I guess we can’t rank today as high as my
first Labor Day weekend Sunday in Witch Falls, since Mom and Dad did get
engaged that night four years ago; but we have had a really great day!
For me, that started with Tai Chi by the
river; breakfast with Michael and his family; and a lot of running around to
get ready for the service in the park.
Michael and I loved our second experience with the teen praise team; and
our congregation definitely enjoyed the upbeat and energetic program we
led. The kids were more interested in
getting on with the fun and games; but we also kept the length of the service
to just under an hour; so there weren’t too many cranky kids by the time they
were set free.
Michael and I were busy for a while after the
service while helping to pack up and clear the stage for the next ‘act’ of the
day. After doing that, we ran back to
his house to drop off his guitar; got changed; and then had to hurry back to
the park to pick up food and get to the ball diamond in time for the co-ed
championship game. Yes, we had fun
helping each other with getting changed, but that wasn’t why we had to hurry –
there just wasn’t much time between the end of the service and the start of the
game to get everything done. It’s a good
thing that Mom and Dad had lots of family help for Ethan and Ehlana because we
didn’t have time to help with kid control until the game started – and then I
was only doing that in my capacity as co-head-cheerleader.
I was sharing those duties with Miranda today,
and while we have fun competing against each other too; we had a blast today –
and the cheerleaders on the Sheldon’s Beer Buddies side of the diamond didn’t
stand a chance against us today. We had
a huge group of girls cheering with us today because not only did we have our
family, Rowen, Rebecca, and Jenny; but we also had pretty much every mother and
daughter even remotely related to Hannah and Nathan supporting Hannah and the
Bakery Beagles.
The game details are available elsewhere in
the archives, and I won’t offer insult to injury to the Beer Buddies by adding
the blow-by-blow information here. All
you need to know is that our Beagles won sixteen-to-five; and this was one of
the shortest championship games ever that wasn’t cut short by weather or other
factors like the mercy rule. Miranda was
sure that the win was entirely due to our cheerleaders; but I can assure you
that three multi-run homers had more to do with the lop-sided score.
After the game, Michael, Dawn, and I helped
out with Ethan, Ehlana, and some of the other younger kids while the parents
went home to hit the showers and get changed.
We played some of the games, had an ice cream break, and hopped in the
river to cool off for a while before our parents were ready to play with us
again. Michael and I stayed to play a
few games with everyone, but then we moved on to hang out with Rowen and Tim –
and Rebecca and Lucas when we met up with them too. Dawn spent most of that time with Emma,
Kylie, and a few of their friends; mostly because she didn’t want to be a fifth
wheel with us. There wasn’t a lot of
time left until dinner, but we had fun while we could before going to meet up
with our families again for that meal.
Rebecca was doing that with Lucas and his
family, so Miranda and Jacob ended up with my family – though the Bassetts had
their day camp next to ours; so they were able to spend time with Miranda’s
family too. That worked for the twins,
since they got to have dinner with Sophia, Jessica, and Ryan; and Michael and I
actually had a meal with some of our favorite adults while grandparents took
care of keeping an eye on the babies and toddlers.
That was a lot of fun, and I especially
loved getting to spend some time with my aunts and uncles. The dinner conversation was mostly about
family and the upcoming arrivals of new babies; though there was some talk
about the lab and medical center too.
Now that the lab is finished, Uncle Blaine is particularly proud of how
his design turned out, and while the lab doesn’t officially open until Tuesday;
Aunt Grace did do a tour with him already.
Honestly, I haven’t even given the lab much thought this past week or
two even though it’s been a big deal for Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana; and that
probably won’t change much for the next little while – other than on
Tuesday. I’ll do an update on the lab
then; but let’s stick to the news of the day for tonight because I really need
to get some sleep.
Michael and I helped out with the park
clean-up after dinner, and then joined what might have been more than half the
kids and teens at the park in the river to cool off until the dance
started. While we had some cameo family
moments over the next few hours; we hung out with Rowen, Tim, Rebecca, Lucas,
and quite a few of our friends and older cousins. Michael and I also danced a lot – with each
other; with Ethan and Ehlana; and once each with our fathers or mothers
respectively.
The weather cooperated too, but rain was
threatening by eleven o’clock when the dance was scheduled to end; and everyone
took the hints that Mother Nature offered us to heart. We all packed up as quickly as possible;
headed home; and managed to get everyone home with time to spare before the
first drops of rain hit the ground here in Witch Falls. It could be a very wet night for some tent
campers at the area campgrounds if they get hit with any major thunderstorms;
but we haven’t had any downpours yet as I write this now.
Michael helped with the packing up, but
then we did our goodnight kisses at his house before he moved on to help his
parents, aunt, and uncle while I continued on to my house to do the same with
Mom and Dad. Spending more time together
would have been nice, but we’re both helping out with the four buffets
tomorrow; and he’ll probably go to the Inn first thing in the morning too to
lend a hand with getting the breakfast buffet started for those of us who plan
on going there to fuel up ahead of the annual Labor Day sales shopping. I helped with putting everything away; Dawn
and I took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night; and then
she opted for some Jacuzzi time once we came up to my room for the night.
Chris and Martin must be tired, because
they’re skipping another attempt at all-night gaming; so it’s quiet here as I
sit in the alcove doing my nightly computing while Dawn’s busy. Mandy’s already napping on my bed, and once I’m
finished with this; I plan on joining her.
This really has been an amazing weekend so far, and while we still have
one more day to go; it still feels like we’re already winding down toward the
end – and the start of the new school year definitely feels imminent now
too. I’m really getting excited about
that as I think about everything we have to look forward to this fall; but I’ll
save reporting on those thoughts at least until tomorrow night.
Right now, I really just want to get some
sleep, and I might not even manage to stay awake until Dawn’s finished in the
bathroom. I’m sure she won’t mind if I
crash and miss out on one girl chat – she’s as tired as I am; and is probably
dozing off in the tub – which is the main reason I’m skipping bath time
tonight. Okay, I’m just rambling now, so
let’s wrap this up.
Until next time...
...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of
the Light!
