Birthdays Galore!

Two hundred and sixty two miles is a lot of miles.  That's the number of 'em that separate me from my mom which is no fun whatsoever.  Whenever we get together, it has to be for a decent amount of time to make such a long drive count.  So the fact that we got to spend a couple of days together after Christmas followed by a few days with everyone at our house was a major treat.  We also helped my mom and my sister celebrate their birthdays while they were here which was icing on the cake.  Pun intended!  J and I took charge and entertained all the kids while Steve took my mom to Simp McGee's for a birthday dinner shortly after they arrived.  Can you say pizza buffet and ice cream?  That's exactly what we did.  And the muchkins couldn't have been happier!  We tucked everyone into bed semi-early because the next day was a big one.  My sister's 13th birthday to be exact.  It's not just any day that you get to celebrate the first day of your teenage years, so we had to do it up right.  We hit the ground running early that morning to make the most of Anna Grace's day.  She chose to start out with a trip to the ice skating rink...

 

Now this is where it gets comical.  Of course, YaYa (my mother) nominated herself as official photographer so she wouldn't have to get on the ice.  That left Steve and myself to make sure no one scored broken bones or stitches.  That's a tall order with our crew!  It was hard to keep our eyes on that many children at one time because they were all over the place.  Anna Grace is an old pro, Max is pretty experienced, Towns is finally good at staying on her feet, and Cate, well, is just Cate.  She wobbled back and forth, side to side, and every other way possible but came home without serious injuries.  Miracle!

As long as she kept her arms out to balance herself, she was ok...

 

But the thing about Buggy is that she only has one speed.  Wide. Open.  So the thought of gliding across the ice didn't appeal to her at all.  She was only happy if she was all but running.  You can sort of tell how her feet are barely touching the ice in those skates...

 

When she finally took a spill, she discovered that ice got all over her gloves which she loved for some reason.  So then she spent the rest of the time trying to make herself fall so she could eat the ice off of her gloves...

 

We had a little conversation about how gross that was. And also about how she was going to be black and blue if she kept falling like that.  With tears in her eyes she asked if she was really going to turn black and blue.  She told me she didn't want to be a different color and promised she'd try to be more careful.

She stayed pretty close to Pappy most of the time since he's the fun one and all...

 

Bethany even cleared her busy schedule to join us for an hour or so.  We felt so special!  She's a girl on the go, you know.  This was our attempt at a group shot...

My mom managed to shoot fast enough to catch us all on our feet, looking the same direction, and actually smiling after that commotion, though...

There were some really good ice skaters there practicing their turns and twirls.  Towns was mesmerized and now thinks she wants to add ice skating lessons to her already long list of activities.  She tried so hard to do what those girls were doing.  But she was cautious and had at least one skate on the ice at all times...

 

Smart girl!

These two chicas were so excited that Anna Grace chose to start her birthday off with skating...

 

They've been begging to go for quite some time.  In turn, I've been holding off for quite some time.  That's something I can't tackle by myself.  And truthfully, the aftermath isn't fun.  I feel like I've fallen off a bucking bronco every time.  How is it possible that it can make you that sore?  Age.  That has to be it.

Before we hit the ice rink, we'd made a stop by Gigi's for birthday cupcakes.  We had an impromptu party after we hung our skates up for the day...

Oh, but the fun didn't end there.  We headed to Bridge Street for a movie and dinner after that!

The fountain outside the the theater provided lots of entertainment for us...

 

I sometimes feel bad that Max is the only boy in the bunch and doesn't have someone to pair up with.  Usually Cate's the one that can hang with him.  But AG wanted a birthday picture with her girls...

Which left Max feeling left out.  I ran and tackled him and told him that I wanted my picture made with him and only him...

Can you believe we're brother and sister?!  Twenty three years apart, but I couldn't love him more!

I love this one...

Can't believe you're 13, sister!  It seems like yesterday that I was at home for Christmas break my freshman year at Auburn, begging and pleading with Mom to let me skip the first week of going back to school if you hadn't come yet.  I couldn't miss the day I officially left the "only child club" and gained a sister!  Thankfully, you made your grand entrance into the world before I had to leave.  I cried all the way back to Auburn because I didn't want to leave you...I came home almost every weekend because I just couldn't stand it!  When I'd start missing you, I'd call and beg y'all to drive to Auburn just so we could go to dinner.  And of course, Mom and Steve would make the trip with no questions asked.  That's some love and devotion!  After I graduated from college and was on my own, I'd whisk you away for the weekend and take you shopping.  Just the two of us.  It's so hard to believe that you're a teenager now.  I love you so much and am so glad we got to spend your 13th birthday together!

What a perfect way to round out our Christmas break!