Rain moved into the area overnight, but most of what little
did fall came overnight, it moved on by lunchtime; and we had an overcast but
very warm afternoon.
My morning started out great after my nice, long winter’s
nap. From the time that Mom, Dad, and I
exercised together until we went to church, we had fun; and even the work
before and after breakfast was entertaining as we played as much as we
worked. Mom, Ehlana, and I had some
extra fun playing dress-up and doing our hair; and Dad and Ethan had time to
actually play games while we were busy.
There isn’t anything special to report from church or Sunday
School today – we’re in a bit of a lull for kids and teens, and that probably
won’t change much until sometime after Valentine’s Day when Easter-related
practices and projects will start.
Rowen invited me to spend the day with her family, so I only
stopped in at home after church long enough to get changed and grab my
saxophone. Patricia and Owen were
actually taking the entire afternoon off for a little play time with their
kids, and since Rowen had invited me, Patrick had Scott with him for the
afternoon too. I don’t think they were
intentionally taking the day off from their usual antics when they’re around
us, but we also spent most of the afternoon biking and playing outside; Owen
kept them busy most of the time we were indoors around lunch and dinnertime;
and there just weren’t many good chances for them to get into full-goof mode.
I needed to stop in at home again long enough to get my bike
once the decision to go riding had been made after lunch, so Rowen and I did
that while her parents had a short chat with mine, and Patrick and Scott put on
a little riding show for Ethan and Ehlana while my brother and sister sat on
the front porch steps with Mom and Dad.
Yes, that sounds weird to be sitting out on the front porch steps on the
last weekend of January, but like I mentioned; we’ve had a warm afternoon, and
it felt more like spring than winter today.
After leaving my house, we biked out River Road for a half
hour or so before returning again and doing a loop of the park on the trail
before stopping to catch a little football action and hang out at the
playground. Since there were some other
fathers playing football, Owen was recruited as a substitute for a while, and I
think he did pretty well for a computer geek even if Patrick and Scott razzed
him. If Lee Landry was coming after me,
I’d be trying to dump the football off to anyone else too; and Owen did manage
two laterals that were successful – at least until Lee caught up with the guys
who then had the ball instead.
Rowen and I didn’t stay to watch the football game for very
long, and part of the reason for that is because Patricia and several of the
other Moms are as much sports groupies as some of the tween and teens girls are
– and possibly even a bit more scary.
Football did work as a great diversion for Patrick, Scott, and most of
the other boys, which allowed the girls to rule the playground. We had Ehlana with us for a bit of that time
after Mom and Aunt Leanne dropped her off with us before going on to watch
their boys – including Ethan – join the football game too for a while.
There was only a little more football intervention in our
time at the park, and that only lasted until we talked the parents into an
afternoon snack break at the Inn. Dad, Uncle Adam, and Owen took some heat from
the other guys for abandoning the field of battle, but before we left the Inn
after our Olde Bakery treats and hot drinks break; more than half of the other
players had decided to do the same thing; and Miranda had some unexpected, but
welcome, bonus business to help fill up the interlude between the lunch and
dinner rushes.
After leaving the Inn, we
split up again, and those of us with bikes rode back to the Emerson’s. Rowen and I had time for a long music
practice, and then we helped her Mom with making dinner for six while the guys
spent all of that time playing video games in the living room. Sitting down for an hour and having dinner
was fun, and even the bit of goofiness from Patrick and Scott was mild enough
to stay entertaining instead of getting annoying. That might be at least part of the reason why
Patrick and Scott were set free after we finished dessert to return to their
video gaming while Rowen and I helped her parents with the cleanup.
I biked home shortly after that, and we had a third quiet
night in a row at home. Mom did an early
lesson with me; she, Dad, and I all helped with the full bath and bedtime
routine for Ethan and Ehlana; and I was in bed and doing my nightly computing
and studies by shortly after nine o’clock.
All of that is done now, and I’ll still be sleeping before midnight if I
finish this up now, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
