We had lots of adult support today, but I really love
getting to bike out to Quarry
Lake on our own; and we
had another really great day.
There was one other group biking to the campground and back
today, but we only had seven in our group after most of the teens and tweens
opted to get rides out there instead of biking in the heat. Michael had to trade his normal Friday lunch
shift for helping out at the Inn after we got home from Quarry Lake, but I did
my best to make sure that little sacrifice was worth trading part of his Friday
evening off for.
He was at our house in time for Tai Chi, and Mom did one
last lesson with us; since she’d be able to go back to exercising with Dad
again tomorrow morning. We had a light
breakfast, and then Michael went home long enough to get ready for our day at Quarry Lake
and grab his bike. By the time he got
back; Rowen and Tim were at the house; Dawn, Jillian, and I were ready to go;
and we just needed to wait for Claire to drop Emma off on her way to work. There was a lot of busy up to that point, but
the details aren’t important.
Our ride out to the campground was definitely fun. We stuck to the back roads as much as we
could to avoid the truck traffic on Quarry
Road going to and from the various construction
sites in town. Nora was mad at Tim again
for choosing to bike with us today instead of getting a ride with her, Vanessa,
Martin, and the others; but Michael, Rowen, and I were glad that he came along;
and he made the trips both ways much more entertaining.
No, Rowen, I’m not saying that because he and Michael took
their shirts off to be cooler while we rode – that was a nice added bonus,
though! ;^)
Don’t try to tell me that you didn’t appreciate the view
too; ‘cause I know you did. Since
Rowen’s sitting here and teasing me about that, I’ll also mention that the
outfits and swimsuits she picked out to wear today turned quite a few heads –
including ‘Tommy’s’. Top fashion impact
on boys marks go to the Quarry Lake bikini; the flirty, little wrap-dress; and
the one-piece swimsuit she wore when we went swimming back at home that had
kept ‘Tommy’ looking at her often enough that even his girlfriend noticed.
Some of our friends were at the campground by the time we
got there, but Chris, Martin, and Jonathan hadn’t been in any hurry to wake up
this morning; and we’d been playing in and around the lake for an hour or more
before they joined the party. Mom had
lots of driving support, and brought Ethan and Ehlana along so that they could
go swimming too. Violet and Chrissy were
two of the drivers; and they helped all of the adults with the picnic lunch
that had been thrown together to feed everyone.
Rowen, Michael, and I helped with the work too, but Tim was
busy with Nora and the other teens from the time they arrived until we started
biking home again. As I think about
that, it’s a little funny that Vanessa and Nora aren’t really throwing any
tweeirdness at Michael now, but they’re also still excluding us from their
reindeer games. Rowen and I haven’t been
in that circle with our classmates since I moved here anyway, and being so shy
and quiet always kept Rowen out of the loop before that, so we don’t really
miss being left out now; but I’m sure Michael would prefer to hang out more
with Tim and his buddies again no matter how much fun he’s having with us
instead. Maybe we’ll work on that next
week once my cousins have gone home.
Don’t worry, Rowen – our summer challenge is still a top
priority. I think that you’ve already
got ‘Tommy’ right where you want him – he just doesn’t know it yet.
Getting back to the Quarry Lake
part of the report, we’d mostly played in the water and on the slides this
morning until stopping to help Mom with lunch; including swimming with Ethan
and Ehlana. It didn’t take long to feed
the gang, and then we helped with the clean-up; had some playground time and
another swim with Ethan and Ehlana; and then they went home with all of the
adults and younger kids while the older kids and teens stayed to play for the rest
of the afternoon.
For us, that meant adding Patrick, Scott and Lindsay
Faulkner, and Jessica Bassett to our group so we could keep an eye on them
until they were picked up again. Lindsay
and Jessica were easily entertained because they were happy to play with Rowen,
Dawn, Jillian, Emma, and me. Patrick in
particular was not interested in hanging out with Michael, though, and he and
Scott were more interested in alternately playing their annoying little pranks
and jokes; and taking off so that Rowen, Michael, and I had to regularly hunt
them down.
Those little inconveniences didn’t really take much away
from the fun level, and Patrick even managed to have fun despite the problems
he’s having with seeing Michael and me together. Our afternoon adventures included an ice
cream break; and we did a little tour of the campground while we munched on our
fast-melting frozen treats; mostly so that Jillian could see some of the new
games and additions to the campground. We
watched some of the games that were in progress, and it looked to me as if the Quarry Lake
owners were getting exactly what they’d hoped for by adding the games geared
toward seniors. There were definitely
more multi-generational campers around; and it was nice to see grandparents,
parents, and kids all spending holiday time together.
After our tour, we had time for one more blast of fun on the
slides and in the lake before it was time to start packing up and getting ready
to go home. Patrick, Scott, Lindsay, and
Jessica were among the first kids picked up, so we were able to start our ride
back after that, but it took Michael about fifteen minutes to get Tim to join
us – and then it was only because Nora’s ride arrived and she needed to leave
too. That put us a bit behind, but we
picked up the pace so we could still be home in time for Michael to go for a
swim with us before he needed to grab a quick shower and get to the Inn to help with the dinner rush.
His work wasn’t a lot different than mine then; though we
weren’t feeding two or three hundred people at our house – only about
fifty. There’s going to be a big
vacation finale barbeque and campfire tomorrow night; but this little dinner
and a movie or gaming night meal wasn’t exactly planned – it just sort of grew
into a big meal; mostly because of the teens and tweens hanging out with Chris,
Martin, and Jonathan at Quarry Lake.
Nearly all of them came back to our house; and I don’t even know how
many they ended up having at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house for the last
video gaming competition they’d be having before heading home on Sunday.
After Michael left, Rowen and I joined the kitchen work
crew. Mom and Grandma had lots of help,
and we collectively made up everything from pasta and potato salads to trays of
baked appetizers and snacks that kept the guys from chewing on the furniture
until the burgers and jumbo hot dogs started rolling off the grills that
Grandpa, Uncle Nick, and some of the other guys were working. While we were busy with that, and then
hauling food out to the back porch; Chris, Martin, and Jonathan were actually
put to work getting tables set up in the back yard. They had some friends help out, but probably
didn’t get the work done any faster because of that assistance.
My perspective on Michael has changed, but teen and tween
boys in groups are just as scary as they were before I crossed over.
That’s the main reason that Rowen and I took most of the
younger kids with us and had a picnic dinner by the river instead of sitting at
tables with everyone else. An
industrial-strength yard vacuum and mulcher couldn’t possibly have cleared the
grills of every scrap of meat as efficiently as those same boys managed to do
tonight. Miranda and Jacob may not
notice the drain on their raw food supplies at the Inn for their two boys, but
I have to wonder how many cars Tim’s parents need to sell or fix to handle the
grocery bill they must have to keep him fed every week.
Maybe that’s why he’s best friends with Michael! I’m sure his parents must appreciate the
break for all of the meals he’s had here over the past couple of weeks.
I’m picking on Tim, but he had lots of company helping him
to empty those grills – and pretty much every bowl and tray that contained
anything edible. While the guys were
entertaining the adults and teen and tween girls with their feats of eats; our
picnic by the river was fun; and having Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, Aiden, and the
other younger kids entertain us was more interesting – and a lot less
gross. That break in the action was
followed by a big clean-up that Rowen and I were again on the crew for while
Dawn, Jillian, and Emma were helper bees for the grandparents and aunts on a
short trip to the park playground while the rest of us were busy and the teens
mostly escaped to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house to get started on their
video gaming adventure.
After a long day of biking and play at Quarry Lake,
I didn’t mind skipping the trip to the park, and by the time we had the yard
and kitchen cleaned up; Michael was back again.
We didn’t have a big group staying for the movie part of the night, but
Dawn, Jillian, and Emma opted for watching our first movie in the lounge; so
Rowen, Michael, and I tagged along – though we all went for another swim first;
and Michael and I took an early break when Dad got home from Crystal Springs.
Now that was a bit on the tweeird side – welcoming Dad home
for the first time with my boyfriend there too.
That made for a few extra laughs, and Aunt Leanne teased us a bit, but
that was mostly fun; and those jokes and comments are a lot easier to find
entertaining while holding Michael’s hand and sharing all of that with
him. We helped to carry Dad’s luggage
inside; had a little visit with everyone in the living room; and then went
upstairs again to catch the tail end of the first movie.
That next intermission included another swim in the river,
and then we all joined in for the bedtime story and snack for Ethan, Ehlana,
Naomi, and Aiden. Mom and Dad joke about
Ethan and Ehlana wanting to have their friends over for sleepovers when I’m
having one too, but that’s just for show; since my brother and sister really do
ask to do that. Michael was drafted to
help Dad with getting Ethan and Aiden tucked in while I helped with Ehlana and
Naomi; and then we came back upstairs to the lounge to watch our second movie.
My cousin and our friends did not take pity on Michael for
being the only guy in the room; and picked a tween-rated chick flick. They also teased us a fair bit too, but he
managed to survive; we had fun cuddling together; and he liked the music and
dancing – even if he had to at least pretend to be suffering through most of
the show. We were on our own for one
last swim after that while the rest of the girls were taking turns getting
ready for bed; and then we shared a few goodnight kisses that were witnessed
from the third floor alcove windows – and possibly from several other vantage
points in neighboring houses before Michael walked home and I went inside
again.
A third movie was underway by then, but Dawn, Jillian, and
Emma were already starting to fall asleep; and they barely even managed to
tease me about those kisses with Michael before running out of steam and dozing
off. Rowen and I moved into my room
then, and have been playing on our computers and chatting since climbing into
bed with Mandy. She’s mostly been
watching videos – and showing them to me – while I’ve done some family business
work and my usual nightly computing.
She’s going to work at the computer store in the morning, I have the
yard work, and we both have our game at noon; so we should be getting some
sleep too. The problem is that we’re
both still wired for sound despite playing and working hard most of the day.
I don’t have anything else to add to this update, though, so
I’m going to put my computer away now; and try to get serious about winding
down. At the rate we’re going, we’ll be
lucky to get four hours of sleep; and we still have about a day and a half of
busy to go before my cousins head home.
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
