"The Guys with Guns Said We Could Go"

Yesterday Azael invited a few boys over for a Wii/Lego/Pizza/Soda/Oreos Party. Azael didn't want to call it a birthday party because he's in 4th grade, afterall. Azael's party happened just one hour after Lorelai's birthday party. Having 2 parties in one day worked really well. I was "in the mode," and the house only needed to be cleaned once. I may try that again. :)

Azael and his friends (and 2 tag-along brothers, Ephraim & Silas) were playing outside. Mystery Man was out there with them. At some point, a neighbor was talking to Mystery Man and he didn't have the presence of mind to stop the troop of boys as they walked up the road. Five minutes later her came in and said, "Where did they go?"

"Probably to the cave," I said. "That's not good because they're going to get all muddy and their parents won't like picking up filthy kids after the party."

The cave is 10 minutes away on foot, not on our property, and a prime area for 4-wheelers and hunters.

Mystery Man took off to find them (and never did). About 30 minutes later, the muddy boys returned to the yard. They had walked through the woods this time, missing Mystery Man, who was walking on the road.

After my brief lecture to Azael ("You are never allowed to go to the cave without a parent and without asking a parent - what were you thinking?"), the boys came inside to eat pizza and Azael gave me the story:

We walked past Dad, who was talking to a lady. He looked at us and didn't say anything, so we figured it was OK. When we got to the cave, there were 3 guys there with guns. They said, "Can't you see we're hunting?" I told them, "We're just going to see the cave." They finally let us go check out the cave and promised not to shoot anymore until we left."

Mystery Man returned at that point, happy to see they were home and I told him everything. Azael walked up, got another lecture from MM, then defended himself with, "The guys with guns said we could go."

Well, in that case...

At least they'll have something exciting to talk about at school Monday. It's a relief somebody wasn't shot at our birthday party. That wouldn't impress the other moms. It's the small things, right? ;)

Azael and friends, Bergen, Mathew, & Max.