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Our friends Tom and Brett were having a birthday party for their son who just turned one.
So, I had to brave that place that is hell to my wife: The shopping center.

What I don’t get is that it is on top of a hill in New England and it is a beautiful site/sight. Yet, the put the parking lot in the middle and the stores on the outside. If you go back to the employee parking, it is a great view.

I guess it is for employees only. Shoppers should look at the store and nothing else.

I bought a toy, a gift certificate, new works shoes for myself and the baking chocolate my wife needed for her cake balls, then headed home.

Soon after, we were on the way to their place in New Hampshire.

The purple house was all decked out for the party.

I’d say the birthday boy was happy to see us, but really he was more of the “why are all these people in my house.”

His father made up for this with baby tossing time.

Lots of other folks were there, some bringing strange things from their gardens as gifts.

It was nice to visit with folks I hadn’t seen in a while.

But, mostly it was kids there for the birthday boy.

My wife, who does not like crowds, move out to the porch, and pretty much everyone followed.

I had a nice visit with Tom and his sister. He talked about the new job he hopes to get. She talked of evicting tenants from her rental property.

Tom and I also had a discussion of stinging insects on his property and the proper steps to remove them.

A storm came up and blew a whole lot of leaves from the trees, filling the air in front of Tom’s house. I tried to get a photo, but it doesn’t do it justice.

Then it was back to baby tossing time.

Tom spun his son so fast that the baby’s pants were pulled off by centrifugal force.

Tom seemed quite happy about this triumph of science over clothing.

We stayed until it started getting dark, then headed home.

It was a nice enough time, and I’m glad I got to visit with folks. But, there were a lot of kids there. I like kids and generally get along with them, but 9 kids all 6 or under is a lot to take. Tom and Brett were happy, and that’s what matters.