Happy 48th Birthday, Jacob!
Work-free birthdays when you own an Inn are
fairly rare for Jacob and Miranda; and Jacob definitely didn’t get to have one
today. He was at work early, and other
than getting an extended break or two; stayed until the dinner rush was
over. He did get to sit down and have
dinner with Miranda and their friends once most of the cooking work was done,
and they all went out to the pub after that; but that still made for a very
long work day.
Compared to getting ready for the breakfast
rush at the Inn; my morning started out with a lot more fun – especially since
it was warm out and Tai Chi by the river was an option. Mom and Dad followed that up with a big
country breakfast, and while Michael couldn’t be with us for either; I still
had a lot of fun with my family before it was time to get to the work and
chores part of our day. The outdoor
chores became a bit more challenging when the rain hit by mid-morning, and we
had to wait out a bit of lightning and work in the storage barn for a while;
but Dad and I managed to have fun with that too – and Ethan and Ehlana came out
to play in the rain on purpose for a half hour or so.
Yes, they are Junior Magi Masters too, but
that doesn’t have to get in the way of the fun that goes along with being
little kids when there are puddles to jump in and lots of rain to enjoy.
Sure, it isn’t so much fun to work while
getting soaked, but the chores needed to be done; and I’d rather it be me out
there helping Dad than Mom. We worked
until one-thirty; stopped for lunch; and then I was set free to hang out with
Ethan and Ehlana for the rest of the afternoon.
Michael spent part of that time with us while on his afternoon break,
and after hanging out in my room and the lounge with my brother and sister; I
went with Michael when he went back to the Inn so that I could help out with
the dinner rush.
That was a busy, fun couple of hours or so,
and then we stopped for dinner when Jacob and Miranda did while everyone else
working at the Inn tonight took care of the tail-end of the dinner rush and
closing clean-up while we moved on to the fun parts of our evening. The birthday dinner for Jacob was great;
though Michael and I were on kid control with Rebecca and a few other teens
while the parents had some fun roasting Jacob.
There was also a cake, ice cream, and the birthday song to go along with
a few gifts; and then it was time for the adults to move on to their play time
at the pub while Michael and I took the group of kids we were babysitting for
the night back to my house. All of those
kids are staying overnight – and so is Michael; so we’ve had a really awesome
evening together.
I’ll guess that Jacob and Miranda are
having a good night too. Rebecca’s
spending the night out at the farm with Lucas and his family; so Miranda has a
teen-free environment at home while helping her husband to celebrate his
special day. Hopefully, Michael and I
will not hear any details about that we don’t need to know; but I do hope that
they are having fun.
Our fun here at home wasn’t of the adult or
teen-rated variety, but we did manage to keep entertained; and the kids really
loved getting to spend those hours with Michael and me. Ethan and Ehlana had invited Naomi and Aiden
for the night; we added Sophia Bassett to the guest list at dinnertime; and we had
Zack, Leah, Sebastian, and Caleb to take care of too. Sebastian and Caleb weren’t here overnight,
but Zack and Leah are still here; so we’ll be in for a busy morning getting
seven kids fed and ready for church in the morning. As for tonight, Michael and I ran around and
played games with the kids for an hour and a half; we followed that up with a
movie; put Zack and Leah to bed when they passed out long before the movie was
over; and then repeated the process for Ehlana, Sophia, and Aiden when they
finally fell asleep near the start of the second movie.
The last two kids standing weren’t actually
standing or awake by then, but we left Ethan and Naomi on the sofa in the
lounge because they were cuddled together; and way too cute to move without
taking pictures and leaving them there for Mom and Dad to see when they got
home.
They’re still in the lounge as I write
this, since Mom and Dad decided to leave them there; and I’m a little jealous
that it isn’t Michael and I in there doing the sofa sleepover instead. It was tempting to do that anyway, but waking
up in the morning with Ethan and Naomi at the other end of the sectional sofa
would have just been a bit too weird for me – and Michael agreed with me on
that one.
Having a house full of kids to take care of
also meant no make-out time for us either; though we did enjoy the cuddle time
during the movies – when we weren’t busy getting kids into beds or dealing with
other jobs – like cleaning up from a minor popcorn fight and one spilled drink
accident. We did dishes too once all of
the kids were sleeping; had a short visit with Mom and Dad after they got home
from the pub; and made some time for a fairly enthusiastic goodnight hug and
kiss or three; but it was past-two by then and time to call it a night.
That’s why I only checked my email before
getting to this update once I was changed and tucked into bed with Mandy, and
even with taking care of a bit of family business that was waiting for me in my
inbox; I’ll still be sleeping before three o’clock if I move this along. Other than the crazy-busy morning we’re in for
starting in a few hours; I’m taking the day off tomorrow except for some
homework and we don’t have any plans or major events to deal with either. It’ll be a busy day at the Inn, and I feel a
bit guilty about deciding not to help out there tomorrow; but I know that I
need the break more before we’ll be into another busy week.
We do still have that busy morning coming
up fast first, though, so that’s all for tonight, kids; and, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
