Eventful Holiday Week Part 3: Saturday Funday

Despite the previously stated issues with my car, that didn't deter me from having an amazing time on Saturday. The car held up and it led to a road trip for Griffin, Willow and myself.

We went to a nearby town, as we've done before, for some fun as a pregame to my birthday celebration the next day. I was in full boy mode on this day. I feel like people judge me more if I'm Trixie with Willow than when I'm without her.

We started off with lunch at Chili's. Their chicken tenders (or whatever they call them) platter is delicious! I went with two buffalo ranch flavored dipping sauces. 😋

We then headed over to Barnes and Noble to browse their wares. I was looking for a copy of Tranny by Laura Jane Grace but, sadly, they didn't have a copy. Griffin was looking for a copy of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me but they didn't have that either. When it comes to LGBTQ books, the Barnes and Noble in the nearby college town has a better selection than this one.

Anyway, unlike usual, Griffin actually bought a bunch of books instead of walking around and procrastinating for an hour. Good on him!

I also bought Willow a mad libs book and the complete Chronicles of Narnia. She has to read 20 minutes everyday for school and I figured that this would be a great way to accomplish that. She's currently reading a book about the history of video games. She loves it (as I knew she would)!

After that, we proceeded to the mall. Griffin walked through the other stores while Willow and I hit up the arcade...and dominated each game in doing so.

We easily doubled her tickets total from the last time we went there and she had over 15,000 by the time we were done. She went through and traded them in for whatever she wanted. Once she was satisfied, she still had over 11,000 tickets left. She's getting close enough to afford an Xbox the next time we go lol.

After that, it was time to leave...but not for home. You see, the route to this shopping area takes us straight through the hometown of Aerith. So, we decided to stop and hang out with her for a little bit. This would also allow her to meet both Griffin and Willow.

We met at the same brewery where we had our first date (since it's a brewery and not a bar, kids are allowed). Aerith brought a few board games with her to play with Willow. I also had something for Aerith: a pack of Pokemon cards we'd won with Willow's tickets earlier. I know she's into them and I hope she enjoyed them. 😊

The game Aerith played with Willow was Final Girl. Essentially, you're the main survivor in a horror or scifi movie setting (hence the name) and you have to save any potential victims from the killer. There's quite a few scenarios based on different movies. In this case, it was Friday the 13th and Willow's camp counselor had to save the victims from the Jason stand in Hans.

Willow had a blast playing this game but got super into it. Whenever she went to roll the dice, she would give them a pep talk/threat to ensure a desired result:

"Now, listen here, kids: you had better be a five or a six. If you are, you get all the PlayStations you want, a trip to Disneyland every week, and you can stay up late every night. If you don't, then you're grounded for a billion years."

She started to do this for every. Single. Roll. So, each roll took her nearly five minutes.

Evidently, the dice heard her...and got scared. She couldn't get a five or six if she bought one. Her threats towards the dice after each roll were so hilarious but also so outrageous that I can't remember them. We were all laughing hysterically at them though lol.

Eventually, she had to give up as she had no hopes of winning after a while. We would've played a different game but the live music began and made it impossible to clearly hear any directions.

So, we sat around and talked for a bit. Willow absolutely adored Aerith based on her actions. Whenever Willow wants someone to like her, she keeps poking or bothering that person with something. In Aerith's case, Willow kept poking her with her empty chips bag or drink cup. Aerith responded with "I have two younger siblings, so that doesn't bother me at all." She would also respond with good natured swipes at the bag.

Soon enough, it was time to head home. Hours felt like seconds with her. Before I knew it, we'd been there for three hours. We said our goodbyes and I hugged her before we walked to the car (still no kiss yet. I may have to take matters into my own hands on that one lol).

As we walked to the car, Willow said to me "Griffin was recording you and Aerith."

My response: "Yeah, he likes to watch."

We both laughed.

Griffin says he was just taking pictures of the outside of the brewery but it's so much fun to tease him.

Once we got to the car, I asked both of them what they thought of Aerith.

Willow immediately said that she was really nice.

Griffin responded with, "for first impressions, she's pretty nice."

Honestly, I was waiting for a "but" to follow. Thankfully, none did. I decided to chalk this up to "Griffin is too innocent to understand how he sounds right now" and left it at that.

I mentioned to Aerith later how much fun Willow had and went over how many of my VIPs were left for her to meet. She has a few friends as well for me to meet and then her parents. Apparently, her mom is super intrigued and excited about me. She really wants to be a grandmother and is super happy about me having Willow. Only time will tell if we get to that point. 😉

Tomorrow, we talk about my actual birthday celebration and the end of an era.




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