Tai Chi with Mom and Dad was pretty much the only quiet time I’ve had before now since waking up this morning.
We had breakfast for ten, and then most of us walked over to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house to say goodbye to Kara, Eddie, and Nicole before they all hit the road for the trade-off they were doing to return the three kids to their parents while picking up Chrissy and Jonathan for the nearly two weeks they’d be spending with us until needing to head home again in time for Rob and Trish’s wedding. After seeing them off, my cousins had the option to be set free for the morning while Mom, Dad, and I were busy with the usual Saturday morning chores. Rowen, Dawn, and Jillian opted to help Mom with Ethan and Ehlana, so while I was mowing the lawn and doing some gardening, they took the twins out for a walk and some play time at the park. We all went for a mid-morning swim when I was ready for a little break, and thanks to their babysitting assistance; we were finished the ‘must-do’ chores by noon.
Chris and Martin grabbed bikes and left the house to meet up with some of their friends, including Rebecca and Jenny, but more of their friends had part-time jobs this year, so not all of them were available – or at least they could only hang out with them before or after work. They were on their own when they came home for lunch, and then were off and running again as soon as they’d scarfed down some burgers, chips, and Olde Bakery desserts.
Having the guys doing their own thing all afternoon worked out great for Dawn, Jillian, Rowen, and me – and for Mom and Dad. Violet played with us for a few hours; with a break in the middle while she was busy hanging out with Dillon when he had his afternoon break at the Inn. We played with Ethan and Ehlana for a while too, though they also had an afternoon nap break so they’d be rested up for the campfire tonight.
It’s hard to believe that we didn’t run across Chris and Martin all afternoon in our little town, but even though we went to the park, the school, and the Emporium; we didn’t see them at all until they came home again for dinner. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne had just gotten to our house by then with Chrissy and Jonathan; though they’d been home for more than a half hour, and had Violet and her six-member junior welcoming committee meet them and help with both a round of hugs and kisses, and help carrying luggage up to second-floor bedrooms.
I haven’t really gotten to know Chrissy very well yet, and she’s probably the quietest member of her family, but I really like her, and she and Violet both seem happy to be spending the next couple of weeks together. Since Chrissy’s a February baby like me, I don’t usually think of her in the same group with Violet, Dillon, and their friends; but she is in the same grade with them even though she’s nearly a year younger than Dillon and Jake. Underneath the shy and quiet, she’s also really beautiful too.
Jonathan has been a bit on the shy side sometimes too, but that might just be in new situations; since he was ready and able to keep right up with Chris and Martin once they got together at our house. Violet and Chrissy mostly stayed with Mom and Aunt Leanne while they were getting dinner ready, and Dawn, Jillian, Rowen, and I went for a swim and hung around on the dock until it was time to eat. The Arrows had a game, so Violet and Chrissy recruited all of the kids to take care of the post-dinner cleanup while the ball players got ready for their game and then headed over to the park. Chris, Martin, and Jonathan weren’t thrilled with that plan, but they did help anyway. Ethan and Ehlana were included too, but their supervisory assistance was mostly just for entertainment value. Yes, guys, I know that you could have helped – and Mom and Dad have let you do that a few times. Trust me on this, and just enjoy being too young for chores. We don’t get to do them the fun way very often, and the normal way isn’t much fun.
When we’re finished the work, Violet and Chrissy take us over to the park to watch the game. Chris, Martin, and Jonathan are off with their friends again about five seconds after we get there, and since there are girls in that group; I’m good with them finding something else to do. The Arrows played the Torpedoes tonight, and though they had a great cheerleading squad; we didn’t really have anything to cheer about. The only good news for the Arrows was that it was the shortest game of the season so far, so the pain was over fairly early; and we could all move on to the campfire. Final score – ten to four. All of the attending Arrows players came home with us for the campfire, and the game post-mortem included blaming all-day work; hours of travelling; or AWOL players that had the audacity to miss a game just because they got married and thought that going on a honeymoon was more important. I really hope the Arrows make it into the Championship game, or Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah could get teased about that for years.
Anyway, it wasn’t dark yet when we got home, so while the adults were busy getting everything ready for the campfire, most of us younger kids went swimming with some support from Violet and Chrissy. The boys weren’t with us at first, but they came over in time for a quick swim too; and had all of their friends with them for the campfire – including Rebecca and Jenny. That’s made for a few déjà vu moments, with the only changes being that Caleb Palmer and Erica Bassett, and Carolyn Landry and Jeff Morris, were ‘officially’ couples this summer. The last two members of their group from last summer, Anna Marie Palmer and Calvin Jennings, were hanging out with them too, but weren’t currently dating anyone.
Violet and Stephanie must have decided to get some of their friends to come over to hang out with them, and with Chrissy, and by the time the Stone family, Dillon, and Stephanie joined the party after closing the Inn; we had a handful of sixteen and seventeen-year old teens to go along with the younger group. That at least had the effect of controlling the extreme goofiness as Chris, Martin, Jonathan, and the other guys had to play it cool around the older guys; but there was still a lot going on around the yard and campfire that I’d have been happy not to witness – or have a photographic memory to remember those moments with.
Fortunately, we’ve had a lot of really great moments tonight to offset the weird and uncomfortable. I love the campfire stories and music; Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and I toasted marshmallows, joined in for the sing-alongs, and thrilled to the scary stories that Grandpa, Uncle Adam, and Jake took turns telling us. We had Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi to cuddle with part of the time; though they were all taken inside and up to bed by shortly before eleven, and Mom and Dad ended up with another guest for the night.
It was still hot out, and quite a few kids and teems, including our foursome, jumped into the river for short swims. There was rain in the overnight forecast, but we haven’t had any rain yet. The campfire is still going on as I write this, but only some of the teens are still hanging out around it now. Rowen went home with her parents and brother when they left, and Dawn and Jillian are in their rooms tonight. I’ve been sitting in the window alcove with Mandy since getting ready for bed; doing the usual bedtime computing.
I’ve been entertained by the teens around the campfire too, though maybe that little admission should scare me. Then again, they – the friends still hanging out with Chris, Martin, and Jonathan – are scary-story kind of entertaining; so I guess it’s okay. Scariest moment of the night: Jenny kissing Martin down by the river. They’ll never read this, and probably think there weren’t witnesses, but then they were probably too preoccupied to consider the moonlight, shadows, or reflection in the river.
I don’t know if Rebecca and Jenny talked that over first, but while I didn’t observe anything even remotely approaching the kissing stage between Rebecca and Jonathan; they were sitting next to each other; while Chris was sort of bridging the gap between the younger and older teens, and sat next to Caleb and Anna Marie Palmer. Their big brother, Josiah, stayed after all of the adults and younger kids left too, which was a first; so I’ll guess that he wasn’t hanging around for the marshmallows and cold drinks. I’m trying to stay out of the matchmaking business right now, but while watching my cousins and their friends is scary; there are two shy, sweet teens out there tonight that are just adorable. I know, that’s very inconsistent, but I’m a girl – live with it!
Anyway, I’m tired, and we’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow – later today. The guys and girls around the fire can party all night if they want to, but it’s definitely time for me to wrap this up and get some sleep.
Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!
