This has been one of those really great days!
Even working around the yard this morning with Mom and Dad was mostly fun, and we managed to get everything on our to-do list finished by one o’clock; in part thanks to Alicia helping us out with watching Ethan and Ehlana for an extra morning shift while we were busy with our chores. I went for a quick cool-off swim then while Mom and Dad got lunch ready, and then we ate quickly; cleaned up; and headed over to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house.
We weren’t the only party set-up volunteers, but I was the only kid until Rowen stopped by looking for me; and she was drafted to help me with some random acts of yard and garden cleaning. There were tables and chairs to set up after that; a little afternoon break that included another short swim in the river; and more work before all of the girls helping out either went inside or home to get cleaned up and ready for the party.
A kids-included party for the bachelor and bachelorette was a first for me, but Aunt Deborah and Nick had loved Liz’s suggestion. Naomi was technically the only official kid relative of the happy couple to be at the party, but all of the invited families thought it was a great idea too. Getting to dress casual, and even bring swimsuits was an added bonus; and it wasn’t just the kids and teens interested in going for a dip or two in the river as the party heated up.
I usually don’t think about it at all, but Nick and Aunt Deborah are about nine years younger than Mom and Dad. That doesn’t matter to any of us when we’re together, or they’re playing baseball; but it does mean that the younger couple has their own circle of friends too. For Nick, that includes most of his childhood and high school friends. Some of those friends were married to each other now, and according to some of the teasing I heard tonight; he’s the last of their group to get married. His best man, Rob Byrd, seemed to have the most fun with that; though all of Nick’s friends and family were happy to help roast him all night – and they had a lot of material to do that with!
My photographic memory helps out a lot with remembering people and information about them, but even in our small town, I don’t really get to know everyone, so it was really great to spend more time with some of the younger adult couples that I don’t talk with very often. Ethan and Ehlana really loved getting to hang out with Naomi and some of the other kids close to their age – like Rob and Anne’s daughter, Jennifer. She’ll be one on Monday, and though she’s not walking on her own yet, she happily sat on a blanket and played with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Sophia Bassett. Ethan didn’t seem to mind being the only guy in the group most of the time; though there were a few more kids stopping by to play with them for a few minutes here and there; so he did get some guy company if not any real support. Mom got teased a bit that she should be afraid of how popular her son was with the girls, but he, Ehlana, and I know that there’s only one girl in his future.
Aunt Deborah didn’t have any of her family or friends home this weekend for the party except for her parents; and they were going to be in town for the next week. Aunt Deborah’s maid of honor, Marcia (Mar-see-ah) Litton, had really wanted to come, but she was one of the newest nurses at the hospital she was working at; and hadn’t been able to get two long weekends off in a row; or have the seniority for one of the coveted mid-summer vacation spots. She did have Liz, Aunt Leanne, Mom, and all of her new Witch Falls friends to celebrate with, though, and didn’t escape being roasted too; mostly thanks to her grandparents, Aunt Christine, and Uncle Andrew.
Not everyone who was invited could make it to the dinner, but the party included a campfire at dark, and there was a yard full of people by then. I was on the sidelines with the rest of the kids most of the time. Rowen and I sat with six other kids at dinner, including a couple of our classmates. We were junior members of the clean-up crew, and then we were free to play for the rest of the night. There were games set up to play, and while we joined in for some Frisbee action and teamed up for a game of croquet, we only watched the teens and adults play volleyball. Going for a few swims to cool off was fun too, and we took Ethan and Ehlana in with us the second time.
The campfire was really great too, except for one tiny little problem I had – or more specifically, a problem that Aunt Leanne engineered especially for me. The Stone family joined the party after closing the Inn for the night. Aunt Leanne had invited Rowen and me to sit on a blanket in front of them for the campfire, and I was next to a pair of coolers and a table that suddenly disappeared to make room for Michael, Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie; with the teens sitting in chairs that were set up between Aunt Leanne and Violet. I’m sure you don’t need two guesses to figure out the only spot that was left for Michael. Rebecca might have saved me, but she went to sit with Jenny and their friends; and they were on the other side of the fire.
He couldn’t have missed what was going on either – especially since Aunt Leanne started doing things like stretching her legs out between Rowen and me, and doing her best to nudge me closer to Michael. I’m not sure if I was more annoyed about Aunt Leanne’s antics and set-up; the few times Rowen couldn’t help but giggle, which just encouraged her; Mom’s patient smile that advised me there wasn’t anything she could do to help; or Miranda’s smile that told me she thought the whole scene was cute.
Since escaping wasn’t an option that would accomplish anything other than giving Aunt Leanne more ammunition, I stayed where I was; did what I could to counter the physical and verbal nudges; and even managed to talk with Michael about what we’d each been doing all day without causing any permanent damage to either of us. Michael eventually got his get-out-of-sitting-next-to-me chance when some of the other kids and teens decided to go for a moonlight swim. Rowen and I went swimming too, but I made sure that there were lots of swimmers between Michael and us; and he seemed to be as enthusiastic about having that space between us as I was. He conveniently needed to sit somewhere else when he came back to the campfire. He and the majority of our classmates may have crossed over, but at least Michael doesn’t try to inflict all of that pre-teen goofiness on me. Now if only I could get my Aunt to remember that I’m only eleven. Really, please, try to remember that!
Mom and Dad were ready to take Ethan and Ehlana home at eleven-thirty, and I volunteered to help them with that, and stay home with them if they needed to come back for the rest of the party and eventual clean-up. I didn’t end up needing to watch the twins when Violet and Dillon offered to come with us too; though I’m sure they were looking for some alone time before Dillon needed to go home for the night. I still helped to get Ethan and Ehlana changed and in bed, and then I hugged everyone else good night and came up to my room.
My plans for a quick email check and to write up this journal entry has turned into a two-hour computing marathon while I’ve wound down from the day, the party, and the campfire annoyance that I’m still thinking about way too much. I should probably cut Aunt Leanne some slack since she doesn’t know everything that Ethan, Ehlana and I do about our future, but her apparent dedication this summer to setting me up despite my explicit and repeated assurances that I’m not romantically interested in any boys, and am in no hurry to change that status, makes that very hard to do.
Move on and get over it, Proctor.
Mom and Dad will be home soon, and there aren’t that many hours left before it’ll be time to get up for Tai Chi by the river. The last note I should make before wrapping this up is to mention that I’ve added some new information to the Magi Project that Uncle Adam and I are continuing to work on; mostly because of a few things that I learned during the party. Those insights mostly came from having Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and the other kids around their age all together in one place. I haven’t talked to the twins about it yet, but they’ll likely have some thoughts on the new ideas I’ve come up with. Check out that archive if you’re interested in reading more about what Uncle Adam and I have been doing with our ongoing assessments and where we want to take the project next.
That’s all for me for tonight, so...
...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!
