We’ve had an amazing day, though it didn’t start out that
way; depending on whether you count the late-night wake-up call as being ‘this
morning’ or ‘last night’.
Rowen and I hadn’t been sleeping for very long when we were woken
by the gang of teens going for a swim at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s. It’s not that they were being exceptionally
loud; just that we were right next to the river, and could hear everything
going on just upriver from us. I’ll skip
writing about some of the comments we were able to hear; other than to mention
that my comments at the park yesterday – and the jokes directed at Michael and
me were still being talked about in a not very nice way. There were some new jibes too, but I’ll guess
that seeing our tent got the jokes started; but they probably didn’t think that
we would be awake or hear what they were saying about us.
That whole scene was annoying at the time, but if the
tweeirdness yesterday had anything to do with the changes for our canoe trip
today; I’m not sorry for shooting my mouth off anymore.
We were awake until after the teens either went home or back
inside to do more gaming; and then I slept through until starting the morning
out with Tai Chi. Mom taught a new
lesson to Michael, Ethan, and Ehlana while she had me do a long-form workout on
my own. Michael stayed for a light
breakfast, and helped out with packing our picnic lunch and getting canoes
ready to go. We all helped out with the
usual morning work; and cleaned up our campsite too before getting ready to
spend a day on the river. It wasn’t
until we were nearly ready to leave that we found out that we weren’t going to
have Chris, Martin, Jonathan, or any of their friends going with us today. In fact, only Tim and Emma joined Michael,
Rowen, Dawn, Jillian, and me; and while Tim attempted to call Nora, he didn’t
get an answer, and decided to go along despite telling us that he’d likely be
in trouble for doing that instead of staying behind. I’m sure that Michael appreciated that, since
he’d have been in for more razzing if he’d been the only guy spending the day
with five girls.
There’s a chance he could be in more trouble from being
Rowen’s canoe ‘buddy’ too, but I did offer to let him go with Michael instead;
but he didn’t want to do that, and it was easier for each of us to talk with
our best friends when we paddled side-by-side anyway. I haven’t heard whether Tim is in the
doghouse with Nora, but she didn’t look happy the last time I saw them this
afternoon when they left shortly after we got back from the whirlpool.
I honestly think that we all had more fun with a smaller
group while paddling up to the whirlpool.
There wasn’t any of the games and goofiness; and we managed to keep
ourselves entertained all day without even one derogatory joke or comment about
anyone. We weren’t completely
tweeird-free, but that was fairly mild; and happened because Patrick and Scott joined
us at the whirlpool about twenty minutes after we’d arrived there. Let’s not make a big deal of it, because we
still had a lot of fun while we were there and when we all paddled home in one
group; but they had definitely followed us upriver to keep an eye on Rowen and
me. Patrick still barely said anything
to Michael except for when he had no choice but to answer a direct question;
and though Scott knows that Tim has a girlfriend, he was watching him very
carefully whenever Tim was anywhere near Rowen.
That was a lot of the time, since Rowen and I were swimming and playing
with Michael and Tim almost all of the time – even when we were playing with
Dawn, Jillian, Emma, Patrick, and Scott too.
Patrick and Scott had received parental support for their
picnic, but we still shared what we had with them too – particularly since
they’d already put a pretty good dent in their supplies while paddling up to
the whirlpool. We had lunch in my
favorite place – the flat rock by the river that Dad and Aunt Leanne had taken
Mom and I to for our first whirlpool adventure.
There was even a bunny there this time that Dawn, Jillian, and Emma left
food for; and we all did a little exploring before going back to the whirlpool
for a little more play time until we needed to head home again.
The trip back to Witch
Falls went fairly
smoothly. We had the five younger kids
lead the way so that they could set the pace; but with the added bonus that
Patrick and Scott couldn’t watch us very easily or covertly when it meant
turning around to look back while wearing life jackets. Dawn, Jillian, and Emma earned some bonus
points from Rowen and I for helping to keep the two younger boys entertained –
including doing one race with them and playing some water and nature-themed
‘travel’ games. We went for one cool-off
swim about half-way back; and another dip when we got home that Chris, Martin,
Jonathan, and the rest of their gang today joined us for – along with Ethan,
Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden.
While we were away, Ethan and Ehlana ended up having a play
afternoon with their best friends; and our breakfast-time comments about
helping Aunt Leanne out with a reprieve from the teen video gaming gang by
preferably having a girls’ night at our house had turned into a fairly big
event once Aunt Leanne found out about the suggestion. That wasn’t totally girls-only all night
because some guys were invited to dinner and at least one movie before being
sent home while most of the girls stayed for a sleepover.
Since it had been our suggestion, though, Mom did draft
Rowen and I to help her with the work to get ready for dinner; though we had
help from Grandpa and Uncle Nick with the grilling too. The invitees included the usual dinner and a
movie gang, along with Michael’s and Rowen’s families; the Seagers, and the Drapers. We were also feeding Chris, Martin, Jonathan,
and some of their gang; but then they were set free to do whatever they wanted
for the rest of the evening – including having all three boys stay overnight at
Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s while we kept Chrissy and Aunt Leanne with us.
I know, that wasn’t a fair trade for Uncle Adam; but he
loves us, and took one for the favorite girls on his team.
Dillon, Jake, and Josiah rounded out the guys on the dinner
and a movie part of our evening; and Stephanie stayed for the sleepover with
Violet and Chrissy. The work before and
after dinner didn’t include anything worth writing about; but we had fun during
dinner – mostly because we were with the group having a picnic by the river or
on the dock while the parents and teens sat around tables near the back
porch. Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden
provided most of our dinner entertainment; and they were set free to play at
the park with Dawn, Jillian, Emma, and some grandparent and parent support
while Michael, Rowen, and I were on the clean-up crew with all of the older
teens and some parents.
We had too many people to make watching a movie together in
the living room comfortable, so the younger kids were with the parents and
grandparents in the living room while the older kids and teens were in the
lounge. That was still a bit crowded in
both rooms, but the boys especially liked being able to watch an action-comedy
instead of a toddler-rated show. I’ll
pick cuddling with Michael as the highlight for me, but it was fun seeing
Josiah and Chrissy together too; and the little music session we had after the
movie before our toddler bedtime intermission were a close second and third.
There was a river swim during that intermission too, and
then the three teen couples went on to do their own thing for a couple of hours
when most of ‘the men, and some of the women, went home for the night. There’d been some discussion about whether to
make a sleepover exception for Ethan and Aiden or ship them off to spend the
night at the Drapers; but Hannah and Nathan were in the middle of packing to
get ready for their move and Nathan started work at the bakery very early; so
the boys stayed with us.
Since the rest of the guys were leaving, Michael and I
decided to go for a walk together before he went home for the night. We wandered over to the new section of town
and did the loop around the area. We
crossed paths with Jenny and Joel when they were heading over to Uncle Adam and
Aunt Leanne’s to hang out there for a while, and had a short chat with them;
but didn’t see anyone else over there – even around the work crew
trailers. That’s not really a surprise,
since most of them are working long shifts, six days a week, while the weather
is good. That was definitely why Jenny
and Joel were going elsewhere so that his father could get some sleep.
Having big construction crews around without late night
partying may sound strange, and we have had people hired who didn’t last long;
but the vast majority of the men and women who have come to work on the lab or
housing projects are here because they’re professional and some of the best in
their respective specialties. For them,
it’s about the work and the money.
They’re not interested in screwing that up – especially when many of
them are away from their families specifically because they can make a lot more
money here while times are pretty tough for a lot of construction workers
nearly everywhere else in the country right now.
That went a bit off topic, so let’s get back to the daily
update. I eventually walked Michael
home; we spent a little quality time saying goodnight on his back porch in an
often non-verbal sort of way; and then I went home again. Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Aunt Deborah were
taking turns watching a movie and spending time in Mom’s Jacuzzi, so I talked
with Mom and Aunt Leanne for a few minutes before coming up to my room for the
night while Aunt Deborah was in the tub and Leah was sleeping in the crib that
had been rolled into the guest room that Aunt Deborah and Chrissy were using
for the night.
My Jacuzzi was in use by then too; and Emma was taking her
turn second by then while Jillian was getting a post-Jacuzzi hair and nails
mini-makeover while watching the first chick flick of the night with Dawn and
Rowen. Teasing me about goodnight kisses
with Michael added to their entertainment for a while; but we mostly watched
our movies, talked, and had fun with our mini-makeovers and turns in the
Jacuzzi. We had a little help with the
makeovers when Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Aunt Deborah stopped in on their way to
bed, but they were all tired out by then; and didn’t stay long.
Dawn, Jillian, and Emma took over the sectional sofa when we
started our last movie while Rowen and I sat on the floor in front of them
until they all fell asleep. We moved
into my bedroom then; Rowen started surfing the net on her computer; and we’ve
been chatting quietly while I’ve been doing some family business work. Violet and Stephanie stopped in to see us on
their way to bed after getting home with Chrissy; but only stayed for a few
minutes. They’re both back to work
tomorrow, and didn’t want to stay up late.
We’re not exactly staying up all night either, but we are
the last two still awake here. I’m sure
that isn’t the case two doors down; and Chris, Martin, and Jonathan will likely
be up late and sleeping in again in the morning. Grandma and Grandpa are hosting a lunch at
the Inn; and there’s a good chance that’ll be
the first meal of the day for the hard-core video gamers in our family.
There isn’t anything else for me to report tonight, and
though Rowen and I aren’t quite ready to crash yet; I’m going to put my
computer away and let her entertain me with her latest YouTube finds for a
while.
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
