Yesterday was a very dangerous day of firsts. Bret went on his first hunting trip - that's a real gun, not an AirSoft. I've come a long way from the Mom who wouldn't let them buy fake guns at Disney World. Bret's godfather, Steve, is a big outdoorsman and he is giving Bret chances to do all these things that he has wanted to do. They had a good time and no lives were lost among them or the animals they saw (but not at the hunting camp). The other dangerous first was teaching Brantley to drive. He got his learner's permit last Monday but has virtually had no driving experience - once again, if we were big "hunters," he would have been driving four wheelers and other vehicles since he could reach the pedals. So, while Vincent and Bret were in the woods with Steve, Virginia was at a birthday party, and Brantley and I practiced driving around a college campus - that was a great suggestion from a friend - good opportunity to practice with minimal traffic. We'll need a few more trips out there, but the good thing is that he is appropriately cautious and nervous.All of this was part of the ending of the birthday week - we have had a busy one. Brantley began celebrating his birthday a week early when we took him and some of his friends to the O.A.R. concert - we ended up having 7 children spending the night at our house that night, between the 3 of ours and their friends. On his actual birthday, he saw the new James Bond movie and had friends again. My birthday actually got some time this week with a girls weekend at the Grand Hotel (not planned for my birthday, but it sure felt like it was a present!), dinner at Ruth Chris' on my birthday with the family, and then another girl's night out on Friday (had some husbands who couldn't make it, so we decided to leave them all out). Bret is just beginning his week - he had a friend over on Friday and I took them to the International Festival on Saturday, followed by dinner with Granddaddy and Grandma Nora at the bay. His birthday party is not until next week so we are dragging things out.
Now we are ready for the holidays!
