There’s a lot to write about today, so let’s start from the
beginning.
First of all, I should have made sure that I didn’t dream of
soft, cuddly bunnies last night. That
might have save me from spending what I remember of my dreams – which is
everything – solidly in the tweeird zone.
Don’t ask, because that’s all I’m going to write about that.
I had time for my Tai Chi workout before going upstairs to
take care of Ethan and Ehlana when I sensed they were waking up and ready to
play ‘normal toddlers’ again. They may
not be missing home the same way I am right now, but they do wish that they
didn’t have to deal with wet and dirty diapers.
Once I had them changed and dressed, we went downstairs again to give
Rowen and Dawn their wake-up call, and really had fun doing that. The ensuing pillow fight made enough noise to
wake up Aunt Melissa, Uncle Rick, and Violet, but by then it was time for
everyone to get up and take turns getting ready to go out for breakfast anyway.
Mom and Dad had left the minivan so that Uncle Rick and Aunt
Melissa could haul Ethan, Ehlana, and their gear over to the hotel. Chris and Martin are too cool for minivans
with car seats, and Chris wanted to show off his developing driving skills, so
Uncle Rick let him drive their SUV while Aunt Melissa had Ethan and all of the
girls with her in Mom’s van. We made it
into the hotel restaurant and had a first round of drinks delivered before Mom
and Dad joined us there – catching up with us while Grandpa Richard and Grandma
Carrie were still doing the round of good morning hugs with us.
I don’t think they were late because of Tai Chi. Let’s leave that train of thought right there
and move along.
There’s a chance that my ongoing thoughts of home were
affecting my perception, but I would have enjoyed having this breakfast at the Inn a lot more than at the upscale, high-priced hotel
restaurant. We had fun with our family,
and the food was fine, if not as good as at the Inn,
but Mom and I have also been in a lot of restaurants over the years, and this
one certainly wouldn’t have made our favorites list.
Fortunately, we had lots of entertainment to keep us
happy. Violet and Dawn had a lot to tell
us about school, everything else they had on the go, and their upcoming
plans. Violet is really getting fired up
about spending the week with us over March Break, and though I wasn’t thinking
about it at all; she’s looking forward to the school dance on the first
Saturday night of our holiday. For some
reason, that particular annual event means a lot to her – and probably to
Dillon too if he knows what’s good for him.
Chris and Martin were getting a fair bit of attention directed their way
from groups of girls at a couple of nearby tables – there was apparently a
gymnastics competition going on somewhere in town this weekend. Dawn teased them about that – especially
since they both currently had semi-serious girlfriends; were with the parents
and grandparents; and couldn’t exactly take the obvious opportunity being offered
to try flirting with the girls.
We – the ‘kids’ – were sitting at one table while the adults
were at the one next to us, so I missed out on a lot of the grown-up
conversation. It might be after we get
home again before I get those highlights from Mom and Dad, but I’m sure they
were mostly just catching up on current and near future events too. Once we’d finished having breakfast, it was
time for some serious shopping at the Mall.
Chris was driving again for the short hop to the Mall, but this time, he
was driving Dad’s truck, and had Uncle Rick and Martin with him. He had the bonus of impressing some of those
girls when we left, though he was apparently concentrating so much on taking
care of Dad’s truck that Martin had to tell him about the girls. With the guys now in Dad’s truck, Aunt
Melissa took Dawn, Rowen, and me in their SUV, and Mom drove her van with
Violet and the twins. Grandma and
Grandpa Rice were going to shop with us too, but had a side trip to do first
before catching up with us again.
Rowen and I hadn’t been in a Mall since the Christmas
shopping trip. Violet and Dawn had been
there on Thursday – a perfect way to spend at least part of a snow day away
from school. Despite that little
difference in our social lives, we were all enthusiastic about making the
rounds of the stores in search of bargains and new fashion. Rowen and I also had a list for upcoming
friends and family gift occasions, and even Chris and Martin didn’t mind
helping us out with the ‘guy’ gifts.
We shopped until about a quarter to one, and then had lunch
in the food court before heading home again.
Mom spent the afternoon doing Magi lessons with Violet, and Chris,
Martin, Dawn, Rowen, and I were politely kicked out of the house and told to go
tobogganing or do whatever else we wanted for a few hours. The boys went to meet up with their buddies,
and though they were eventually hanging out at the same hill Dawn took us to;
they pretty much ignored us the whole time.
We stopped by to get Jillian on our way to the hill, and were able to
scoop an extra sled there too so we each had one to use instead of needing to
take turns having two of us share one.
This was my first time going to the favorite tobogganing
hill in Dawn’s area of Woodvale, and Rowen and I both thought that it was a lot
better than anything we have right in Witch Falls. The hill was about a half-mile wide; the
steepest section was about twice as high as the ridge at home; and the longest
run was probably close to two hundred yards.
They’d gotten a few more inches of snow in Woodvale than we had back
home, and the entire hill was now in perfect shape for sledding after getting
lots of use over the past forty-eight hours.
There were also a lot more kids and teens there too, and we really
needed to be careful both on the trips down the hill and while trudging our way
back up to the top again.
While most of the kids, teens, and adults were using a wide
variety of sleds, there were quite a few teens on snowboards too, though that
didn’t look to be nearly as fun as snowboarding or skiing is at an actual ski
resort. The longest run was also the
busiest, so we only went down it a couple of times, and that was a long enough
walk back up the hill that at least a rope tow would have been nice to have. Some of Dawn’s and Jillian’s friends were
there too, and we spent some time hanging out with them; though that was mostly
while we were all walking uphill or waiting for turns to slide back down again.
When we pretty much couldn’t feel our feet anymore, we headed
back to Dawn’s house; stopping in at Jillian’s to drop off her sleds and pick
up her overnight bag. She was going out
with us for dinner and a movie; and staying for a sleepover. We’d given Mom and Violet enough time for
their lessons, and Mom and Dad had gone back to their hotel room to get ready
for our night out. Aunt Melissa set us
up with cups of hot chocolate and a little snack, but we didn’t have much time
for that break before we needed to take turns getting ready to go out too.
Aunt Melissa and Violet were taking care of Ethan and
Ehlana, but Dawn, Jillian, Rowen, and I took turns helping out when it was
their turn to get ready. The shock of
the day so far for me was that Chris and Martin each spent about an hour
getting showered and dressed up too.
Yes, they really are the same cousins who could get ready for church or
dinner at the Inn in less than five minutes –
ten if they needed to take a shower too.
It was a little scary.
We had to split up when it was time to head over to the
restaurant. While it wasn’t quite as
cool as Chris might have liked, he and Martin had Uncle Rick with them when
they left in the SUV to pick up their girlfriends. I’ll guess that having their current
girlfriends meet the family tonight will be scary for all four of them. Aunt Melissa had Mom’s minivan again, and she
had the twins, Rowen, and me with her; while Violet took Dawn and Jillian, and
went to pick up her two best friends, Ally and Katrina.
This time, Mom, Dad, Grandpa Richard, and Grandma Carrie were
all at the restaurant ahead of us; and were seated at the largest of three
tables that had been reserved for us.
Since we went straight there, though we left the house last by the time
we had Ethan and Ehlana buckled in to their car seats, we were five minutes
ahead of Violet, and it was nearly fifteen minutes before Uncle Rick joined us
with Chris, Martin, and their girls.
There was a fairly lengthy round of introductions, though
Chris’ girlfriend, Erin, and Martin’s girlfriend, Nikki, were the only two
people I didn’t already know. We worked
through that while getting seated; and our servers had already been working on
some drink and appetizer orders by then too.
Aunt Melissa teased Chris and Martin about having them take care of
Ethan and Ehlana during dinner, but put the two teen couples at a table for
four. The twins were with Dawn, Jillian,
Rowen, and me; and Violet, Ally, and Katrina were with the parents and
grandparents.
Before I get on with the dinner recap, I’d like to mention
that Chris and Martin were acting completely different tonight than what I
thought their ‘normal’ was – even compared to the last time I saw them during
the Christmas holidays. Now that I think
about it, they weren’t acting any differently last night or earlier today either. If this is just date night or new
relationship best behavior, Erin and Nikki will eventually be in for a shock;
though I guess that assumes they didn’t know my cousins before starting to date
them. That’s one thing that can’t really
happen with the tweens and teens back home – especially when nearly everyone
grows up knowing every potential boyfriend or girlfriend. Anyway, watching Chris and Martin with their
girlfriends tonight was more than a little strange, and I was glad that Ethan
and Ehlana helped keep me distracted from the weirder moments.
Aunt Melissa and Grandma Carrie had picked out a really nice
restaurant, and while Dawn, Jillian, and Rowen weren’t feeling like going on a
culinary adventure with me, I picked one of the exotic chef specials. I’d still rank the Bistro in Crystal Springs a bit higher, but my meal
tonight was very good too. Ethan and
Ehlana thought so too when I gave them some to try; and they proceeded to eat
more of my entree than they had from their own plates – something that our
server thought was both amazing and funny.
Whether they went with more normal meal choices or entree specials,
everyone in our group seemed to be happy with their dinners. If you’re reading this some day in the
future, and happen to be related to the Drapers, I’m sorry, but it’s only fair
for me to admit that the desserts at this restaurant could give Nathan and
Hannah some tough competition. How
good? Chris and Martin temporarily
reverted, and Erin and Nikki watched them each scarf down three desserts. I’m fairly sure that they bring the dessert
carts around instead of menus for a good reason; and I’m very glad that the
bill for our little family dinner wasn’t mine to pay for.
We were at the restaurant for more than two hours, and then most
of us moved on to the movie theater.
Grandma and Grandpa Rice were taking care of Ethan and Ehlana instead of
seeing a movie with us, so they took the minivan and went back to Uncle Rick
and Aunt Melissa’s house to babysit them there while Aunt Melissa took Dawn,
Jillian, Rowen, and I in their car.
I love movie theaters.
It’s one of the few things I do wish we could do more often than we can
living in a small town. There were only
a few choices tonight that Dawn, Jillian, Rowen, and I could go to, and we
ended up going with the full-out chick flick option – Safe Haven. Dawn and Jillian needed a little convincing,
but we sold them on the fact that the story was written by the same guy that
wrote ‘The Last Song’ and ‘The Notebook’.
They can always come back to see their first and second choices if they
want to; and since I’d read the book, I was a happy camper. It was also weird to have Chris, Martin, and
their girlfriends pick the chick flick too.
I’d expected them to pick the latest, never let a cash-cow franchise die
hard, harder, or any other way, Bruce Willis flick; or possible the Dark Skies
alien movie. Of course they could be
doing all of this because they’ve been taken over by aliens, so if that’s the
case, the second option wouldn’t likely interest them anyway.
I won’t give anything away for the movie, just in case you,
future reader, haven’t seen it – even if it’s an oldie in your present. Most of us loved the movie, though more than
two of the guys only loved the cuddle and/or make-out time with their
girls. No, Mom and Dad were not one of
the couples making out during the movie, though they did cuddle and share a few
kisses. That might have been even
scarier than what I wish I hadn’t witnessed with Chris, Martin, and their
girlfriends, but then I also don’t want to think about what my parents are
doing right now in their hotel room.
Moving along, we split up after the movie. Mom and Dad went to their hotel; Violet and
Uncle Rick made the rounds to drop off Ally, Katrina, Erin, and Nikki; and the
rest of us went straight home. Ethan and
Ehlana were already in bed and sleeping by then. We put a snack and drinks together, and had
that ready by the time Uncle Rick, Violet, and the boys got home too. Chris and Martin must have been holding back
at the restaurant and theater, because they demolished the snacks that were put
out, and then took bags of chips along when they headed for the living room and
some gaming action.
Dawn, Jillian, Rowen, and I helped with the post-snack
clean-up; stayed to see Dawn’s grandparents off on their way home, and then
went to get changed and settled into the family room for our sleepover. Sleep was the operative word for three out of
four of us. We started a movie, but I’m
the only one still awake, and it hasn’t been on for a half hour yet. I started out catching up on email and the
usual news and entertainment checks, and once I finish this; I plan on joining
them in dreamland.
Before I get to that, there is some family news to report
from my email. Elaine Johnson has gone
into labor, and is in the hospital. She
and Kevin will have a baby brother or sister for Nicole anytime now; and I
expect that Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Nick, and Aunt Deborah may be doing
a rush trip. I’m sure that Aunt Deborah
is particularly excited, since her brother and sister-in-law’s new baby will be
so close in age to her first child. I’m
sure that will be the top family story for tomorrow, and I’ll have the details
tomorrow night, but that’s it for now; and I’m ready to get some sleep, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
