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9/17/05

10:30 PM: What a day! It started out with a clean-up day at church, so Randall was out of here pretty early. Most of the churches around here have an annual "Homecoming" Sunday, where we invite friends and family to come join us for a special church service, followed by a potluck. So we were making sure the church looked its best. The rest of the day was filled with preparations for Elisabeth's party. Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday afternoon. Oh my. It was a zoo. As Randall put it, it's like a mini casino (without the smoke, thankfully). But it's just as stimulating and overwhelming, and the kids go nuts over those silly tickets to buy trinkets that are worth far less than the money it took to buy the tokens to play the games to win the tickets. We had not made a reservation, because we don't like being on the main floor, but we were lucky to get three tables together. All her friends from church came (well, the girls anyhow--she didn't want to invite any boys), and Haley from her school came (her mother Laura posts comments here occasionally). We were there from 4:30 until 7:00. Ugh. I think most of the kids could have stayed all night. Sophie, in particular seemed to enjoy herself and have lots of energy. She didn't enjoy the games at all, but she loved seeing Chuck E. (had a sudden attack of shyness when he tried to shake her hand), and she had a good time dancing to the music. I'm glad she was doing well enough to go.