Maybe it was just a coincidence, but while the Rice family was getting ready to leave this morning, it started to rain; and the unusually warm weather that we’d enjoyed for the past few days came to a rather abrupt end.
We were all very busy for the first few hours of the morning; though for Chris and Martin, that was more like the last hour before they hit the road with Uncle Rick and Aunt Melissa. Dawn and I had been able to get to sleep despite the little party in the lounge, and that had ended by one o’clock; but the two boys had stayed up and played until after four; and weren’t particularly motivated to do anything this morning. I helped Dawn to get ready to go as much as I could; but we both helped out with Jaimie and Kaitlyn too while the parents were juggling babies; cooking; and everything else they had on the go – like the loads of laundry that had been piling up since Wednesday.
Dawn’s parents and grandparents came over from Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house by nine o’clock, and while Uncle Rick needed to get Chris and Martin moving and packed; Violet and Dawn were both ready to go, and it didn’t take them long to get their bags loaded into the SUV. Violet was going with Dillon, and Dawn opted to head home with Uncle Richard and Aunt Carrie instead of spending a few hours stuck between Chris and Martin. Grandma and Grandpa stopped by in time for the goodbyes; getting to our house just after Dillon drove over to get Violet. The goodbyes didn’t take much longer, and after watching the three vehicles disappear from view; we all went back inside and took a little mid-morning break.
I’m not sure in hindsight why I thought that we’d have a quieter weekend once nearly half of our family had gone home. Jaimie and Kaitlyn made sure that both Mandy and I were kept busy most of the day. When I wasn’t playing with them, I had work to do – like the forty-five minutes it took me to clean up the mess that Chris, Martin, and their friends had made in the lounge. Maybe I should give them a refresher lesson using Mom’s board-breaking demonstration. I’ll keep that in mind for the Christmas holidays if it’s a problem then.
Since it wasn’t very nice outside, I invited Rowen and her cousins over for the afternoon. She’d worked in the store for the big sale on Friday, and spent the morning there today too; so she was way past ready for a little fun time even if that was mostly geared toward entertaining six and four-year old girls. The rest of our family came over for the afternoon too; and while the guys mostly took over the living room to watch college football, girl-central was in the kitchen. Rowen and I did get some Mom support now and then, and Kaitlyn curled up on my bed with Mandy and had a little nap for a while; but we were mostly left to play on our own until Aunt Leanne, Aunt Grace, and the grandmothers came upstairs to round us up for dinner and help with a quick cleanup of both toys and kids.
Rowen and her cousins had to go home to their own family dinner; and when we got downstairs, they had a parental chauffeur waiting to take them over to Grandma and Grandpa Emerson’s. I may be missing out on a lot of what’s going on with the adults in family this weekend, but even though Jaimie and Kaitlyn keep me busy during meals too; I still keep my ears and eyes open to everything else that’s going on around me. Tonight, was seemed glaringly obvious to me was that Aunt Grace and Mark are definitely, totally in love. It’s also obvious that they haven’t figured out what to do about that; but it won’t be all that long before Ethan, Ehlana, and I help them out with their little geographic problem. I’d love to spring that on them now, but there are a few other things that need to happen first; so they’ll just have to work things out for themselves for now.
After dinner and the cleanup, football still ruled in the living room, but Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and I had some company in the lounge to watch a movie, and then my two adorable little cousins took turns using my Jacuzzi before being tucked into my bed for the night. Grandpa Duncan took care of their bedtime story, and once Jaimie and Kaitlyn were sleeping; I went downstairs to hang out in the living room until the party broke up and everyone either headed for their homes or up to bed.
I’ll hop into bed with Mandy and my cousins soon, but I wanted a little time for myself first; and have been sitting in the lounge, playing on my computer since getting changed. Dawn sent me an email to let me know that they’d gotten home safely and to tell me all about their second of three family Thanksgivings. There wasn’t any family business work that couldn’t wait until next week, and I didn’t miss much on the entertainment scene.
Considering our history with the Hathornes, Mom has probably been checking up on them this weekend, but tonight was the first time I took a look to see what they’ve been up to for the holiday. They had another big corporate party at the estate, and though it may not seem like a big deal compared to some of the really terrible things they do; I think that purposefully keeping families apart on holidays like this does do a lot of damage. There wasn’t anything for us to worry about with anything I saw in the Hathorne systems, and the only interesting information was about Gwyneth’s continuing, extraordinary development that rivals the accomplishments of the brightest baby geniuses of all time. I still really hope that she doesn’t draw the wrong kind of attention by creating that public image for herself. Surviving fights with other Dark Magi is one thing, but it’s also the jeopardy her soul will be in because of anything she does during those battles.
Somehow I’ve managed to lose track of time again, and it’s past midnight. Time to call it a day and go join my little cuddle buddies. We only have one more day left in the holiday weekend; but even with a smaller group, Sunday mornings are always busy; and we’ve got reservations for the first buffet at the Inn to look forward to before the rest of our family heads home. That sounds like a recipe for another hectic, amazingly fun day!