quantity of clothes today.
I won’t say that for dollar value, since
teens are expensive to shop for; and I won’t pretend that I’m immune to the
social pressure to look good and wear clothes that are in style. Some of our friends are obsessed with that, so
I hope that I do better than some when it comes to shopping; but it’s also nice
to have a part-time job that allows me to have the choices – even while I’m
also an avid bargain hunter. Some of my
favorite bargains came while shopping with Aunt Leanne; and I was really happy
to spend time with her today – especially after she missed our last major trip
in June.
We had lunch in the food court; shopped at
the Mall until three; and then made a gift-buying stop at the big-box toy store
before wrapping up our shopping with a visit to Wal-Mart for the usual supply
run. There was a bit more gift shopping
there too; but Rowen and I were also put on kid control to help the parents out
while they were busy. By the time that
Mom was ready to go; we had all of our shopping done too; and then it was time
to go and meet up with Dad for a late dinner at a surf and turf restaurant that
we were trying out for the first time.
Dad was getting to have dinner with quite a
gang; but the most conspicuous aspect of that was the absence of any other
adult men. He didn’t really have a
problem with sitting at a table with Mom, Aunt Leanne, and six other women; but
he was teased about it and added in a few jokes about wishing that the Malloy’s
had been available to join us for dinner too just so that Terry could be there
to help him out. As I think about that,
it’s amazing just how much Tim and Michael are like Terry and my Dad. You could make that case for the similarities
between Angela and Mom, and Rowen and me; except it’d be the reverse for Rowen
and me because Mom and Angela are paired up with boys that are at the same end
of the personality spectrum as they are instead of opposites.
Okay, Rowen, I’ll concede that you’re as
much of a thrill junkie as Michael, Tim, and I are; but you know that I’m referring
to the shyness that is still a part of you compared to Tim’s uber-confidence
and outgoing nature.
We had the extra-large dinner gang with us
because of the hotel sleepover surprise that was dropped on Mom and Dad during
the meal; and because some of our friends were just ready to sit down for a
meal instead of picking up fast food and eating on the way home. The food was decent but not memorable; so the
restaurant probably won’t make the list for one of our regular picks; but I
still enjoyed trying out some different dishes even though that meant mixed
results for what was good or bad. Dad
spent some time with us too, but Ethan, Ehlana, and I were at one of the kid
tables; and Michael and I took care of Naomi, Aiden, Zack, and Eli while Rowen
and Tim, and Rebecca and Jenny each had kid groups with them too.
Mom still had a load of supplies and clothes
in the minivan when she left for the hotel and followed Dad there; but her
passengers had been moved to other vehicles for our trip home. It was past nine-thirty by then because we’d
taken our time having that meal; and it was after eleven by the time we got
home. Although we missed out on the sale
at home; I’m glad that we spent the extra time with Dad instead; and I was good
with the sleepover plans for Ethan, Ehlana, and me too. They stayed with Naomi and Aiden; and had fun
too – even without bonus sofa sleepovers and cuddle time.
Michael and I were busy helping with the
unloading work at several houses once we were back in town; so it was
twelve-thirty by the time we’d finished that running around; picked up an
overnight bag at my house; and got back to his place. Jacob and Miranda were working early at the
Inn and they were already sleeping by then.
Rebecca was still awake, but in her room; so we crashed on a sofa in the
living room for a while before we even took my bag up to my room. That was the plan, but as you already know;
we fell asleep and stayed on the sofa until morning.
Our wake-up call came from Miranda; though
that didn’t happen until after she had pictures that she sent on to Mom and Dad
sometime today. Waking us up was all for
fun; but Michael and I went outside for Tai Chi by the river after his parents
headed for the Inn. That was fun; so was
breakfast with Rebecca; and then that brings us up-to-date with the last
micro-report. I came home to grab a
shower and get ready to meet up with Rowen for our cheerleading training while
Michael got ready for his football workout with Tim and the other guys. It was a work day for all of us, so Rowen and
I only spent an hour on our cheerleading fun; and then she went to the computer
store while I went to work in the office.
That choice was all about being alone so that I could speed up the work
with some time phasing; and I got a lot of work done between then and when I
stopped for lunch at one-thirty.
Michael was at the Inn for most of that
time after he’d finished his own workout; and Ethan and Ehlana spent the
morning at KidZone with their friends.
They had lunch at Naomi’s house; and Michael and I eventually picked
them up so that we could entertain them while he was on his afternoon
break. We went for a bike ride; played
at the park; and wrapped up Michael’s break with an ice cream snack from the
Emporium before Ethan, Ehlana, and I did a round of stops to drop off our
friends on our way to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house.
We were booked for dinner with them; but
the sleepover was a surprise that was waiting for us when we got there. That plan was fine with us; but we don’t need
to know any of the details from Mom’s sleepovers in the city. I was too busy to think about that
anyway. Aunt Leanne had me help her with
making dinner while we both kept up with the kids; we ate as soon as Uncle Adam
got home; and then we walked over to the park for the co-ed baseball practice
once we’d finished the dinner clean-up.
I was on kid control again for that; and
Rowen and Tim met up with me there and joined in for the toddler and pre-school
kid-rated fun. They came home with me
too; and we offered a small babysitting service to the player-parents so that
they could all go out to Sheldon’s after the practice for a while. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne were happy to do
that too; but they stayed until after Brianna’s feeding – and they were back
again in time for her midnight feeding.
Michael came over after he was finished at the Inn, but the kids were
all sleeping by then because it was past-ten and we’d worn them out with all of
the fresh air and running around. That
worked for me because we were able to have some cuddle time while having a chat
with Rowen and Tim; and then they went home after Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne
returned from the pub.
Michael and I had to wait for Naomi, Aiden,
and Caleb to be picked up after that; so we stayed in the living room to wait
for them while my aunt and uncle went up to bed – and to take care of Brianna
when she woke up. It was one o’clock
when our last kid went home with his parents; Michael stayed long enough for a
quality goodnight hug and kisses; and then I came up to my room after watching
him walk home. My work for the day was
done, but there was a bit of family business work to deal with in my email; so I
spent a half-hour doing that first once I was changed and in bed. The rest of my email and computer checks were
nothing special; so that pretty much covers all of the news for the past two
days – at least for my life.
I haven’t mentioned that the big sale the
stores had here yesterday was another huge success, and though I missed it; at
least we’ll still have the holiday weekend sales to look forward too – which will
be even better since we weren’t at this last sale. Jacob worked all morning at the Inn
yesterday; but took the rest of the day off and apparently enjoyed the handful
of hours without his family around.
With Mom still in the city, that’ll change
my Thursday a bit; but I’ll still do my cheerleading workout with Rowen in the
morning before I’ll need to take care of the twins at least until after she
gets home. I could be on kid control all
day depending on how much work Mom has to do tomorrow afternoon; but I’ll let
you know how that works out for me in the next report.
That is all I have for now, though, and I
really need to get some sleep; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
