Happy Forty-fifth Birthday, Miranda!
Yes, I love you a lot, but having my Rovers team playing your Witch Falls Wayfarers on your birthday instead of yesterday did not mean that we wouldn’t play our best so you could have a Championship win for a present.
Before we get to the big game, though, let’s start with the usual holiday weekend, Sunday morning rush.
I didn’t mention the obvious last night, but Tai Chi was indoors yesterday, so it was nice to get outside again this morning. Nicole apparently needs nearly all of the space in whatever bed she’s in; and it didn’t take Dawn and Mandy long last night to decide that sleeping on the sectional sofa was far safer. I stayed with Nicole, and tried to sleep when I wasn’t being kicked, pulled on, climbed over, or keeping her from falling off the bed as she travelled around the bed; waking up just once for a little washroom break that I helped her out with too.
Dawn cuddled with Nicole while I was exercising with Mom and Dad, and then we all went downstairs to ‘help’ Dad and Uncle Rick with making breakfast and warming up the dishes that we’d be donating to the food booths later today while Mom was busy with the twins, and the bathroom sharing got started. Clothes were dropped off for Nicole by the time it was our turn to get ready for church, and Dawn and I played dress-up with Nicole before passing her off to Aunt Melissa while we got ready too.
The next item on my Sunday morning to-do list was to give Miranda the birthday present I’d picked out for her when we were on our back-to-school shopping trip; and I did that when we all met up with the Stone family on our way to church after we joined Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, and their gang at our house.
Yes, Aunt Leanne, it was quite a coincidence that the earrings I gave Miranda went so nicely with the bracelet that Michael got his mother. That’s all it was – a coincidence. I’m happy that you were able to entertain yourself and some of the other girls; but let’s move along, shall we?”
It seemed strange having a holiday weekend church service at the church, but it apparently wasn’t just because of the rain behind the change in plans. The park set-up needed to be done for today’s celebrations; since that work hadn’t been possible on Friday or Saturday. That also meant that there were dozens of people missing the church service to do that work, but this was one of the biggest fund-raising weekends of the year; and those charities were doing what they could do to keep from losing something like a quarter of the money they’d earn to spend on their various programs.
The teen-led service was as amazing and fun as always; and it didn’t seem like nearly an hour and a half had passed when it was over and we could head home again. Since nearly everyone had work to do before going to the park; there wasn’t a greet-the-Pastors line today; and we were soon home and busy getting the truck loaded up with our donations and day camp gear. The coed Championship game was being delayed until twelve-thirty just because of how much needed to get done before food booths were ready to open; though the park was already more than half full by the time we walked to the park. We met Dad there, and helped unload the truck; set up our little spot of picnic paradise; and then moved on to pick up food before wandering over to the near ball diamond to watch at least part of the coed game.
It was really different to not be cheering for Mom and Dad’s team – and not having a cheerleading squad at all. Carolyn Landry had some girls helping her cheer for Landry’s Lasers, including Rebecca and Jenny; but Rowen, Dawn, and I didn’t want to join them, and wouldn’t really have fit in with the older girls anyway. Taylor’s Torpedoes had a smaller squad cheering them on, but that competition wasn’t really much of a challenge for Carolyn. I don’t know how much their cheerleaders helped them, but the Lasers won their Championship easily, with a final score of eighteen to six.
We didn’t end up staying for the entire game. After finishing lunch, it wasn’t long before Nicole, Ethan, and Ehlana weren’t the only members of our combined family wanting to go and play games for a while before Rowen and I needed to get to the school for our team warm-ups. Mom didn’t try to win any giant prizes for Ethan, Ehlana, or Nicole; but all of the kids, including Dawn, Rowen, and I, had one or two little stuffed animals by the time we finished running the gauntlet of game booths.
Finally, after a day and a half-long rain delay, it was time for the biggest baseball game of the weekend – at least for all of the Rover and Wayfarer players, coaches, and sponsors. I’m sure that Miranda and Aunt Leanne had nothing to do with the weather that caused the move to a Sunday game, but they might have been involved in whether our game was today or on Monday. I just think it’s too bad that there weren’t a lot of spectators at the school to watch their cheerleading competition. The ones that were there had a lot of fun, and nearly all of them also ended up with coupons for free food at the Inn – even the few people that Miranda couldn’t convince to come over to her side of the ball diamond and cheer for the Wayfarers.
To the members of my family who did make the move, I don’t mind; and you just helped to motivate me even more! Mark won’t read this, but hopefully someone pointed out to him that the coupons he negotiated with Miranda for won’t do him any good at the all you can eat buffet tomorrow, so unless he’s just going to give them away; the only way they’ll be of any use to him is if he comes back again before they expire on the Labor Day weekend next summer.
It’d make for a great story if some free fries, drinks, and desserts tipped the scales for his decision on our job offer!
Getting back to the game, while everyone there gave Miranda the cheerleading squad win, her tactics didn’t work to help her team; mostly because the better she did, the more fired up I got. I’m not going to write about just how well Rowen and I played today, but we definitely did our part to help our team to a very big, sixteen to four win; earning both the Championship and an undefeated season.
I’m sorry that you didn’t win the cheerleading match too, Aunt Leanne, but it’s not your fault that most of your squad picked the food and fun with Miranda – especially after most of their parents, including mine, ended up on the Wayfarers’ bleachers. I think that you and Ehlana still did a great job!
After the game, Rowen and I both wanted to go home and get cleaned up. Dinner was already starting at the park by then, so we were skipping the usual post-game ice cream celebration, but we still needed to hurry and get back to the park have dinner with the rest of our family. The food had already been picked up by the time we got there, so we ate; helped with the clean-up; and then had time for some more games before the dance started.
The band hitting the stage was my cue to exit stage anywhere except where Aunt Leanne could attempt to set me up on the dance floor, and Rowen and Dawn were happy to help me make my escape. The game booths were still running, snacks and drinks were available, and the dock along the river turned out to be a good place to sit and talk while dangling our feet in the water and listening to the music that alternated between sets of upbeat dance tunes and soft, melodic ballads. We checked in with the parents once, and I danced for one song each with Dad and Ethan, but went back down by the river before Aunt Leanne could maneuver me into any other dances – mostly thanks to the fact that Michael was already busy dancing with Vanessa at the time.
Ethan and Ehlana needed to go home by ten, so Dawn and I volunteered to take them; and stay home to babysit them while Mom and Dad played at the park with their friends for the last hour or so of the dance. Rowen came home with us too, and it didn’t take us long to get the twins changed and in bed. After tucking them in, we got drinks and snacks, and sat in the living room to watch a movie until Patricia came from the park with the rest of our family to pick up Rowen and take her home.
Dawn and I helped out with the work that needed to be done to put lawn chairs and the rest of our picnic supplies away, and then we had a little visit in the living room before most of us went up to bed. That didn’t include Martin, since he wasn’t back from walking Jenny home yet, and Violet and Dillon were left on their own in the living room when even Chris figured out that this was going to be their last chance for some alone time before they’d be separated again for one last school year apart.
With everything else that’s been going on today, I hadn’t really thought about that much, but I am now. Dawn’s been asleep for nearly two hours now, but I’ve been sitting in the window alcove, working on my computer, and waiting for Violet to come upstairs to bed. Martin got home a while ago; and I haven’t heard him moving around for a while. With most of our families here, there wasn’t any email, and I didn’t feel like studying in the archives, so I’ve mostly just been surfing and listening to music.
I was staying awake for Violet, but she and Dillon weren’t the only people I was thinking about tonight. Watching Aunt Grace and Mark today was fun, and reminded me a lot of Mom and Dad during our first summer here. It’s just a matter of time now before they decide that having a long-distance romance isn’t enough for them anymore; and I can hardly wait for them to let us know when – I mean whether – they’re going to move here.
Since babies were the other top story this weekend, I was thinking about that too. Ethan, Ehlana, and I aren’t doing anything at all about that part of our collective future, but the plans we are working on aren’t really any more important than kids will be for our families and friends over the next few years. We haven’t been allowed to see everything about that, but what we do know is going to be amazing!
Finally, inevitably, I’ve been thinking about the impending start to Grade Seven. I’ve been there, but it’s still funny to know that Ethan and Ehlana will be starting their Grade Nine level studies while Rowen and I are playing at school. Sometimes I really wish I could just be me and not have to hide my real abilities from nearly everyone; but that’s one wish that won’t ever happen. At least the school work is easy. We can’t say the same for the social part of our lives; and the dance at the park tonight emphasized that to Rowen and me in a big way. It wasn’t like we were the only kids in our class who weren’t there with a boyfriend or girlfriend; but we were the only two who weren’t either with a date, or paired up with a classmate or friend of the opposite sex for the evening. I can see parts of the next year being very awkward for us; and hiding out by the river like we did tonight won’t always be an option.
Violet just came upstairs, so I’ll have to thank her sometime for saving me from that train of thought; but I need to wrap this up. Once she’s ready for bed, I’m going to volunteer my services as cuddle buddy. Hopefully I’ll be able to help her through another tough night.
Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!
