We're All Mad Here

We were all well-rested the next morning after a good, quiet night’s sleep. Alone. In our own house.

Hetal was up first to feed Erin.

Then I got to work upgrading our appliances to keep them from breaking. With this many teenagers, you have to expect everything to be broken all the time if you don’t take precautions.

I got a little too involved in my work.

Branden and Christof are so picky about their food these days. On the positive side, they’re always making delicious salads for us to eat. Even if it’s annoying, I think we all eat healthier with both of them bugging us.

Caitlin and Christof are still joined at the hip. Or the shoulder. Or something. It’s so cute to see them together.

We’re just a big old happy family!

All the older kids just love Erin.

She is going to be so spoiled when she’s older.

Isn’t she cute?

Today was a Sunday. We were all moved in, which didn’t take much because we had to sell almost all our stuff to get into this house. Work and school didn’t start until Monday. There wasn’t even a holiday festival in town. What were we going to do with our day?

I decided to take the bull by the horns. We were all going to spend some time outside for a while! The fresh air would do us good.

I gathered the whole family together and took us to the playground. The teens protested that they were too old, but I put my foot down. They could find something to do there, and they would like it. Or else.

We took the cab for about two blocks to the elixer shop.

Then loaded up into the local LLAMA to get most of the rest of the way there.

LLAMA: The only way to travel! At least in this town.

Deanne couldn’t cram herself in, but she got in after we were done.

The teens got more cheerful once we arrived.

Branden shot hoops with Hetal.

He had a lot to learn.

Then this waif of a girl showed up and joined us with her toddler.

I swear, she should eat more! You could see right through her!

Deanne played pretend, pretty much the same way she always does when she’s at home, but at least she was outside doing it.

Christof and Caitlin threw the frisbee around.

Hetal and I played on the swings. Whee!

And when a toddler started screaming, it wasn’t Erin.

Erin was playing with her doll like an angel. It’s so nice when the screaming kid isn’t yours once in a while.

Branden was the first one to head home. He was anxious about his grades and wanted to get a good start on the school week.

After a while, the rest of us decided we’d had enough fun, and also the playground didn’t have much in the way of lights.

Christof fed the kitties and then tried to show them what to do about it!

Branden was more direct.

Then Christof and Branden decided to play frisbee in the back yard while Deanne headed to bed.

Branden tries hard. You have to give him that.

Hetal and I settled down to a late dinner. Suddenly, Hetal said, “Do you get the feeling we forgot a couple of kids?”

Ulp.

Where was Erin??

Fortunately, Caitlyn, who we’d also forgotten, took care of the littlest Wonderland.

We have such a responsible family!

All’s well that ends well. Could somebody get that kid a bottle?

———-

I have now played all the way to Branden’s birthday. I can’t wait to know who the heir is going to be, so I’m going to try to power through the final posts as fast as I can manage. The kids head off to school in the next post, so maybe I can manage more then one day in the next post :).