This report is coming to you while Dawn’s
borrowing my Jacuzzi and I have time to do it before we hop into bed with Mandy
and watch a movie on my computer. Chris
and Martin are gaming in the lounge, and while hanging out with them was an
option, Dawn didn’t really want to do that; and sitting around watching them
play isn’t all that exciting anyway. I’d
have a different opinion of that if Michael were here too and I could cuddle
with him; but he’s at home with his family tonight.
We’ve had a really good day; though it’s
been crazy-busy too. With just a
half-day of classes, the lessons part of the day was a breeze, and while being
on the work crew at the park was hard work; Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I had a
lot of fun with our friends too. It also
really feels great to see how awesome the park looked by the time we were
finished – though that’s even better for the kids and teens that get to help
out at the cemetery with the flowers and flags.
My work wasn’t over once we were set free
for the long weekend. Michael and I were
drafted to mow the lawns at both of our houses; mostly because we have rain in
the forecast for tomorrow again – and off-and-on all weekend. I hope they’ll be wrong about that, but it
didn’t really matter all that much to me whether we did the work tonight or
tomorrow – rain or shine it’ll just mean that I’ll have more time to play instead
of doing chores tomorrow morning. That
work did keep both of us busy until dinnertime; and Michael stayed with me for
that before we helped with the cleanup and then had some time to play while
waiting for our collective families to begin arriving.
Michael’s grandparents arrived first
because they were able to get on the road earlier than his aunt, uncle, and
cousins could; and we were their porters and welcoming committee of two. We had drinks and a front porch chat with
them too; but then they walked over to the Inn to see Jacob, Miranda, Jake, and
Rebecca while we all waited for the rest of the gang to arrive. That next few hours was a mix of family fun
and bursts of work as we split our time between four houses – though we only
stopped in for very short visits at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house and at
Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s place to say hello to their guests.
The Rice clan made it to town before the
rest of Michael’s family; and they had Dad with them for the drive from Crystal
Springs after meeting him there for dinner.
There was one big change for them, and that was that Chris and Martin
drove here in their car while their grandparents came with Rick, Melissa, and
Dawn instead of bringing a third car. My
cousins are very proud of their car, or at least they’re thrilled with the
freedom it gives them; but they need to work a bit on learning the value of
regularly cleaning it out. Yes, they did
make an attempt to clean it up a bit ahead of the trip here; but there was
still enough evidence left behind to hint at the usual state of the floor and
back seat – particularly with the ‘keeper’ pile stashed in the trunk for future
sorting.
There wasn’t much time for Michael and I to
visit with them once we’d helped to carry luggage up to the second and third
floor before we needed to get over to his house to welcome the Bishop clan. That was particularly fun for me because I
was put in charge of Michael’s thirteen-month old cousin, Gerry, while everyone
else took care of unloading the vehicles.
Gerry was fed up with being in his car seat by then, so after taking
care of a diaper change; I helped him to blow of some steam and pent up energy
with some play time in the back yard.
Michael’s grandparents came back from the Inn then too, so the back
porch became party central.
While Gerry was the first great-grandchild
for Jacob’s parents; Michael’s cousin Drew’s wife, Heidi, is pregnant; and due
in early November. I didn’t hear about
it until tonight, but there has apparently been some razzing going on between
Drew and Eric, because the younger man had finally managed to ‘succeed’ at something
before his ultra-competitive older brother.
I wonder how annoying that was for their
parents when they were kids and teens.
Jake and Stephanie were sent home early so
that they could spend time with Jake’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins;
and while Michael’s Aunt Anne cant’ comprehend why her nephew and his
girlfriend would actually want to work at the Inn when they’re finished
college; she was as interested as everyone else was to hear some of the stories
from their adventures in and around New York – and at their schools. I stayed with Michael until about a half hour
after his parents and Rebecca got home from the Inn, and then I headed home to
spend some time with my own cousins while everyone was still awake. They were spending the evening outdoors too,
but I only caught the tail-end of that party before it was time to go in and
take care of little jobs like getting Ethan and Ehlana into bed for the night.
Dawn and I took care of that while her
brothers came up to the lounge to get started on their gaming and everyone else
either moved into the living room or went upstairs to bed. Violet and Dillon were with the parents in
the living room – and still are; though they’ll likely be thinking about
wrapping that visit up by now after having such a long day. I hope Violet will stop in and spend some
time with Dawn and me after Dillon goes home and everyone else heads off to
bed; but we’ll see how that goes – assuming we’re not asleep by then anyway.
If tonight is any indication, this is going
to be a very crazy-busy weekend as Michael and I try to juggle everything we
have on the go with both of our families and the work at the Inn too. That may change if we get too much rain to
mess with the play time plans, but we’ll just have to deal with that on the fly;
and I’m’ sure we’ll have fun whether we’re stuck indoors or get to enjoy most
of our adventures outdoors.
I guess that’s it for now, so I’m out of
here – and on to movie time as soon as Dawn is ready for bed.
Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the
Light!
