Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 13th Birthday, Hailey
Draper!
My future sister-in-law’s official
transition into the teen club and her birthday party and dinner were highlights
of our day, but she also competed with the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the park
too; and we all had a very busy day!
That was true for the rest of our Friday
from the last update. Naomi and Aiden
were with us to help with the babysitting while many of our parents were at
Rowen and Tim’s house for Owen’s birthday dinner and party, but that’s changing
now anyway, and while we were babysitting some next-gen kids; our cousins were
mostly with us to hang out together with little need for supervision. Okay, Zack and Eli are still challenging at
times, but they played nice last night – pretending that they needed to be good
ahead of the Easter Bunny visit. That
worked for us, but then we were busy too for most of the night between cooking
and cleaning up around our Pizzeria pizza and sides dinner; entertaining
everyone with options varying from video games to movies, music, and board
games. Owen’s party was not a wild and
crazy event on Good Friday and Saturday was a work day for many of the guests;
so our ‘work’ with the teens, kids, and toddlers started to wrap up by around
ten o’clock. It was past eleven by the
time all of our guests were gone; and heading toward midnight by the time the
clean-up of the house was finished and we could wrap up our day with a co-ed
sleepover. There was some co-ed cuddle
time and we watched some music videos too, but by then; we really just needed
to get some sleep.
We needed to be up early this morning, but
we skipped Tai Chi and went to the park to help with hiding the eggs for the hunt. We did that work before breakfast this year;
returned home for that meal with Mom and Dad; and then went back to the park to
rejoin the volunteer crews. Ethan helped
with one of the prizes booths; I was at the table for kid registrations and
handed out the baskets and wristbands that doubled as identification for
parent-kid matches; and we both had fun with our friends, family, and everyone
that joined in on the fun for most of the morning. There hasn’t been a major expansion of the
hunt, and it was cooler this morning, but there was still a good turnout; and
there is a bit more to do now thanks to some charity fundraising games and food
and drinks booths. We got in on some of
those treats and a couple of games while taking breaks from our work, but it
was seeing the kids having fun and happy that made the efforts worth it for us.
Ethan and I were on our own when we went
home with Mom and Dad; we took care of a few chores there; and then we had a
quick lunch before heading over to Aiden’s house to help with Hailey’s birthday
party. Aiden’s parents couldn’t take the
day off from the bakery on a holiday weekend when Easter treats are in high
demand; so Aiden and I were technically in charge of the party. Ethan and Naomi were our primary ‘crew’ members,
but we also had some family support from both sides of Hailey’s family. The high today only reached the mid-fifties,
but Hailey and her friends still had some outdoor time that included a bike
ride and back yard hang-out time by the river.
Aiden and I set up the family room for
video gaming; there were music videos in the living room; and the kitchen was hang-out
central for most of the adults and older teens.
Aiden would suggest that his top news of the day was that some of
Hailey’s classmates and friends have crossed over and joined the couples’ club,
but then he also seems happy that she hasn’t crossed over too. That isn’t exactly true, since I know that
Hailey and Leah have both crossed over, but while they are interested in the
guys around their age; they haven’t started spending time with any specific guys
– and Aiden can stay in denial until that changes! ;^)
While we did a lot of work at Hailey’s
party, we had fun too. Highlights
included the dinner that we cooked for everyone, but let’s also mention that
half of the dishes were also pre-cooked and only needed to be heated up. That meal was a hit with Hailey’s guests; she
loved the gifts she opened between dinner and dessert; and then we held dessert
back until her parents got home from the bakery and could join in on the wish,
song, and cakes and ice cream fun.
The party rolled on into the evening, but
not late because we all need to be up early for the sunrise service in the
morning – and some of us need to be at the church even earlier to warm up and
deal with the final set-up. None of us
want to mess up with the Easter Bunny either; so the party wrapped up by around
nine o’clock; we had the final clean-up done by ten; and Ethan and I were home
by ten-thirty. We did a visit with Mom
and Dad as they were wrapping up work in the office for the night; ignored the
gaps in the recap of their afternoon and evening; and we all headed up to our
rooms by eleven o’clock.
Ethan and I opted for quick showers; and
now we’re taking care of the usual twin chat and computer checks. The Iran war continues to get most of the
media attention in our country; and the news is not good. The countdown declared by President Trump is
now down to less than forty-eight hours until his deadline for Iran to
basically surrender or face ‘being bombed into the Stone Ages’ by our
military. We’re fairly-well versed in
history and didn’t know that there had been more than one Stone Age, but maybe
our President has some classified information that the rest of the world is
unaware of before now! While we are sure
that Iran will not surrender; we are more-concerned with the ongoing
escalations in the war without the threats still being promised. Iran’s nuclear plants have been attacked
again; civilian targets are being hit ranging from homes to factories to energy
infrastructure; and Iran is retaliating against Israel and the other Gulf
countries. The horrors are continuing in
Lebanon too; and Israeli forces are also expanding operations in Gaza and the
West Bank – taking advantage of the Iran war distraction to attempt grabbing up
land in all regions. We don’t want to go
on about this, but do want to mention that many of those other Gulf countries
ought to be looking at what is happening now with an eye to what might happen
to them in the future.
Let’s stop there. Ethan and I do not want to risk being up when
the Easter Bunny comes to town; so we’re off to dreamland now – possibly to
dream about cute, chocolate – I mean cuddly – bunnies!
Until next time, live with love, fellow
Magi of the Light!
