Our day started out with a very entertaining Tai Chi
demonstration on one of the garden patios.
We had a fairly large group for that, including Uncle Adam,
Aunt Leanne, and Naomi; along with about half of our group among the spectators
watching us from the nearby patio tables in front of the cafe where we
eventually had breakfast. I loved
getting to share Michael’s first ‘public’ Tai Chi workout with him, and Naomi
wanted to try following Ethan and Ehlana through the short form we were
practicing; but Aunt Leanne won the entertainer of the morning award for not
only keeping up with Mom, Dad, and Uncle Adam when she’s about seven months
along – she also brought a hat along with a hand-written ‘Tai Chi Toddler
Souvenir Fund’ sign that she placed between us and those cafe tables.
Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi ended up with twenty-two dollars
and seventy-five cents; not including the two tens that were added by Uncle
Rick and Jacob. ;^)
While I’m on that topic, Naomi’s a natural. We’ll have to see if we can work out some
lessons with her if she wants to learn Tai Chi too. Now that the Seagers are back yard neighbors
to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne, we could probably take our Tai Chi down the road
once or twice a week so Naomi could do that with us – at least until winter.
We were still up fairly early for Tai Chi, and had lots of
time to take turns having showers and getting ready for another extreme play
day before meeting up again at the cafe for breakfast. Chris and Martin looked half-asleep, and
they’d apparently stayed up and played video games for hours while the rest of
us were either smart enough to get the sleep while we could – or were just
better at faking being wide awake. Let’s
not even think about what some of the parents were doing with their five-star
sleepover away from home. That’s
definitely something kids don’t need to know about their parents.
The first thing that I want to mention about our second day
of extreme rides and water park fun is that Aunt Leanne is amazing. She wasn’t able to go on most of the rides or
slides, but she was on the go all day; did a lot of things with Ethan, Ehlana,
Naomi, and Aiden; and only stopped for a couple of extra breaks when she needed
a little rest. Mom was very
self-conscious about how she looked while pregnant with the twins despite the
fact that everyone else thought she looked beautiful; so it’s really cool to
see Aunt Leanne so confident whether she’s wearing a maternity sundress or
swimsuit.
Of course it probably helps that she was one of the
hottest-looking women at the water park – pregnant or not.
That’s as far as I want to take that thought, so let’s move
along. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I stayed
with the adults and younger kids all day until after dinner; mostly because three
out of four of us wanted to spend extra time playing with our parents. We were able to go on some roller coasters
and other thrill rides with some of the adults while Aunt Leanne, Alicia, Erin
did something else with the younger kids; but we mostly did things that we
could all do together – like the different shows and junior rides.
There was a mandatory check-in at lunchtime, and after we
ate; we spent the entire afternoon at the water park. We – Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I – played with
the adults and younger kids for about half of the time; and then we went off on
our own to go on the bigger slides until dinnertime. I love those thrill slides a lot, but it was
just as much fun playing in the water with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden; and
going with them on the small slides and wave pool that they could do with
us. Being with Michael and Tim kept
Rowen and I from being approached by any same-aged admiring boys, but Jenny and
Rebecca had at least four boys around them every time we crossed paths; and
Jenny really seemed to be enjoying the attention a lot. We were all together for the walk-up on a
couple of slides, but while I would have liked to spend more time with Rebecca
and Jenny; I’m glad that we weren’t around to witness most of that flirting
action.
Violet, Dillon, Alicia, and Erin pretty much did the same
thing we did this afternoon; and we met up with them for a couple of slides
each too. Those moments with Violet and
Dillon feel really special as I think about them while writing this because
they drove straight to Woodvale tonight; and will be spending the next few days
there. They’ll only be back home again
for a couple of days before leaving for college next Monday; and won’t likely
have much time to spend with Ethan, Ehlana, or me while getting packed and
keeping busy with all of the goodbye visits with their families and friends.
We’re up to the dinner scene of the update, and I’d like to
mention that I love nearly everything about amusement parks; but two days of
the food there is one or two meals too many.
Unlike our trip to Crystal Springs, I can assure you that there won’t be any
recipes showing up at the Inn for anything
we’ve had to eat at the park. That’s
about all I need to write about for a meal that wasn’t really worth reporting
on.
The only time that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I spent
completely on our own was the last blast of fun time we had between dinner and
when it was time to meet up at the park entrance and head for home. We didn’t quite have enough time to hit all
of our favorite rides, but we did another drop on the Sky Coaster, and took
turns picking rides while doing a last loop around the park.
Since Violet and Dillon were going to Woodvale, we needed to
juggle the seating for the trip back to Witch Falls
for Alicia and Erin. Rowen and Aunt
Leanne got involved with that to make sure that Michael and I were together; so
we ended up with his parents, Rebecca, and Jenny; Alicia and Erin rode with
Mom, Dad, Ehlana, and Naomi; and Tim and Rowen went with her parents, brother,
and Scott. I didn’t have a problem
cuddling with Michael for the entire trip home, and I had as many warm fuzzies
every time Miranda or Jacob smiled at us as I did from sitting on the back
bench with Michael’s arm around me and snuggling against him.
Rebecca and Jenny watched a movie and listened to music on
Jenny’s iPad; and they teased Michael and me a bit now and then too; but it was
a fairly quiet trip home. We took one
break at a bit more than half-way back, and while I didn’t hear about it until
Rowen needed to chat with me once we were both home and in our beds; that’s
when her travel time got really interesting.
She and Tim had won the middle seats lottery for the first
half of the drive, but had to switch spots with Patrick and Scott for the
second half. I’ll get more details
tomorrow, but Rowen assures me that she fell asleep on Tim’s lap because he
suggested that she use the middle seat belt so she could stretch out across the
bench; but she didn’t want to put her feet at his end after a long day of
walking around.
I didn’t bother mentioning that we did spend hours in the
water, and she and I both had clean clothes on for the last couple of hours
after we were finished playing at the water park; so smelly feet shouldn’t have
really been an issue.
Since they didn’t get a chance to share another kiss today,
though, I’ll cut her some slack. Falling
asleep on Tim’s lap must have been as nice for them as cuddling was for Michael
and me; though she was more than a little surprised to wake up with Tim’s arm
around her waist and his other hand gently stroking her hair. That was enough to get the butterflies going
again for her, but the shy kicked in again; and she didn’t say anything to Tim
about how she was feeling. Even if they
both wanted to try another kiss then, I’m sure they wouldn’t have with her
parents and brother in the van with them.
Rowen wrapped up our little computer chat about ten minutes
ago. It’s really late, and I should get
some sleep too; so let’s condense the rest of the report. Jenny stayed with Rebecca tonight instead of
going home so late. I helped with
unloading their van, and then Michael came home with me to help out with
unloading ours after Mom and Dad dropped Alicia and Erin off at the Jennings’ house. Naomi and Aiden are staying with us, so we
had four toddlers to get changed and tucked into bed too before Uncle Adam took
Aunt Leanne home; and Michael and I shared a short goodnight hug and kiss on my
front porch once we were alone. I did
the goodnight hugs and kisses with Mom and Dad too; and then came straight up
to my room to get changed and in bed with Mandy. I kept the nightly computing to a minimum, so
the chat with Rowen and writing this update were the only reasons why I’m not
already out for the count. Now that both
of those distractions are taken care of, I’m past-ready for the nap I still
have time for, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
