Ethan:
Happy 7th Birthday, Aiden!
Compared to Gwyneth’s visit to see Cassie
yesterday, a best friend’s birthday and party doesn’t seem important; but it
was for Aiden – and for Ehlana, Naomi, and me.
We saved our ‘big’ birthday gift for Aiden’s
party, but had little gifts and other surprises for him during the day –
starting with the walk to school. That
made our educational adventures more entertaining; and the mini-party at
lunchtime was great too. Add in the
Halloween fun and games; and that added up to an exciting start to our school
week.
Ehlana and I came home after school so that
we could get ready for Aiden’s party; she needed some extra time to do that;
and I’m not going to comment on that beyond noting that my sister looked
amazing and she is as beautiful as Mom and Cassie. We walked to Aiden’s, and the party was
already started by then; so we joined in on the fun and video gaming – after a
short visit with Aiden’s father, Hailey, and Leah in the kitchen on the way
through to party central in the family room.
Leah was there for Hailey, but while best friend support for siblings at
parties is normal around here; that really isn’t as big a deal for co-ed
parties.
Aiden and I are the exceptions to the
general rule against co-ed parties for the kids our age. I get away with that for the obvious reason,
but Aiden got razzed a lot today – and during his party – for inviting girls
too. The guys all still came to the
party too, since no kid in their right mind turns down a party that includes
Olde Bakery treats and cakes that are specially-made for the kids of the best
baker in the world, but Aiden would rather invite Ehlana and Naomi even if that
meant that none of our other friends and classmates would come to his party
too. I think that it shouldn’t be a
problem in the first place – especially when the other guys will want girls at
their parties in just a few more years – and none of us cared about that sort
of thing just a few years ago.
Moving along, we had time for video gaming
before dinner – or at least the guys did while the girls mostly pretended to be
bored – or truly were; in some cases. I’ll
leave it to Ehlana to comment on the impact she had on Aiden tonight, but that
was fun too; and helped to make the gaming just a bit less-competitive! ;^)
Dinner was an adventure, and while the food
was great; I’m going to comment on a couple of observations. First, the co-ed party didn’t extend to a
co-ed dinner because the boys and girls were segregated on opposite sides of
the table. There were some jokes about
the potential for food fights, but that didn’t happen; and I’m really just pointing
that out because it’s different than when it’s just Ehlana and me with Aiden
and Naomi. Sure, we split up at meals
with guys and girls sometimes too, but that’s random; and we’re just as likely
to be paired up as couples instead. I’m
going to remember that little fact for future reference that I can use against
Miles and some of the other guys once that dynamic changes again.
The other observation is about the food
options because that’s something that is changing even in a small town like
ours – and it is something that wasn’t even thought about for even Dad’s
generation when they were our age.
Offering food choices that are vegan or vegetarian-friendly along with
more-normal options for the omnivores is more work and nearly as much of a
challenge as dealing with food allergies.
I’m not writing about this to comment on diet choices of my
friends. What I do want to record in our
journal is that there is a growing percentage of the population in this country
of people moving away from eating meat.
I’ll add that I’m not one of those converts, but it is something that
will be a factor for us in the future – including when it comes to our work at
the lab and with aspects of our family business.
None of that is about birthday fun; so let’s
get back to that – though there isn’t much else to add. We had fun at dinner; Aiden opened his gifts
and we did the birthday cake and ice cream dessert along with the rest of the
usual birthday fun; and then there was time to try out one of Aiden’s new video
games and hang out with our friends until the party broke up at eight o’clock. Ehlana, Naomi, and I made sure that happened
for Aiden and his parents by being in the first group to head home. That hint wouldn’t work for every friend, but
all of the parents know that Aiden’s Dad has to work early; and I’m sure they
helped out with getting their kids if needed.
Ehlana and I had Leah with us for the walk home; we had a short stop to
say goodnight to Naomi in front of her house; and then Ehlana and I made sure
that Leah got home too before meeting up with Mom and Dad in the office.
Mom did a long Magi lesson with us; we did
a bedtime snack and story time with Mom and Dad after that; and then came up to
our rooms and got ready for bed. Ehlana
and I had a bedtime chat on her bed too; and now I’m ready to get some
sleep. We’ve had a fun day, and unlike
the birthdays for most of us; that won’t end tomorrow because the Halloween fun
will kick up a few notches for the last two days of the month. Stay tuned for all of that news, but I’m done
for this report; so I’m wrapping this up and heading off to sleep.
Ethan – out!
***
Ehlana:
Happy Birthday, Aiden!
Ethan’s done a good job with his report; so
I’ll just add a few notes and comments.
First up, since he mentioned it; I did
dress to impress Aiden – and it was a total success; judging by the number of
times he messed up playing video games whenever I was in the room! Naomi had fun with that, but while Ethan didn’t
have the same problems with his gaming; I know that he was just as impressed
with her – even if he couldn’t show that while hanging out with the other guys
tonight.
As for the party, Aiden had to hang out
with the guys and there wasn’t much for the girls to do except hang out and
talk; so it really was a bit boring for a few of us while the other girls kept
entertained by poking fun at the boys.
The highlight of the night for us – other than the food and dinnertime
birthday fun – was the time we spent with Hannah after she got home from the
bakery. She is one of the favorite Moms,
but even Naomi and I don’t get to spend much time with her because she’s so
busy with the bakery; so it was nice to spend a couple of hours with her
tonight. Ethan has already commented on
the food options; so I’ll only add that I like the extra choices, but like most
food anyway; and will eat pretty much any standard kid-friendly fare – along with
nearly anything else I’ve tried so far.
In fact, now that I think about it, the only food I haven’t liked is
only because of the cooking or recipe.
Sure, that’s rare for kids our age, but it works for Ethan and me.
Ethan skipped over the goodbye hugs and
kisses that Naomi and I had for Aiden when we left the party. Naomi tried to help Aiden out with that to
cover-up for my hug and kiss, but I don’t think that it ended up keeping Aiden
from getting razzed by the other guys after we left. Ethan got a goodnight hug and kiss from Naomi
at her house that earned some giggles from Leah, but wasn’t witnessed by any of
our other friends; so he won’t get razzed about it tomorrow at school. The hour and a half or so that we spent with
Mom and Dad after getting home was fun, and we had a great Transmutation lesson
with Mom, but it was challenging too; and is part of the reason for why we’re
tired now.
I still needed to have a bedtime chat with
Ethan once we were both ready for bed, but we still have a couple of busy days
ahead of us; so I need to finish this and get to the sleeping part of my night
too. The last comment I’ll add is to
suggest that Ethan is right; and it’s pretty good for Aiden to get to celebrate
his birthday so close to another holiday so that the fun keeps going for a few
days. That isn’t the case for Christmas
kids around here, since their special days normally just get lost in all of the
holiday fun, and I guess that hasn’t worked for Aiden every year, since his
birthday has landed on a Haunted Halloween Walk night before; but he is in for
a fun week this year!
We’re going to have fun too, but not if we’re
too-tired to play; so that’s all for tonight.
Check back – or keep reading – for the rest of the Halloween news; and I
write all about that with the next few reports – after I get some sleep and
live the news I’ll be writing about in those updates. ;^)
This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live
from what is now my past!
