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!
