You have to love any day that starts out with Tai Chi and a
breakfast buffet at the Inn!
Part two of that was a surprise that the parents dropped on
us this morning, and even Chris and Martin managed to get fired up about that news
when it came during the wake-up calls that Aunt Melissa had Jaimie, Kaitlyn,
and Ehlana deliver to them.
There were hot drinks and snacks available in the kitchen
while everyone took turns getting ready for the day, but with a big shopping
and play day to look forward to; it didn’t take long for us to be ready to head
over to the Inn. It was an all hands on
deck morning there, and while Miranda wasn’t our server, she did stop by a few
times; mostly to have fun with Aunt Grace and Mark in a way that reminded me a
lot of when Mom and I first moved here.
It also reminded me that I need to stop in and visit more often –
something that I haven’t done nearly as much as I used to do when hanging out
all the time with Rebecca and Jenny.
I wasn’t really thinking about just how big Aunt Grace and
Mark’s news would be around town; and that it was the fact that Witch Falls
would be getting a second young doctor so soon after Uncle Adam took over from
his grandfather. Aunt Grace probably got
as many congratulations for that as she did for their engagement. Dawn and I weren’t particularly close to that
action, since we were sitting several tables away from them; but we were having
fun with Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and the other kids.
We had some parental help getting plates filled, and then we were pretty
much left to entertain ourselves while we ate.
The dining room was full, and seeing a bunch of my friends
had me wishing that I could spend more time with Rowen; but she was busy with
her family too, and she was spending at least part of the morning today helping
her parents at the store. We crossed
paths a couple of times today while we were shopping, and it sounded like she’d
been having a fun holiday weekend so far too.
I’m sure I’ll get more of the details tomorrow when she comes on the
trail ride with us – or on Sunday afternoon at the latest after our guests all
head home again.
We all had a blast shopping, but for the second big event in
a row; I didn’t personally buy very much.
There was a dress and one dress pants and sweater set that needed to
come home with me from Palmer’s that I’ll wear at Christmas, and a pair of
shoes to go with the dress that I picked up at Taylor’s Shoes; but that was it
for clothes. I picked up a couple of
Christmas gifts too, but will be saving most of that shopping for the kids’
Christmas trip to Crystal Springs in a couple of weeks.
Fortunately for my favorite store owners, the rest of the
girls in my family were being much more active shoppers. Mom and Aunt Leanne especially had fun,
including playing dress-up with Ethan and Ehlana. For Ethan, that meant meeting up with Dad and
some of the other guys at Ayres’ Haberdashery, and matching clothes for him
with some of Ehlana’s new outfits from Palmer’s. So far, Ethan accepts that inevitability
graciously; but we’ll see how many years that lasts once he’s old enough to
care about what he’s wearing.
The guys were shopping for most of the morning too, but
after meeting up for lunch with us back at home; they went to the park for the annual
holiday football action. Mom wasn’t
going to let Ethan go along for that, but he really wanted to go; and I think
that Dad was hoping that having him along would give him an early out from a
cold afternoon outdoors. I’d say that
worked out for both of them; since we found them having a nap in Mom and Dad’s
room when we got home from our post-lunch shopping.
We didn’t have much going on after finishing our
shopping. Dad and Ethan weren’t the only
people taking afternoon naps, but Dawn and I weren’t interested in doing that,
so we wandered over to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s place to see what was going
on there. Catching Aunt Grace and Mark
making out wasn’t part of the fun we were looking for, and honestly; I’m not
sure where to file that little file in my photographic memory storage. They were in a second-floor bedroom at the
time, but the door was open when Dawn and I were passing by on our way up to
the third floor. I’m not sure how much
Dawn saw beyond the lip-lock, but I’ll guess it wasn’t as much as I
caught. Her giggles definitely broke the
mood for our aunt and future uncle, though I’m sure they had no problem getting
back to what they were doing after we hurriedly moved on up to the third floor
game room with the sound of laughter – and a door closing – following us up the
stairs.
Chris, Martin, and Jonathan were playing video games and
watching football, and there wasn’t much else going on in the game room; so our
visit there was fairly short. Uncle Adam
and Aunt Leanne were working in the kitchen, so we stopped for a little visit
there; had a little chat in the living room with Michelle and Christina; and
then headed home again to hang out in the lounge until dinnertime. That meal was a combination of leftovers and
one of Mom’s pre-cooked entrees. We
mostly had the same guest list as we did at dinner yesterday, except Violet
invited Christina to eat with us before they were going to get together with
Dillon, Jake, Stephanie, and some of their friends after the Inn was closed for
the night.
Dawn and I were on the kitchen clean-up crew again tonight,
and after doing that for an hour, we escaped to the lounge for some chick flick
movie time with the girls while the guys returned to their ongoing football and
gaming action. We had a rotating group
of Moms, Aunts, Grandmothers, and cousins with us in the lounge, and Jaimie and
Kaitlyn started out watching the first movie; but were taken to bed when they
fell asleep about half-way through.
The grandparents all headed home by ten o’clock, and Dawn
and I were on our own by eleven when Mom, Aunt Melissa, and Aunt Alison decided
that hanging out and cuddling with their boys in the living room would be more
fun than watching another movie with us.
Since Dawn and Mandy are both passed out now, and I’m watching the movie
by myself; we probably should have skipped the last movie too.
While I’ve managed to avoid most of the football action so
far this weekend, I did still check the town intranet to find out how our high
school team did in their playoff game tonight.
They were playing against Grand Summit,
and though there weren’t many details posted yet; they won the game by a score
of forty-seven to fifteen. Next week,
our team will be on the road again against Hillcrest; and they’ll be trying to
get past the team that beat them in their season opener to get to the Championship
game.
That’s enough football for tonight. Tomorrow’s going to be another play day, with
the trail ride tomorrow afternoon being at the top of my fun list – along with
getting to spend the afternoon with Rowen.
There’s also going to be some future plan action going on; but I won’t
be directly involved in any of that. At
the top of that list will be a meeting with Uncle Blaine to talk about his
ongoing architectural work for the lab, and for the first phase of houses for
the new section of town. Aunt Grace and
Mark will get a few more details about their new jobs too; and a few, smaller
details will get taken care of while other certain people are in town for the
holiday weekend. All of that will mean a
bit less play time for Mom, Dad, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam; but it will all
be fun for them too.
I’m ready to wrap this up for the night and get some
sleep. It’s been another really great
day, and just in case I don’t mention it enough; I really love my adopted
family, and every holiday is better than I ever expected or even dreamed that they
could be before Mom and I moved here.
That’s a great thought to drift off to sleep with, so...
...say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.
“Goodnight, Cassie.”
