My day started out and ended quietly enough, but it was
pretty much non-stop action for everything in-between.
Tai Chi was the fun quiet morning fun, and sitting outside
of our tents and talking with Michael, Tim, and Rowen for more than an hour was
a really great way to end the day – along with some cuddling for Michael and
me; a midnight swim; and some goodnight kisses.
I’m definitely okay with our best friends making excuses for giving us the
alone time for those kisses, but when they’ve also now used those opportunities
to share their own kisses for a third time; they’re not doing it just for us
anymore. This time, it was Tim kissing
Rowen in the Pantry. I have no idea how
they ended up in there; since they didn’t return to our tents with anything
except a pair of big smiles; but it’d be a good place to go if they didn’t want
to be interrupted by anyone heading inside for bathroom breaks.
Let’s get to the rest of the report; and we’ll get back to
that part of the story in a bit. Michael
was only over at our house for Tai Chi, and then he was off again to grab a
shower and get ready to help out with the breakfast and lunch crowds at the
Inn. We had a light breakfast before
getting started on the yard and house work; and I spent the morning mowing the
lawn and doing the rest of my usual chores.
There isn’t anything exciting to report from that work, but I did like
getting to spend some of that time working with Dad and talking about what we’d
each been doing since seeing each other on Monday night.
We had a cold salads and subs lunch, and then Rowen came
over to help me with setting up tents and getting our own gear rounded up. Other kids and teens stopped in to help with
the camp set-up; and that was still going on when Rowen and I took Ethan and
Ehlana to the park to watch Michael and Tim play their last regular season game
against the Sheriffs. Both teams still
had a shot at making the championship game – or to possibly end up at the
bottom of their division if they lost.
The Wranglers were the ‘away’ team, so they batted first;
and got the game off to a great start – for them – with two quick runs before
the Sheriffs’ players kicked up their game and made some good defensive
plays. I won’t suggest that my good luck
kiss for Michael or our little cheerleading squad made much of a difference;
but Michael did score one of those first runs.
He and Tim both played really well, and those first two runs ended up
being very important because the Sheriffs never managed to close the gap on
that early lead. That was frustrating
for their players at first, and then just demoralizing as they started running
out of time without managing to score many runs. With a seven-to-four lead going into the top
of the last inning, the Sheriffs managed to hold the Wranglers to just one more
run; but then the game ended when the Wranglers only allowed one hit in the
Sheriffs’ half of the inning on their way to getting three quick outs to end
the game with a convincing eight-to-four win.
Michael and Tim took some razzing for getting hugs and
kisses from their cheerleaders after the game, but none of us minded the jokes;
and Rowen was very happy that Ehlana and I gave her a perfect excuse to give
Tim – and Michael – a hug and kiss too.
They had to hang out with their team for the usual post-game
celebration, and Rowen and I needed to get the twins home and help out with the
work for the barbeque dinner; so that hugs and kisses moment didn’t last long
before we were all off and running again.
Even with a comparatively short, low-score game we only got
home in time to help with the last half-hour or so of the pre-dinner work; and
most of our guests were already there too.
The work, meal, and clean-up mostly just felt like a mad rush of action
before most of us headed over to the park for the Fix-it Uppers game against
the Big Shots. For the work side of
that, Rowen and I mostly hauled food or empty containers and dirty dishes back
and forth from the kitchen to the buffet table; and helped with the dishwashing
after we ate. We had Michael, Tim, and
some other teens with us to help with kid control during dinner; and sat on the
dock or by the river while the younger kids spent as much time playing as they
did eating.
Amazingly enough, the Fix-it Uppers weren’t out of the
running for the Championship game, but if you’re reading this in the distant
future and thinking that the twenty-one to nineteen final score meant a close
game; it really wasn’t. The Big Shots
built up a big lead in the first few innings; and then coasted the rest of the
way so they didn’t completely embarrass our team. If they hadn’t done that; our Coach probably
would have asked to have the mercy rule invoked. The good news is that once the game was all
but over anyway; the players, cheerleaders, and spectators all just relaxed and
had fun. I don’t think that Mom, Dad, or
really anyone else on our team minded the fact that they won’t have to deal
with another practice or the championship game anyway. I wouldn’t have been cheering with – or
against – Miranda this year either, so I’m okay with not having to spend two or
three hours doing that a week from Sunday too.
Scoring forty runs took a while, so the post-game action
didn’t take long; and the kids, tweens, and teens who were camping at our house
came back with Mom, Dad, and some adult volunteers who were helping the hired
‘babysitters’ to get everything set up for the rest of the night – including
the campfire. Alicia and Erin had organized
and hired the babysitting crew; and that included their boyfriends, Doug Warren
and Kyle Landry; along with Caleb Palmer, Erica Bassett, Carolyn Landry, and
Jeff Morris. Wasn’t it just yesterday
that those last four teens were in need of supervision while hanging out with
Chris and Martin and goofing around all the time? Now they’re the responsible ones!
Michael, Rowen, Tim, and I were part of the gang that
decided to go for a swim while the campfire was being set up; and we took
Ethan, Ehlana, and their friends in with us with a little help from some of our
friends. That made for a bit of a damp
start to the campfire for those of us who didn’t get changed; but the fire
dried us off quickly enough. The
campfire music and stories time was a blast, but before I get to that; there
was something very important that happened with Patrick and Michael that I want
to write about first.
We were among the last kids to sit down at the campfire
because we’d needed to get toddlers dried, changed, and do bathroom breaks with
them first. One of the other guys was
taking a first turn at playing guitar by then, so Michael was able to cuddle
with me – and when Patrick saw that; he got up and stomped off toward the river
and out of sight into the darkness.
Michael waved Scott off when he was about to get up and follow his
friend; and went to find Patrick himself instead. They were gone for nearly twenty minutes, but
when Michael returned, he had Patrick with him; and it was obvious to me that
something had changed with Patrick – and between them.
It wasn’t until Rowen and Tim gave us the alone time later
that Michael gave me the condensed version of the talk they’d had; and I’ll
shorten it down a bit more here.
Basically, Michael told Patrick that he completely understood why
Patrick loves me – because he loves me too.
They talked about other things like Michael’s ‘other’ girlfriends, but
it sounds like it was a new perspective for Patrick about Uncle Adam and Aunt
Leanne that made the biggest impact.
Michael pointed out to him that both my aunt and uncle dated other
people both when they were growing up in Witch Falls and while they were living
away from home and going to school or working; and that Patrick couldn’t expect
that to be any different for him and Cassie than it was for them. The only part of their chat that Patrick
didn’t like was when Michael reminded him that he really did love me a lot and
hoped to keep me; but he also conceded that we’re twelve, and it’s a bit early
to plan on happily-ever-afters when we’ve only been dating for a couple of
months. The bottom line is that Michael
managed to help Patrick out a lot with his crush on me; and I really love that
he was able to do that for him.
I loved the campfire cuddle time too, and playing with
Ethan, Ehlana, and all of our friends.
Alicia and Erin needed to remind the guys to tone the scary stories down
until the younger kids started going to bed for the night, but other than that;
the entertainment was toddler-friendly and the younger kids happily kept
feeding toasted marshmallows and hotdogs to their storytellers and
musicians. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I
all helped out when Alicia ordered all of the younger kids to bed at eleven
o’clock – or those who hadn’t already fallen asleep.
Rowen and I are using one of our big tents tonight instead
of the usual dome tent because we have five girls with us – Ehlana, Naomi,
Lindsay Faulkner, and Jessica and Sophia Bassett. Michael and Tim have Ethan, Aiden, and Ryan
Bassett; so Alicia had Caleb and Erica help us with doing the bedtime routine
with our eight kids. That made it a lot
easier to get them all tucked into their sleeping bags; and we were even able
to go back to the campfire for an hour when Alicia and Erin offered to stay
close to our tents and keep an ear out for the kids if they woke up and needed
anything.
This is probably a good place to write about some of the
teen-rated action and the minor tweeird moments. First up has to be Jenny and Joel. They only have a week left until he heads
home; and they’re a bit scary. Michael
and I know from Rebecca that Jenny has no intention of trying to keep things
going with Joel after he goes home; and it seems like they’re both trying to
get all of the fun out of their time together as they can before it’s over.
They seemed to be achieving that goal and then some from
what we saw; and I don’t want to know about what we didn’t see tonight. Rebecca went through the motions of putting
her gear into the same tent as Jenny, but moved it sometime after the adults
left; and already had other sleeping arrangements set up with some of the other
girls.
Jenny and Joel weren’t the only couple in the same tent; but
most of the teens were actually being pretty good tonight. That extra hour that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and
I got to spend around the campfire was a blast; and I don’t think that dating
Michael was the only reason why we felt more a part of the teen action than I
ever have before now; though it does help that Michael and Tim are accepted as
junior members of the football fanatic teens that Kyle leads.
As I write this, the campfire is over, and most of the kids
and teens are sleeping. After returning
to our tents, Michael and Tim sat outside of our tent and talked with Rowen and
me for an hour or so; we went for a swim; and then spent a little more time
together after Rowen and Tim gave Michael and me that alone time while finding
a nice, quiet pantry so they could share their own goodnight kiss. We’ve already covered Michael’s chat with
Patrick re-cap; and we still managed to take advantage of that alone time to
enjoy our own goodnight hugs and kisses before Rowen and Tim came back.
That last bit of chat time ended when we were alerted to the
need for certain kids to go inside for bathroom breaks; and that ended up
requiring two trips to the house by the time all of the kids who woke up during
the process were taken care of and tucked into their sleeping bags again. After splitting up with Michael and Tim,
Rowen and I have been having a fun, quiet little girl chat while I’ve been
doing my usual nightly computing. The
highlight of that chat for her was obviously that third major kiss with
Tim. We were both too wound up to sleep
then, so I put some music on quietly enough not to wake the other girls; and
we’re just getting to the point now that we’re ready to try to get some rest.
Before I put my computer away, though, there are a few notes
to make from my email inbox. Violet and
Dillon are in their residential halls tonight; and are finding the change both
exciting and weird. Violet sent pictures
of their dorm rooms and new roommates; and they were both really busy with
everything they needed to get done today – and the campus events that were
scheduled for the freshman class. The
city life culture shock is a bigger deal for Dillon than Violet; but that’s one
of the reasons they left early – so they could have a few days to get used to
the city and get familiar with the campus.
Having their own car apparently is a big deal – a fact that I’ll keep in
mind for when I decide where to go to college; though I don’t plan on getting
one for my sixteenth birthday; since that would be a waste for what little bits
of driving any teens do in Witch Falls.
Stephanie had an update for me out of New York too, but the
only news is that all is well; and she and Jake are having a lot of fun. Being at separate schools is tough, but their
schedules do work out so that they can see each other nearly every day; and
they’ll be together as much as they possibly can on the weekends. Last, but not least, was Chrissy’s college
report. I’d better start making that
‘Christina’. She’s using her full name
with her new college friends, and I’ve heard from other sources that she wants
to leave the nickname behind now that she’s a collegian. She and Josiah are really enjoying their
college experience so far; and they’re both getting noticed by their professors
already – though that isn’t easy when there are so many students in every
class. They’re also spending as much
time together as they can; and there are apparently guys and girls in their
respective dorms and classes who are terribly disappointed that they’re not
single and available. There haven’t been
any specific stories about that sort of thing from Violet or Stephanie; but I’m
sure they’ll all be dealing with that too – especially Jake; though I’m
definitely biased about that! :^)
Okay, I guess there isn’t anything else that needs to be
added to this update; Rowen’s starting to drift off; and there’s always the
possibility that I’ll get one more toddler wake-up call during the few hours we
have left until sunrise, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
