Welcome to the family, Zachary Andrew Carrington; and
congratulations, Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam!
Zack finally decided to join us at six-oh-nine this morning,
and if his entrance into the world was any indication; he’s going to be a very
strong little Magi. That wasn’t a
surprise for some of us, but even with the research Uncle Adam and I have been
doing; we don’t yet know or understand all of the factors affecting the talent
potential for Magi children – or why kids are born latent. We’ll have to wait and see which specific
talents Zack inherited from his parents; and the council is particularly
interested about whether Uncle Adam’s Healing gift will be passed on to his
children.
If it is, they may want Aunt Leanne to have a lot of kids,
but Zack was a very healthy eight pounds, ten ounces; the last couple of hours
of the delivery were particularly tough on her; and she might have something to
say about the idea of going through that every year or so for the next decade
just so we can have more Magi Healers.
She did appreciate having Mom and me there to help her out while Uncle
Adam and Aunt Deborah were taking care of Zack; and we happily gave her a
little Magi Healing gift. She was still
exhausted after having almost no sleep except for a couple of naps in the last
twenty-four hours or so; but the healing did at least make her comfortable, and
she was able to sleep after she and Zack did a round of visits with our family
and she nursed him for the first time.
That’s about where my story for the day takes a break
because Mom and Dad sent me home to get some sleep then; and Grandma and
Grandpa came along with Ethan and Ehlana so that they could feed them and get a
few things ready around the house for our incoming guests. I didn’t stay awake long enough to have
breakfast; and went straight to a three-hour long power nap that lasted until I
heard the Rice family arrive at around eleven o’clock.
Mom and Dad had come home and done a power-nap too; though
they only got to have a bit more than an hour of rest, and Mom gave them both a
little Magi power boost to keep them going until they stopped for an afternoon
nap with Ethan and Ehlana. Grandma and
Grandpa had kept going until Grandpa Richard and Grandma Carrie arrived, and
after having a visit and going to the clinic with them to see Aunt Leanne; they
went home to get some rest too.
The Rice family visits to the clinic were done in two
groups. I went along with the first
group because Dawn and Jillian were much more excited about meeting Zack and
seeing Aunt Leanne than Chris and Martin were – they actually went over to the
fall festival first to go on some rides.
That had been the only reason they’d decided to come, so I wasn’t
surprised by that; but they couldn’t possibly believe that we bought those
lines about making the sacrifice and doing that so the girls could see the baby
first.
Rowen had checked in on me once while I was napping, so
Dawn, Jillian, and I picked her up at the computer store on our way to the
clinic; and she got to see Zack and Aunt Leanne too before we were set free to
go and play at the fall festival. We
took Ethan and Ehlana with us, and started our afternoon adventure with lunch
and some gaming before hitting the midway rides. Cousin control and festival entertainment
coordinator ended up being my main job for the rest of the day, and Rowen was
there with me every step of the way.
Michael joined us during his afternoon break, and again after he was
finished the light dinner shift; so that especially helped with Ethan and
Jayden.
While Ethan and Ehlana were picked up and taken home for
afternoon naps, we traded them for Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Kara; had them with us
for the rest of the afternoon; and added Ethan, Ehlana, and Jayden again for
the last couple of hours of the afternoon before we needed to be at Uncle Adam
and Aunt Leanne’s house for dinner.
Michael and Tim were both hanging out with us during Michael’s afternoon
break; though we occasionally needed to split up and take turns going on some
of the rides that Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Kara couldn’t do with the rest of us. The play time has really been fun, and we had
the bonus advantage of not being drafted for the pre and post-dinner work
crews; but we missed out on some things too – like Aunt Leanne’s and Zack’s
homecoming.
We also missed out on a bunch of flowers and fruit baskets
deliveries, but happily enjoyed the Olde Bakery desserts, casseroles, and other
dishes that were dropped off by friends to help out with the major,
short-notice, family meal. It’s a good
thing that Grandma and Grandma Christine called around and asked for help,
because we had fifteen guests from our side of the family; twelve aunts,
uncles, and cousins from the Johnson-McEwan clan; plus twenty local family
members to feed.
Yes, that was quite a crowd; and Rowen and I were in charge
of the ‘kids’ table; while Chris, Martin, and Jonathan ‘helped out’ again by
taking their plates and eating in the game room on the third floor. Since we’d been advised that we would be spending
the evening at the festival again – and out of Aunt Leanne’s hair; there wasn’t
a problem with getting the younger kids to eat.
I would have liked to spend a little more time with Aunt Leanne, Uncle
Adam, and Zack tonight, but they had more company than they needed; and I’ll
get lots of chances to get to know my new cousin after the rest of our families
go home again tomorrow.
Since we didn’t have everyone in the Johnson family here
this weekend, I should probably mention that the absences were all due to other
obligations – including for Eddie; which is why he stayed with Melanie’s
parents instead of coming here with his Mom, Dad, sister, and grandparents. Rob and Trish came, and they joined in to
help out with the younger kids for a while until parents were again available
to take over; but Kevin and Elaine didn’t try bringing Nicole and Robyn on such
a long, short trip, and Nadine couldn’t get away from a consulting project
she’s leading.
I don’t really get to spend much time with Rob and Trish,
since they’re usually hanging out with the older teens and younger adults when
they’re here; so it was fun to spend an hour playing with them. We mostly went on the junior rides with the
toddlers and did our best to win some prizes for all of the younger kids before
the parents took over; and Rowen, Tim, Michael, and I only had Dawn and Jillian
with us for the rest of the night.
It’s a bit strange to be on the older side of the age gap
with Dawn and Jillian that Rowen and I have been dealing with for Rebecca and
Jenny, but they’ve hit the first major growth spurt this year; and it’s cool to
be able to go on all of the thrill rides with them. They enjoyed getting some attention from the
local and visiting boys their age too; though they didn’t pursue the
opportunities.
The country dance was on tonight, and we stopped in to the
main pavilion when it first started; mostly so we could check in with the
parents, since Dawn and Jillian weren’t all that interested in hanging out at
the dance; and Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I had just been to the teen dance last
night. We did get on the dance floor a
couple of times, but Mom and Dad left early with Ethan and Ehlana so they could
check in on Aunt Leanne and Zack before going home to bed; and we went back to
the midway then and got back to our play time.
After getting to go on two summertime amusement park
adventures the past two summers, the thrill in the thrill rides at our little
festival wears off by the second night; though that wasn’t a problem for Dawn
and Jillian. I was pretty much gamed out
tonight too; though some experiences were still exciting enough – like sharing
kisses with Michael at the top of the Ferris wheel, and having his arm wrapped
around me whenever that was an option on some of the rides. It was cooler tonight too compared to Friday
night; so getting to cuddle while waiting in lines was nice too.
Most of us had a midnight curfew, so we needed to leave the
park before the rides shut down and the dance ended. We walked over to Landry’s auto and farm
equipment display first and left Tim there with his father; and then Michael
and I were left alone on his front porch while Rowen went back to my house with
Dawn and Jillian. Our goodnight kiss
took a while, and I was technically late for my midnight curfew, but Mom and
Dad were asleep; and Mom knew where I was – at least on a subconscious
level. I checked in on Ethan and Ehlana
on my way up to bed, and while Ehlana woke up and wanted to talk for a minute
after doing a bathroom break and having a few sips of water; Ethan didn’t wake
up at all when I pulled the covers around him again and kissed him goodnight.
Rowen, Dawn, and Jillian were all changed and ready for bed
by the time I joined them in the lounge, and while they were putting a movie on;
none of us expected to last through much of it before falling asleep. I’d only had a nap since Friday morning;
Rowen had worked and had a busy day; and Dawn and Jillian had been up early to
get ready for the long drive before getting to the fun part of their day. We did sit and have an entertaining girl chat
that included teasing me about Michael; some suggestions for Rowen from Dawn
and Jillian on what the girls in Woodvale would do to ‘get their guy’ when they
were interested in a guy that was as dense as Tim obviously was. Rowen and I gave Dawn and Jillian a few
background stories for those local guys who had been showing an interest in
them ‘just in case’ they changed their minds about spending some time with them
when we go back to the festival again on Sunday afternoon.
When Dawn and Jillian started dozing off, Rowen and I moved
into my bedroom and snuggled in bed with Mandy while I got my computer out to
do my usual nightly checks. I had some
email waiting for me too, and needed to grab some pictures off of my camera to
send to Violet, Christina, and Stephanie.
The photos they wanted were of Zack and Aunt Leanne, but since I was at
it anyway; I sent along a few pictures I’d taken at the park over the past two
days too. I’m not a world-class photographer
and just have a basic point-and-shoot digital camera; but the pictures were
decent enough – and are easier than risking getting caught creating digital
pictures from my memory. Mom can get
away with saying that she used the phone on her camera when someone doesn’t
remember seeing anyone taking pictures, but since I don’t have a phone; that
doesn’t work for me.
It’s after one now, and the music I’ve had playing in the
background is putting Rowen to sleep; so it’s time to put my computer away and
crash for a while before we need to get up and running again for one more
busy-crazy day of fun, family, and festival adventures. Until next time...
...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the Light!
