It was time to get back to the real world for most of the
grown-ups today, but most of the kids and teens were free to enjoy the break
from the daily school grind – not that I really think of school like that
anyway.
Rowen, Dawn, and I made a little change to our play plans by
inviting Emma Norton to spend the day with us and stay for a sleepover. That made everything we did more fun for
Dawn, and though it was short notice; Emma was happy to throw some clothes
together and get a ride into town with her Mom when she came in to work.
We had beautiful, sunny, but cold weather, so we needed to
be bundled up whenever we were playing outside.
The cold also meant that we needed to put some air in the tires of the
four bikes we rode pretty much everywhere we went; and that ended up being job
one once Emma had joined us and we’d picked out bikes for her and Dawn to
use. The park and school playground were
the top two kid zones all day, and we spent a couple of hours at the park, and maybe
a half-hour at the school. With College
football bowl games on television every day between now and the big
Championship game in a week and a half, most of the boys were in full-out
football mode. Our little group was good
with that too, since it kept them on the football fields instead of the
playgrounds through until the first bowl game of the afternoon started; and
then the great outdoors was practically girls-only for the rest of the day.
In addition to playing at the park and school, we did a fair
bit of biking and exploring. We had one
warm-up break and lunch at home, and a second break in the dining room at the Inn; mostly because neither Dawn nor Emma got to go there
very often when they weren’t there with parents or family. I can see why Mom, Aunt Leanne, and their
friends like to do that now and then – it really is a nice change from just
doing that at home. We didn’t really do
any shopping today except for picking up a few treats at the Emporium for when
we were biking and exploring – and to get a few favorite snacks for our
sleepover. There was a bit of indoor
playtime too, and we played with Ethan and Ehlana whenever we were at home.
Mom and Alicia were busy all day with Ethan and Ehlana; and
with an all-day pre-cooking marathon that Dad, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam all
joined in to help with after getting home from work. Violet spent most of the day with Dillon,
Jake, and Stephanie; she and Dillon had dinner with us; and then they were off
again for an evening of fun with their friends.
Dinnertime was fairly rowdy, and an hour or so of non-stop fun led by
Aunt Leanne’s stories, jokes, and random acts of entertainment. Since the oven was tied up with the cooking
for the weekend, we had Olde Bakery bun subs; crock pot vegetable soup; a cold
veggie tray; and a couple of chips options.
Thanks to using our best recyclable paper and plastic dishes and
cutlery, the clean-up was a breeze; and ‘the kids’ were set free to play in the
lounge within ten minutes of finishing our food.
I’m sure this is sounding repetitive by now, but I expect
that Rowen and I will be playing our new saxophone and flute a lot, and nearly
every day, for at least the next several years.
Tonight, we played; let Emma and Dawn take turns trying to play; and
collectively entertained Ethan and Ehlana for nearly an hour before moving on
to some video gaming in the lounge. There
are lots of girls around town who are nearly as addicted to video games as so
many of the guys are; and there’s a chance that Dawn and Emma could be future
video game junkies. Hook Dawn up with
any kind of Flight Simulator or game that involved flying just about anything;
and she could play it for hours. Emma
was more into horse riding or car racing games; though she advised us that her
proficiency with driving games came mostly from only having two options at home
– car racing or fighting games. Since
her brothers had a tendency to take the virtual fights into the real world; car
racing was safer – whenever she actually got a turn to play at all.
Ethan and Ehlana couldn’t show off their Magi-powered gaming
skills tonight, but they still had fun with us; and played age-appropriate
games on their iPads. Since our family
was coming for the weekend tomorrow night, Mom and Aunt Leanne took the twins
away by nine o’clock so they could have baths before we all stopped to do the
bedtime snack and story with them in the kitchen. That break marked the transition from games
to movies in the lounge; and we started taking turns using my Jacuzzi too. Emma won the first spot, and then Dawn,
Rowen, and I each spent a half-hour or so in the tub. Tonight we went with pet-related comedies;
starting with the two Cats & Dogs movies.
Dawn and Emma are still watching a movie now, but Rowen,
Mandy, and I moved into my bed when they decided to try for just one more movie
that I doubt they’ll stay awake to see the ending. Rowen and I have been winding down with a
little surfing and chatting, but we’re both pretty much ready to call it a
night. There really isn’t anything else
to report for today, so I’ll wrap this up; and at least three of us will be
sleeping soon.
Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.
“Goodnight, Cassie.”
