I’ve had a really great day with Michael and his family!
Michael came over for Tai Chi, and then I got cleaned up and
ready for a play day before going over to his house for breakfast. Jacob and Jake weren’t doing anything fancy for
the morning meal today; mostly because Jacob and Miranda wanted to be on the
road for Crystal Springs without needing to do a big
clean-up first. Stephanie had come over
for breakfast too, so once we’d eaten; she and I helped out in the kitchen
while the cooks took their turns getting ready for our adventure and play day.
We were on the road by a bit after eight-thirty, and that
hour and a half in the minivan was a new experience for me – especially with
Rebecca, Michael, and me on the back bench seat together when I was along as
Michael’s girlfriend instead of Rebecca’s guest. Rebecca thought it was funny, but not at all
weird, and holding Michael’s hand and sitting close together as all seven of us
kept entertained made the trip to the city seem quick. Our first stops were at Wal-Mart and the
Mall; but that was mostly to pick up supplies and a few things that Jake and
Stephanie wanted to get before heading to New York.
We had a fast food lunch in the food court while we were at the Mall;
and then moved on to our main destination – a family entertainment center that
opened earlier this year in an old, remodeled and re-purposed factory.
Going to SportsFusion was a rainy day plan B, but it was
also a perfect place to get to have fun and spend time together. Jacob and Miranda don’t get to play all that
often, so it was even more special to be sharing one of those rare moments with
them. We started out slow with some mini
golf, and worked our way up to rock climbing.
The zip line return to ground level from the pinnacle of the rock wall
was cool too, and though the boys were more interested in laser tag than
Miranda, Stephanie, Rebecca, and me; playing that together in a two-level maze
was a lot of fun.
While I’m writing about that, and since the story will be
making the gossip rounds by tomorrow anyway; yes, Michael and I did get caught
‘kissing the enemy’ during our girls against the boys match. We weren’t the only couple sharing a kiss or
two in the darkened maze – I just didn’t call Jacob and Miranda or Jake and
Stephanie out on it.
Don’t deny it – I have the full-sensory memories for proof!
The ‘what’ we were doing wasn’t as important as creating the
happy, fun memories before Jake and Stephanie will be away for most of the next
four years. Michael and I found out that
we both love rock climbing, though that isn’t really surprising; since we love
extreme biking, snowboarding, and pretty much every sport we’ve ever
tried. We were the only members of our
group to climb the tallest rock wall more than once, but everyone went on the
zip line at least twice. That was the
only activity we did more than once. The
round of mini golf we played took the most time, but we managed to try
everything except the young kid activities before heading out for dinner.
Jacob and Miranda like to try out different restaurants
whenever they get a chance to do that; and their pick for tonight was a Mediterranean-themed
bistro in a big, old house with beautiful gardens that had been renovated into
a two-story restaurant. The main dining
room was on the second floor, and the ground floor was set up for multiple
purposes; including light dining, before and after dinner drinks, and live jazz
music on the weekends.
Having dinner at a ‘real’ restaurant with a chef – and a want-to-be
chef – adds a whole new dimension to the dining experience. Everyone else at our table was used to that,
but since I’ve always been willing to try new things; I fit right in. Admitting that I could break down each dish
into precise recipes wasn’t an option, but it was fun to watch Jacob and Jake
try to do exactly that – with a success rate that was a little surprising to me. I loved all of the food; and expect to see
some of those appetizers and entrees make an appearance now and then on the Witch
Falls Inn specials of the day menus.
After spending nearly two hours at the bistro, it was time
to head home again. The return trip to Witch Falls
was a lot quieter, but after a busy play day; I was good with an hour and a
half of cuddling with Michael while we mostly listened in on the conversation
going on in front of us. Rebecca was
mostly quiet too; reading an e-book and having a short nap. We had a little drink break and visit after
getting home, but Jacob and Miranda needed to get to bed by then, and I went
home at the same time that Jake and Stephanie left for her house; though they
were out of sight before Michael and I got around to our goodnight kiss on his
front porch.
That’s pretty much all of the news for today. Ethan and Ehlana were in bed by the time I
got home; Mom and Dad were getting ready to head for bed; and Violet was at
Dillon’s house, helping out with some work they were doing to get ready for the
party his parents were hosting on Friday.
Exchanging condensed versions of our daily updates didn’t take long, and
then I came up to my room to start my bedtime routine with some Jacuzzi
time. I multi-tasked most of my nightly
computing, and only had one little family business job to do that couldn’t wait
until morning. I cheated doing my hair,
and hopped into bed with Mandy about fifteen minutes ago. Rowen and I were having a little messaging
chat, but she’s got my full report and didn’t have much to tell me about because
she mostly just stayed indoors and read a couple of books while I was
away. We are going to need to make
another trip to SportsFusion sometime soon so that she can check it out
too. Maybe I can swing that sometime
around Michael’s birthday in September; and we can go with some other friends
too.
Getting some sleep is fast moving up to the top of my
immediate to-do list, though, so I’m going to wrap this up and get to that.
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
