Let’s start right out with the early morning bad news. I was caught in mid-laugh and hug outside of Michael and Tim’s tent by two people who also saw me leaving his tent at about four-thirty. The fact that I’d been in there to take care of changing Ethan’s diaper again, or that the hug and laugh was in reaction to Michael’s comments and appreciation for helping him with that little problem, was conveniently missing from the story by the time it had hit the campground gossip network at breakfast.
The good news was that we weren’t even close to making top billing for best camping news story. I really don’t want to go into any details, so let’s just say that there were at least a few non-segregated tents last night and leave it at that. Now if only I could get Aunt Leanne to stop grinning every time she looks at me or Michael; like she did practically every time I saw her today. At least that was only a problem at breakfast this morning; after we got back from the whirlpool; and after baseball practice.
Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne came over in time for Tai Chi with Mom, Dad, and me; and we had Ethan and Ehlana with us again after I answered the call for another diaper change for Ethan. Ehlana had needed a change by then too, but Rowen took care of that while I was busy with Ethan; and then she and Michael sat out on one of the benches and kept Ethan and Ehlana busy while we were exercising. There wasn’t much movement coming from any of the tents until after Mom, Dad, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam had gone inside; taking the twins with them. Rowen and I went for a swim next, and had some company in the river as more of our friends decided that a swim before breakfast was a good idea.
With so many campers, Mom and Dad hadn’t even thought about doing anything major for breakfast. They set out bowls of fruit, boxes of cereal, and platters of Olde Bakery muffins, cinnamon buns, and croissants. Cartons of milk and pitchers of juice completed the food and drink choices; and if there was anything left by the time everyone had finished eating; it was probably just crumbs that were too small to feed mice with. Have I mentioned before that boys are scary? Yes, I’m quite sure that I have.
The campers in the Stone’s back yard were doing their own thing for breakfast, but the members of their group that were going on the great whirlpool canoe expedition with us came over in time to help with getting all of our canoes out of the storage barn, and rounding up the extras we’d need for the day. Mom and Aunt Leanne had help for getting the picnic ready to go too, and by nine-thirty, we were on our way upriver.
Rowen and I were in separate canoes, and she had Dawn with her while I had Jillian and Emma in my canoe; mostly because it was easier for them to talk together while we paddled side-by-side. We were at the back of the flotilla, close to Violet, Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie; and as far away as possible from Chris, Martin, Jonathan, and the other guys in their group. That kept us away from the worst of the goofiness for the trips each way, and trust me – most of those guys were in top form today. The fact that their antics actually seem to work on the girls they’re trying to impress continues to just baffles me.
The whirlpool isn’t exactly huge, and it actually seemed crowded today. I’m sure that part of that was because of how much space some of the guys needed to show off for the girls, but it’s been another hot day; and staying cool and playing with Rowen and the rest of our friends was fun anyway. Violet and Stephanie split their time between hanging out with us and with Dillon, Jake, and the rest of their friends; and Rowen and I weren’t the only girls there who appreciated spending a few hours around Jake Stone in a swimsuit.
Did I write that out loud? Oops. Sorry, Stephanie, but I’m positive that you appreciate where that sentiment comes from on a daily basis.
That’s dancing a bit too close to the edge for me. Let’s move along.
We played at the whirlpool for nearly three hours, including having our picnic. When it was time to head for home again, we were in the last group to leave; mostly because Violet and Stephanie had us do a last check to make sure we didn’t leave a mess behind us. Since that left us quite a bit behind the rest of the canoes, we were good with that; and with pretty much being on our own with the ‘cool’ teens for almost the entire trip back.
We were having a second night of camping at our house, but the older teens weren’t doing that – possibly because all of the girls were more interested in some quality bubble bath time; air conditioning; and a comfortable bed to sleep in by then. All of those thoughts crossed my mind a few times tonight, but I don’t need to give Chris, Martin, or anyone else new material or opportunity to tease me more than they’ve been doing today.
Mom and Dad put on another barbeque dinner with some help from their friends, but Rowen, Emma, and I needed to eat early and get to our baseball practice, so we unfortunately missed out on the eating, drinking, and belching competitions that were probably some kind of championship round after the previous rounds yesterday and during the picnic today. Hopefully our team will appreciate that little sacrifice of ours!
We’ve got our next game this weekend against the Colonists, so Claire had us work fairly hard tonight to get ready for it. Between that; about four hours of canoeing; and hours more spent swimming, some of us are really tired tonight. Emma was invited to stay tonight too, but decided to go home with her mother after the practice. Rowen and I met up with Dawn and Jillian again, and they gave us the dinner recap while we went for a bike ride and Emporium ice cream run.
Violet, Dillon, Stephanie, and Jake were doing their own thing tonight, so it was Chris, Martin, Jonathan, and their friends ruling the campfire. Yes, that was scary, and Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and I went for a moonlight swim at a bit after ten before skipping the rest of the campfire action and just hanging out around and in our tents. Michael earned at least one pass – not that kind! – for letting Ethan camp with him last night, but he didn’t help either of us when he and Tim joined us for that swim. I’m sure they just wanted to escape too, but if they’d just waited a while, we could have avoided all of the cat-calls; suggestions; and jokes that were sent our way from the peanut gallery around the campfire.
After our swim, the boys took off somewhere, though I suspect it was so they could work out a little payback for getting teased by Rebecca, Carolyn, and some of the other guys. Rowen and I ended up with Dawn and Jillian in our tent for a little girl chat time, but we were all getting tired, and they moved back over to their tent when they were ready to go to sleep. The campfire is still going strong, but Rowen and I have both had enough fun for today too, so I’m going to pack up; we’re going to head inside for a quick washroom break; and then we’ll hopefully be out for the count until morning.
Live, but ready to sleep like we’re not, from Camp Proctor, Witch Falls; this is Cassie and Rowen, signing off!
