Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 4th Birthday, Belinda Benton!
Before we get to our own news from last night and our day-so-far; let’ mention that we actually saw Belinda a few times today because her birthday adventures included the shopping trip to the city; and we crossed paths with her group several times – mostly because Cassie and Michael were with us for parts of the day too and had cameo moments with Belinda and her family and friends.
As for our adventures, the Pinehurst parade last night was amazing; we had a vocal, home-town cheering section that included some of our favorite cousins and parents; and we had fun with the rest of the activities before and after the parade that included visiting Santa, holiday snacks, and some Christmassy games. The bus rides each way were fun too; and we didn’t mind the work with the band gear along the way that we helped out with at every stage. We’d like to add that our co-ed sofa sleepover plans included a lot of bonus fun, but while we started to watch a movie once the lounge was set up for the night; we all fell asleep long before the movie ended!
That’s worked out better for us today, since we also needed to be up early for the shopping trip that started with the breakfast buffet at the Inn. We were among the first to arrive, and while Mom was one of the group leaders; we were also among the first to head for Crystal Springs because we were with Cassie and Michael; and they were driving Mom’s minivan while she went with Aunt Leanne and a group of girls. Dad had a group of boys in his truck; and Uncle Adam either won or lost the coin toss to stay home and be the on-call doctor! We had a blast with the food fun at the Inn; the trip to the mall seemed fast and we loved the time with Cassie and Michael; and then our Christmas gift buying adventures were awesome! Ethan and I were with our four best friends for most of the day not including the times we split up into smaller groups for some gift-buying privacy as needed and some clothes shopping, but we also stayed ahead of schedule all day too. We were at the mall for about four hours including the food court lunch break; we needed another two hours at our favorite toy store; and then we split up for a while – though the boys that went to the Home Depot didn’t need long for that stop; and they caught up with us at Wal-Mart before we were half-done our shopping for supplies and whatever gifts were still on lists by then.
We picked up fast food on the way out of town, but had different drivers for the trip home because Cassie ended up with a minivan full of girls while Michael came home with a truckload of boys. We were with Mom and Dad; and we’ll skip over the rest of the passenger and driver juggling needed to make all of that happen. The stores were still open when we got back to town, so some of us did a bit more shopping while the guys took care of a bunch of deliveries; and now Ethan and I have finished putting our purchases away and I’m packed and about to head over to Aiden’s house for the night. Naomi will be here any minute to spend the night with Ethan, and while we considered doing another group teen night here; Naomi ‘won’ the vote for splitting up – not that the rest of us really had a problem with her plan for the rest of the night! ;^)
This really has been an awesome, fun day with a lot of our favorite people, so let’s wrap up with our Christmas music video picks; and then I’ll get out of here and make way for Naomi and her make-out plans with my twin. For the second time this year; I’ll leave it up to you to guess my song choice and Ethan’s pick; so have fun with that while we move on to our respective co-ed sleepovers!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
P.S. I’ll add that while the Kate Winslet song doesn’t sound Christmassy; it was featured in an animated version of A Christmas Carol; so it gets to be a favorite because we like that movie too!
