Happy 35th Birthday, Mom!
I’m sure that just waking up in sunny Florida this morning instead of here, where
we have snow on the ground, will make you and Aunt Leanne happy. Rowen and I think that Mother Nature has been
very unfair to tease us with that beautiful start to our March Break; drop the
temperature nearly fifty degrees in less than thirty-six hours; and then add
some snow that we didn’t even get to play in because the rain had turned it
into a slushy mess by the time we went to church.
It felt strange not being with Mom to celebrate her
birthday, and I didn’t even get to talk to her until lunchtime. Dad, Violet, Ethan, and Ehlana had Uncle Adam
over for breakfast, and they talked to Mom and Aunt Leanne before going to church;
but we were running late getting to church, so I didn’t even get that update
until after Rowen and I got home via a stop at her house to pick up my
overnight bag and computer; and pack another bag with everything she’d need for
the next couple of days while we moved the holiday sleepovers back to my house.
My morning started out with a Tai Chi workout that Patrick
and Scott attempted to mess up, but that didn’t happen; and they also found out
that you don’t want to get too close to someone while they’re working through
the forms if you don’t know where the hands and feet are going to be. One of Scott’s attempts to jump in and scare
me out of my rhythm sent him diving out of the way when he nearly jumped
face-first into my left foot. Their
antics had brought Rowen downstairs to find out what was going on, and when
Scott saw that she’d witnessed that moment of un-cool; he and Patrick retreated
upstairs to regroup while I finished my workout in peace; and Rowen went into
the kitchen to put a pot of coffee on to brew for her parents since she was up
anyway.
Patrick and Scott were also the reason why we were nearly
late for church; and that was because they spent most of the morning trying to
drive Rowen and I crazy instead of helping with the breakfast cleanup and
getting ready for church. The guys were
on cleanup duty because Patricia, Rowen, and I cooked first, and got ready for
church after breakfast. I’m not sure how
Rowen’s Dad kept losing track of his two helpers, but their disappearances
probably just made the work go faster anyway.
While they were AWOL from kitchen duty, we had to deal with everything
from rubber snakes and spiders being slipped under the bathroom and bedroom
doors while we were taking turns having showers and getting dressed to
rampaging monster trucks on the ground and micro helicopters buzzing us from
the air. Rowen and I were ready for a
break from all of that when we got to church, but Patrick and Scott were
disappointed that they hadn’t been able to get us mad at them again; or that
we’d mostly laughed off their pranks.
They probably didn’t like having micro-copters smell like Rowen’s
favorite perfume after she misted them or the lip gloss on the grill of
Patrick’s monster truck either.
We had another Easter work session during Sunday school, and
pretty much have everything done except for the kids and teens who will have a
few more practices for the music and skits between now and Easter Sunday. I already mentioned the stop at Rowen’s house
on the way home, and after carrying our things up to my room, we met up with
Dad, Violet, Ethan, and Ehlana in the kitchen.
I called Mom then, and we all talked with her and Aunt Leanne for about
fifteen minutes.
They were definitely enjoying the warm and sun there, and
glad that they were missing out on the snow and rain here. The spa day had been a hit; they’d dressed up
and gone out to dinner; and had gone to see a show before ending their night
with drinks in one of the hotel clubs before going back to their room. Today they were splitting their time between
hanging out around the hotel pools and doing some shopping; and I’ll guess that
Dad and Uncle Adam wished they were poolside with their wives even more than
all of us kids were wishing we could be there too – even if they weren’t
spending the day at Disney or Universal.
Mom assured us that she missed being together for her
birthday; though not enough to trade the sun and fun with Aunt Leanne and come
home early. When I finished the call
with Mom, Rowen and I did story time with Dad, Violet, Ethan, and Ehlana while
Dad and Violet made lunch; we ate; and then Rowen and I took care of the
clean-up so that Dad could hide in the office and get started on the work he
needed to get done before going to Crystal Springs in the morning.
With the off-and-on rain all afternoon, most of us stayed
inside. Violet went to hang out with
Dillon while he was on his afternoon break at the Inn,
and she split her time here between helping Rowen and I with Ethan and Ehlana,
and doing some of her own work in the office.
Ethan and Ehlana wanted to have a music practice, which we did while
Violet was out; we played with their science lab and microscopes; watched a
movie in the lounge; and we all had a little afternoon nap in my bed that Mandy
happily joined us for. We were doing the
late buffet so that Dad could work longer, and so Uncle Adam’s parents could go
with us after they closed the Emporium for the night; so we had lots of time to
get ready to go out; and since Violet was dressing up mostly for Dillon’s
benefit; Rowen, Ehlana, and I joined her to play dress-up and style our hair
while Ethan opted to hang out in the office with Dad and play on his iPad.
Just for the record, it’s possible that seeing me walk into
the kitchen had absolutely nothing to do with why Michael nearly dropped a
stack of plates; and I hugged him because I’d hugged everyone else in his
family, so it would have been impolite to leave him out of the loop.
Okay, I don’t actually believe that any more than Miranda,
Rowen, or Stephanie did; but let’s go with the fantasy anyway, okay?
I am not crossing over; I am not crossing over; I am not
crossing over!
We had quite a few friends in the dining room for the late
buffet, and Rowen, Ethan, Ehlana, and I ended up sitting at a kids’ table
instead of with Dad, Violet, Uncle Adam, his parents, grandparents, Uncle Nick,
Aunt Deborah, and Rowen’s parents. We
had Patrick and Scott with us, though they didn’t try causing us too much
trouble; and Scott’s sister, Lindsay, loved hanging out with us and helping
Ehlana while we were eating.
There weren’t any other tweeird moments for the rest of the
time we were at the Inn; the food was great; and we all had fun for an hour and
a half or so until it was time to head home; and for Rowen and I to take care
of the bath and bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana while Dad finished his
work in the office and got packed for his trip.
We did the snack and story with him there after the twins were squeaky
clean and in warm pajamas; and then he came upstairs to help us tuck them in
before Rowen and I came up to my room and he went back to work. I won first shift in the Jacuzzi, so I did
that next while Rowen watched some television and cuddled with Mandy. I’m doing this, and already finished the rest
of my usual nightly computing, while she’s having her soak in the tub; and
we’re planning on a comparatively early bedtime; depending on how long we end
up chatting before falling asleep.
Ethan, Ehlana, and I will be up to see Dad off in the
morning, and then Violet and Alicia will be in charge of us until Mom and Aunt
Leanne get home sometime late tomorrow night.
Rowen and I still have things we want to do while we’re off this week,
but we’ll probably need to wing it for the next couple of days depending on the
weather; anything Violet and Alicia want us to do; and any plans Mom might have
for after she gets home.
For now, though, that’s all I have. It’s been a fun and occasionally weird start
to the holiday; and I have a feeling that trend could continue for the rest of
the week.
We’ll see about that, but until next time, this is Magi
Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!
