Tween Invasion

Our life continues to evolve as into different phases of life.  We no longer have any preschoolers, our youngest is transitioning into the preadolescence phase, and our oldest is a tween (or what I like to refer to as the Twilight Zone).  For those not familiar with the tween vernacular, a tween is someone between the ages of 10 and 12 who is not yet 13 years old and considered to formally be a teenager, but yet wants to be one and thus in the process of learning the formidable ways to act and think like a teenager.

(left to right): Jaianah, Kate, Bo & Ashley
at the water fountain

It started innocently enough as Ashley and her friends apparently were canoodling all week at school wanting to meet up and go shopping at a local mall.  We agreed and let Ashley meet up with four of her friends (Azu, Bo, Jaianah, and Kate) at 4:30pm where they proceeded to visit the following stores that I'm sure are not all accounted for: American Eagle, Bath & Body Works, Forever 21, Hollister, Icing by Claire's, Lululemon, and Victoria's Secret.  We let them have about two hours to roam around only to discover that during that time there was minimal moments of silence in their presence and this was the first time we let her go shopping with friends.

In the midst of all the chaos, Kevin, Brandon, and I went to do our own shopping.  Brandon wanted to shop for Ashley's upcoming birthday and was very focused on finding things that she wanted/liked.  It was so sweet to watch him in action while trying to find the perfect gift for her and we are hoping for success.

After the two hours lapsed, each group met at 6:30pm and we parted our separate ways as Jaianah and Bo had to leave with their families and we were taking Azu and Kate home even though they wanted a sleepover (I said no since we are trying to buy a car).  Before leaving the mall though, we offered to take them out to Red Robin Gourmet Burgers for dinner, which they were fine with.  Since it was the dinner rush, we had to separate and the four kids sat at one booth and Kevin and I sat adjacent to them in another booth.  The three girls were nice to include Brandon and they treated him nice plus he enjoys their company.  We really like Ashley's friends and feel fortunate that she's surrounded by such grounded girls. 

Kate, Azu & Ashley pretending to be
one of the snobby girls from their class