Happy 14th Birthday, Elliott!
It isn’t totally official yet, but I’ll
guess that Elliott was happiest about spending his special day with Nora. That little teen news story hasn’t developed
quite as fast as the Jenny-Jonathan story; but it has when you consider that
Elliott is a farm kid and Nora’s in town.
They have the same issues as Rebecca and Lucas when it comes to spending
time together. That might actually be
one of the only reasons they haven’t ‘officially’ become a couple. Word with the girls is that Nora’s more than
a little surprised to find herself interested in one of the ‘farm kids’ That’s apparently quite a shift in perception
for her – and probably more than a little scary.
They weren’t the only teen couple story at
the party today – Lily and Kris were having fun together too, so I expect it’s
just a matter of time before they join the couples club too. Jenny and Jonathan are a hot topic with the
girls too, with ‘hot’ being the operative word.
They didn’t get kicked out of the campground for inappropriate behavior
or anything; but they are certainly pushing the boundaries – particularly with
all of the young kids around. At the low
end of the hot spectrum, but earning some attention too, was Dawn and Jillian
with Tommy and Julian.
The boys were not invited to go along with
my family and cousins today, but they were able to hitch a ride there with
Vanessa; since she was there for Elliott’s party. Yes, that was fairly weird to have her there
and watching her little brother spending all of his time trying to impress my
cousin – and he was definitely interested in Dawn while Julian was infatuated with
Jillian. Michael and I don’t have any
problems with Vanessa anymore, but she isn’t interested in being my buddy
either. She seemed to be a bit annoyed
today, though I’m not sure if that had anything to do with her brother and Dawn
or something else. I am sure that she’s
not happy with her single status right now – particularly now that Nora’s
getting involved with Elliott. She
attracted some interest from more than a few guys this afternoon; but nobody
she seemed to be interested in.
Before I get on with the party report,
though, let’s back up and cover the morning action. Michael wasn’t with us for Tai Chi because he
was at the Inn by then, but we still managed to enjoy our workout without him –
even if I did really miss the good morning hugs and kisses. With just the five of us, we had an
easy-breakfast, and then I helped Mom around the house for a while until she
needed to get to the lab – though she only went there for an hour or so to set
Andrew up with his work for the day before coming home again to start getting a
picnic ready for our trip to Quarry Lake.
Rowen and Tim were working this morning too, so I spent a couple of
hours in the office, and then helped Mom again until after we had the minivan
loaded up and ready to go.
Elliott’s party didn’t start until after
lunch, but we headed for Quarry Lake at noon – while Mom had driving support
from other parents and teens during their lunch breaks. Michael didn’t come with us then, since he
was helping out with the lunch rush, but he did get a ride to the party with
Rowen and Tim when they came out. I
spent that time helping Mom with kid control.
Dawn and Jillian helped too, but Jonathan was off and playing with Jenny
pretty much from the time we got there – except for carrying one load of gear to
the spot next to the beach where we set up our day camp. We took the kids for a swim once that first
blast of work was done; and then I had time to both help with getting them fed
and having some food too before needing to move over to where Elliott’s parents
were setting up for his party.
That meant helping out with a bit more
work, but that was fun too because I started working with Elliott’s younger
sister, Kylie, and her best friend, Emma Norton; and then we soon had Michael,
Rowen, and Tim with us too. Emma and
Kylie were then set free to go and play; so they went and hooked up with Dawn
and Jillian instead of hanging out with Elliott and his friends. It was play time for us too by then, and
while Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I had a little play time here and there with
Ethan, Ehlana, my cousins and their collective friends; we spent most of our
time with Elliott, his family, and our friends.
We swam, played football, Frisbee, and
volleyball; and basically had a blast all afternoon. Michael and I took one break when Mom needed
some help getting ready to head home for dinner and have everything loaded into
the minivan by the time her driving helpers returned to pick up the kids and
teens. She wasn’t on her own with the
kids – Grandma and Grandpa were there; they had babysitting support from Alicia
and a couple of her friends; and Violet and Stephanie had come out for a couple
of hours too. They were all still busy
keeping up with all of the kids, though, so I’m glad we could help out – even though
we weren’t able to do that during dinner or at the park while Mom and Dad were
busy with their baseball practice.
Elliott’s party was definitely more fun,
and he had a pretty big family and friends turnout for the dinner part of the
day – with most of his family coming out to the campground after finishing work
for the day. The meal was standard
barbeque options, but it was the chat and play time that was the most fun. We weren’t social outcasts or anything today,
but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I did end up sitting with Kylie and Emma; and
Elliott’s older sister, Susan and her boyfriend. The boys talked football, and Emma and Kylie
were mostly happy to entertain us with their stories about the boys who had
spent the afternoon trying to impress them – and Dawn and Jillian. They weren’t making any love connections
today, but that isn’t all that surprising – they’re both twelve now; but they’re
also just going into Grade Seven in September.
Most of the boys in their year are still eleven and behind them on the
growth chart; while the boys who are a grade ahead of them might not look at
them as having serious girlfriend potential until the fall. I know, that’s weird; but it happens – Grade Seven
and Eight is okay, but Six and Eight isn’t.
I did find their perspective on Dawn,
Jillian, Tommy, and Julian entertaining; though not necessarily very
accurate. They’re seeing more there than
I do; but that’s easy to do when Dawn and Jillian are having fun with the guys. There are even some genuine sparks there with
Jillian and Julian, but I wouldn’t say the same for Dawn and Tommy. The boys were still at the campground during
the birthday dinner and the rest of the evening while waiting for their ride
home again with Vanessa; but they weren’t at the dinner; and didn’t hang out
with us at all until it was nearly dark and time to pack up and head for home.
There was more swimming, football, and
volleyball after dinner; including a couple of matches that attracted more
attention than just from our party group.
Considering how badly Tim wants to play football for our team this year,
it seems like more than a coincidence that he’s getting more chances to play at
events like birthday parties this summer; though that’s at least partly because
he isn’t the only boy our age interested in the sport – especially with our
team being the defending State Champions for our small-school division. It doesn’t even seem to matter to any of the
guys that even Coach Robinson has very low expectations for this season without
Kyle on the team. Add to that the fact
that not very many niners make the team each year because of the size
difference to the older guys; and most of the guys in that group of hopefuls
have their goals set a bit too high.
No, I’m not saying that about Michael and
Tim, but then they’ve actually worked a lot harder than most of the other guys –
including many of the players who will be returning to the team this year. Tim wants to do more than they have been –
particularly over the last couple of weeks; but Michael’s been able to remind
him that what they are doing involves a lot of exercise anyway; and is a lot
more fun – particularly when it involves girlfriends in swimsuits.
I didn’t mean to get off-track and on the
football topic; but it seems to be unavoidable right now when Tim’s spending so
much time thinking and talking about it with Michael – and with Rowen and me. Add in a bunch of other football fans like we
had today; and it’s a wonder anything else goes on at all. Oh wait – there’s that whole girls in swimsuits
thing that does manage to distract the boys now and then. That would explain why swimming was high on
the fun list too – particularly since it’s been sunny and hot today.
Dad drove out to get Michael, Tim, Rowen,
and me after their ball practice, and stayed long enough to have a chat with
some of the other parents while the party clean-up was going on. I’d missed the dinner and park action at home
tonight, and found out that we also had a bonus overnight guest too. Kara was spending the night with Jaimie and
Kaitlyn at Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s; and Eddie and Jonathan are at Uncle
Nick and Aunt Deborah’s; so we ended up with Nicole so she wouldn’t feel left
out tonight. I’m sure that Uncle Adam
and Aunt Leanne aren’t too disappointed to have a comparatively quiet night with
just Zack and Christina home with them, though with the other kids and teens
away; they might have Josiah staying overnight too.
Rowen and Tim didn’t stay long after we got
back before moving on to spend some time at his house; but Michael stayed for a
bedtime swim with Ethan, Ehlana, and my cousins. He helped me with getting the twins tucked in
for the night too; and then I spent a little time saying goodnight to him in a
mostly non-verbal sort of way before he went home and I came up to my room to
hang out with Dawn, Jillian, and Nicole.
While Dawn, Jillian, and I stayed up and watched movies in the lounge;
Nicole didn’t last an hour before falling asleep; so we managed to move her
into my bed without having her wake up – which is why Mandy and I have an extra
cuddle buddy.
Violet joined us for a while too after she
got home – without Dillon; and we had a fun little chat with her that included
some joking around about how much fun they could have with sending pictures of
Dawn and Jillian with Tommy and Julian to Uncle Rick and Jillian’s father. That was a fun way to end the day, but we
stayed up a bit too late too; which is why I’m just getting around to writing
this update now.
We’re going to have a very busy day
tomorrow, so I should get to sleep soon.
Our Thursday night camping adventure is confirmed already, and seems to
be growing way out of proportion with the potential to be the biggest of the
summer; but we’ll see what happens. We
also have the grandparents’ annual lunch at the Inn tomorrow, and Rowen,
Rebecca, Jenny, Emma, and I have our baseball practice tomorrow evening. There aren’t any specific morning or
afternoon plans, but I’ll likely just be spending the day playing with Ethan,
Ehlana, our cousins, and friends. I’m
sure that a lot of swimming, biking, and playground time will be involved. I should also mention that dinner and camping
will be at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s – and Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace’s; so
Mom and Dad are going to get a kid-free night.
I’ll predict that they aren’t teen-free too; unless Violet and Dillon
decide to stay at his house – or go camping with us. They might pick option number two if
Christina, Josiah, Jake, and Stephanie do that too; but Violet didn’t mention
that during or chat tonight if they’re thinking about doing that.
Okay, that’s enough for now. I’m ready to get started on my nap, and that’s
pretty much all I have for tonight anyway; so, until next time...
...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of
the Light!
