Michael had a surprise for me this morning when he was
sitting on one of the benches by the river when Mom, Dad, and I went outside
for Tai Chi – and asked if we’d teach him.
Ethan and Ehlana had come outside with us, and they decided
to play with us too when I started Michael’s first lesson; and Mom and Dad
worked through the Wu long form without me.
This was my first experience with teaching Tai Chi, and Mom kept an eye
on me; but she let me do everything with Michael, Ethan, and Ehlana. The twins probably had the warm-ups and all
of the forms they’ve ever seen us do memorized, but they still needed to play
at being normal toddlers; and they also didn’t want to do better than Michael –
though he learned fast too.
I taught them the warm-ups first, and then we went through
all of the postures for the Beijing
24 Simplified form. Our workout took
longer than Mom and Dad’s, but we wrapped up by going through the complete form
once at the end. They all did really
well for a first lesson, and what was most important was that we had fun. Michael joined us for the breakfast that Mom,
Dad, and Violet had already started making by the time we took Ethan and Ehlana
inside; and we were the primary meal-time entertainment for my family.
Dad was back to work as normal today – and then some; since
he also needed to get ready for a week in Crystal Springs
next week. We – the kids and teens –
didn’t have anything planned for today; but Mom needed help this morning to
handle all of the extra work from having a house full of guests for the past
four days. I would have volunteered even
if I wasn’t drafted, and Violet and Dawn helped too while Jaimie and Kaitlyn
entertained Ethan and Ehlana so that Alicia could work with Mom this morning
instead of watching them.
We had all six grandparents over for lunch because Grandpa
Richard, Grandma Carrie, Grandpa Duncan, and Grandma Mercy were all heading
home after staying the extra night so they could help out with the airport
shuttles and kid support yesterday. That
was an entertaining little blast of fun, and with more leftovers available; it
wasn’t even all that much work to get everyone fed and the kitchen cleaned up
before doing the round of goodbye hugs and kisses in the front yard.
Michael was working all morning at home with his parents,
brother, and sister anyway, but he was finished his work too by the time we
were set free to play for the rest of the day.
He and Tim rode into our back yard just as Rowen, Dawn, and I were
getting bikes ready to go. Chris and
Martin had already taken off by then, and Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Alicia were
going to take all of the younger kids to the park; but we were going to ride
the trails for an hour or two before playing with Ethan, Ehlana, and our
younger cousins again. Violet and
Chrissy were spending the rest of the day with Dillon, Jake, Stephanie, and
whoever else they were going to hang out with.
I’ll guess that Josiah was added to the group later; but he has a summer
day job during the week. I’ll have to get
those details in the morning, because we didn’t see Violet for the rest of the
day; and she isn’t home yet.
Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were mini celebrities out on the
trails today thanks to our biking demonstration in the parade last week. Rowen and I got teased about not wearing our
biking outfits today by a couple of the guys.
Michael and I didn’t have any problems with the guys teasing us about
being a couple now; but I have no idea whether Michael will get razzed about it
when there aren’t any girls around.
That doesn’t mean that our biking time was tweeirdless. Chris and Martin were both out on the trails
with some of the other teen guys too, and though they were pretty much doing
their own thing; we did meet up now and then while waiting for turns on some of
the trails. We also had Vanessa and Nora
show up on their bikes. It was hot,
dusty, and they don’t really like dirt, sweat, or biking. I didn’t need an empathic link to figure out
why they’d wandered into the woods.
I really am going to try not to write about the details of
scenes like that, and at least they didn’t come around until it was nearly time
for me to go home again anyway. There
was time for more biking first, and then Michael, Rowen, and Dawn left the park
with me while Tim stayed and kept riding with Nora, Vanessa, and Martin. The funny part of that is the fact that the
two girls would have rather been leaving the park too. They did, eventually, but I’ll get to that in
a moment.
When we got home, it was definitely time for a swim, and all
of the younger kids were happy to hop in the river with us. Ethan, Ehlana, Eddie, and Nicole really kept
us busy, with one of their favorite games being to simply float down the river
so we needed to ‘catch’ them and tow them back to where we had a few of the
water games set up next to the dock. We
played and swam for about three-quarters of an hour before getting out of the
river and going to sit at the table on the back porch so we could have ice
cream cones before moving on to some back yard play time.
Chris and Martin may have food radar; because that’s when
they came home – and they had Vanessa, Nora, Tim, and a half-dozen other
friends with them. The usual guy games
ensued, though building and eating the biggest ice cream cone isn’t anywhere
near the scariest food feat I’ve ever seen; and Chris and Martin are actually
getting better as they get older. They
all went swimming after their snack break, and while Michael, Rowen, Dawn, and
I were playing with the younger kids again by then; we were still close enough
for me to see and hear pretty much everything that was happening in the river.
There was more tweeirdness to put up with, but Michael made
a point of ignoring the water play action – especially anything that involved
Martin, Vanessa, Tim, and Nora. Again,
there’s not point in continually writing about the details; but Michael and I
are both getting very tired of these stupid games. We’re not alone in feeling that way. Tim was not impressed when Nora gave him a
hard time the one time he came over and tried to play for a little while with
Michael, Ethan, and Eddie. Her razzing
and jokes worked; and he went back to hanging out with her and the other teens;
but he was not happy. Then there’s
Martin. He’s a smart guy, and I’m sure
he knows exactly what Vanessa is trying to do.
Since she is definitely the hottest and single girl showing interest in
him this summer, though, I have no idea how long he’ll play along. As long as nothing happens that’s more
serious than the current games; he likely won’t have a problem with having two
weeks of no-strings-attached fun with Vanessa.
Our play time in the back yard included one more swim; but
we waited until the teens had vacated the river before taking the younger kids
in again. Mom had an open invitation for
dinner tonight, but Michael and Tim had their practice at six; so they went
over to Michael’s house to eat instead because we weren’t eating until six or
six-thirty; depending on when Dad got home from the office. Nora and Vanessa did accept the invite – as
did four out of six of the other teens.
After Michael left, Rowen and I traded kid control for
helping Mom in the kitchen while Dawn had some support from Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt
Leanne, and Aunt Deborah. Grandpa and
Uncle Nick also had the grills fired up and ready to go by the time Dad got
back from the office; and then the three of them started cooking up a storm
while Rowen and I mostly spent that last bit of time before we sat down to eat
hauling food and supplies out to the patio table on the back deck. We didn’t have enough tables set up for
everyone, but the younger kids wanted to have dinner by the river; so there was
enough seating for the adults and teens.
Rowen, Dawn, and I were quite happy to supervise that little
picnic by the river – it kept us away from the food and drinking games. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed for me
post-crossing over; but then I didn’t expect to suddenly find those little
contests to suddenly be any less gross than I always have. I am glad that Michael wasn’t here for that,
though I’m sure he will be at least a few times over the next couple of weeks;
so we’ll see how he deals with the peer pressure to join in.
He and Tim made it back to the house by the time we’d
finished eating and cleaning up; and they went for a swim to cool off – and get
rid of some of the dirt and dust they’d brought back with them from the ball
diamond. Some of the other teens joined
them, but Rowen, Dawn, and I were getting the younger kids ready for another
visit to the park playground; and we wanted to keep them dry – though we were
planning on ending our play evening with a swim.
That next hour and a half was a rush of action. Mom and Dad were both working in the office
while we were at the park, and even with having Michael along to help with kid
control; we were all kept busy keeping up with my brother, sister, and
cousins. Chris, Martin, and Jonathan
didn’t want to help out; and they had instead opted for some video gaming with
their friends at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s.
Tim, Nora, and Vanessa went with them for that, so we had the bonus of
being out of the tweeird zone for the rest of the evening.
The swim was fun, and then there was another little blast of
work as we returned Kara and Eddie to Aunt Leanne and Uncle Mark; picked up an
overnight bag for Nicole so she could do a sleepover with Ehlana; and then got
the three youngest kids ready for bed before going up to the lounge to watch a
movie. Our first boyfriend-girlfriend
movie in the lounge was fun for Michael and me, though we’re going to need to
try it again sometime when we don’t have Ethan and Ehlana cuddling with us; and
Rowen and my cousins entertaining themselves by teasing us while we watched the
Disney flick that Nicole picked out for us.
Sofia
the First wouldn’t be on the top picks list for tween or teen movie nights
–especially for guys; but I won’t get Michael in trouble by telling anyone that
Ethan, Ehlana, and I heard him singing and humming along to the catchy little
tunes tonight.
Oops! ;^)
I expected Nicole to fall asleep before long, but she
didn’t; though she probably didn’t last much longer once she and Ehlana were
tucked in for the night. Rowen went home
after the movie, and Dawn, Jaimie, and Kaitlyn all got ready for bed then; and
Michael and I decided to go for another moonlit swim after having a little
visit with Mom and Dad while they took a break and helped with getting Ethan,
Ehlana, and Nicole into bed.
Ending long, not-so-lazy summer days with quiet swims, wind
down chats, and goodnight kisses would be easy to get used to; though we’ll see
how often we actually get chances to do that – especially while my cousins are
here – or on the days when Michael is working or busy with his own family. For tonight, I’m glad that we did get to do
that – especially when the video gamers jumped into the river at Uncle Adam and
Aunt Leanne’s house just as we were getting ready to call it a night. There were some whistles and razzing that
followed us as we walked away from the river, and while they probably thought
that we couldn’t hear most of the comments; sound travels on water, and I heard
everything.
Fortunately, the goodnight kiss we shared once we didn’t
have that gang in sight and ready to bug us some more gave me something more
pleasant to think about after Michael went home and I came up to my room. Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Dawn were all asleep by
then; so I’ve been back in the window alcove with my computer again after
getting changed and ready for bed. Since
I’m not going to be doing any daytime work sessions for the family business
over the next two weeks, I am going to need to do some work when I can; so I
spent an hour doing that before moving on to my usual nightly computing.
The video gaming may have continued after the swim, but not
with the entire group. Martin, Vanessa,
Tim, and Nora came over to our house about a half hour after I’d started
working on my computer; they grabbed drinks; and then sat on the benches by the
river for a while before leaving again – probably so the guys could walk the
girls home. I’m sure that Vanessa and
Nora think that I didn’t notice the subtle glances directed my way, but I did;
and I’m sure that the choice of location for that little break wasn’t
random. Whatever their motivation for
doing that, they must be getting caught up in their games to the point where
reality is suspended if they think that having me see Vanessa cozying up with
one of my cousins means anything to me at all – other than still being as
tweeird as it was when Jenny and Martin were hanging out together.
Speaking of Jenny, she and Joel Alden are apparently
spending just about every waking moment together now, according to Michael’s
last update from Rebecca. Shane isn’t
taking the break-up very well at all, and Rebecca tried to talk to him; but he made
it clear to her that he doesn’t want to be consoled by Jenny’s best friend –
even though they’ve been friends for a long time too. I’m fairly sure that seeing things like that
happen with her friends is exactly why Rebecca still isn’t getting back into
the dating game.
I don’t really want to end my night thinking too much about things
like that when Michael and I are just at the start of our relationship; and I really
should get some sleep anyway. Rowen,
Michael, and I have a birthday party to go to tomorrow afternoon at Quarry Lake,
and since we’re going to be out there; Mom and Aunt Leanne are taking all of my
cousins there too. I’m sure that Vanessa
will be very happy that Martin will be there – and there will likely be more
tween games being played. I don’t know
the details about what Elliott’s parents have planned for his party, so
escaping those games and playing with the younger kids may not be an option;
but I really hope we won’t be in the tweeird zone all afternoon.
Whatever happens, it’s supposed to be another beautiful day;
I’m going to get to spend it with my boyfriend and best friends; and we’ll be
playing at Quarry
Lake, so there should be
a lot of really good fun to offset any tweeird.
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
