Happy 8th Birthday, Ryan!
Michael and I helped out with the party
set-up and kid control, and Michael’s still helping out while supervising the
camping part of the birthday fun; which is why we aren’t getting to have
another co-ed camping night here.
Yes, that means that we did have some tent
mate swaps last night during our teen camping adventure; and Michael and I had
a lot of fun with that! The entire
evening last night was awesome, and while the cuddling and make-out time with
Michael was the highlight of the night for me; the campfire duets with him;
sing-alongs with our friends; and scary stories were all great too. We wrapped up the campfire before one; I’ll
guess that all of the teen couples had fun after that, judging solely on the
mix of tired and smiles this morning; and none of us got much sleep before
Michael and Rebecca needed to get to the Inn to help with the breakfast shift;
Lucas needed to get out to the farm; and Joel headed over to his father’s place
to get ready for work. They were all off
and running when Mom and Dad came outside for Tai Chi; and it was just the
three of us today with Ethan and Ehlana also away on their own sleepover
adventures.
Tai Chi by the river was my sole bit of
quiet and relaxation for the rest of the day until now – or at least it feels
that way to me. Mom, Dad, and I had our
little gang of campers to feed – or at least the campers still remaining. I helped with the work on both sides of that
meal; we cleaned up the camp site but left the tents up for the junior camping
adventure that I’m supervising tonight with help from Dawn and Jillian; and
then it was time for me to do as much of the usual weekend yard work through
until one o’clock when Mom had a small army of cousins and friends to feed –
with some help from Grandma, Grandpa, and a handful of aunts and uncles. That wasn’t a break for me because I was on
kid control duty during the meal; I had to hit the shower and get ready to go
over to the Bassett’s house; and then I was off and running to go and do that –
and help Sylvia with the party set-up for Ryan’s party, campfire, and camping
adventure.
That meant missing out on the cousins and
friends fun with my family; but I really loved getting to spend that time with
Michael and his family too – and I always owe him family time compared to how
much time he spends with mine. Michael
didn’t get there to help out for a while because they’d had a busy lunch rush
at the Inn and he wasn’t set free until the clean-up was finished; so I started
out with setting up tables and games around the yard; we did the tent and
camping set-up after Michael joined us; and we were eventually the fun coordinators
for the party once Ryan’s friends and other guests began arriving at four o’clock. Ryan had been out playing with some of his
friends for most of the day too; but had been home and either swimming or
getting their camping gear rounded up pretty much since a few minutes after
Michael got to the house. Once all of
his buddies were there; we had an hour or so of game competitions complete with
prizes; Michael and I had fun with all of that; and then there was a social
hour where games and swimming were part of the action; but it was also when the
adults began arriving for dinner – including grandparents, aunts, uncles,
cousins, and family friends. Michael
continued with most of the kid supervising then; but I helped Sylvia with the
dinner prep work and keeping drinks and appetizers stocked on the tables in the
back yard while a few of the guys started the grilling and other helpers worked
in the kitchen with Sylvia or helped Michael with the kids.
Dinner was a real adventure, and more than
a bit scary; thanks to Ryan and his buddies.
I got to experience first-hand how scary a football team of guys can be
around food; so it’s saying a lot that a small gang of eight-year old boys can
be just as scary. There were other meat
options for anyone that wanted something more than burgers or hot dogs, and
that might have been necessary; since it was possibly dangerous to get your
hands between hot dogs or hamburgers and the ravenous mob of boys. There was not an official competition, but
Michael still ended up giving out more prizes for food feats because Ryan
wanted him to do that. Whether those
awards were for fastest downing of a hot dog, hamburger, or canned drinks, or
for stamina and quantity; the boys had way too much fun trying to be the best
they could be in those contests.
I am so glad that I had Sophia, Jessica,
and some other girls to hang out with during dinner so that I didn’t have to be
right in the middle of all of that grossness!
My work at the party wrapped up with the
end of the dinner clean-up; and then I headed home – and on to more work with
camp and campfire set-up for the younger cousins. I’ve skipped over the birthday cake, gifts,
and the rest of the usual end-of-dinner fun, but other than adding that Ryan
loved his gifts and had fun with all of that; there actually wasn’t anything
particularly newsworthy to add for that part of the adventure – and I worked
through most of it anyway while helping Sylvia with getting the cake and ice
cream distributed to everyone or doing any other little chores that she needed
help with while most of the guests were busy playing and watching Ryan open
gifts and play with new toys and games.
Moving along, it was nearly dark and time
to light the campfire by the time we had all of the junior camping cousins
rounded up and everything ready for the night at our house, and while I was
ready for a nap by then; I was instead soon drafted for music and story duty
while Ethan and Ehlana in particular helped me out with bribes of toasted
marshmallows while I was busy singing, playing guitar, or telling toddler-rated
scary campfire stories. The campfire was
going on at the Bassett’s house too, but Michael rounded up a band of Ridge
River Raiders; they crashed our campfire; and we all had fun for nearly an hour
while they demolished all of the extra food that we had with us – and that I’d
arranged to have on-hand because Michael had warned me that their raid was
going to be part of his entertainment plans for Ryan. We – the girls in our group – eventually chased
them off when our supplies were running dangerously low, and while the boys
were talking big when they left; the threat of hugs, kisses, and girl germs had
them running for the safety of their own camp and campfire.
Dawn, Jillian, and I didn’t have any other
teen help tonight, but we did have some parental support; including from the
weekend visitor parents. For our family,
that was Uncle Blaine and Aunt Alison.
They’re mostly here to meet Brianna; and so are the rest of the
Johnson-McEwan visitors – though they all got into town late; and haven’t been
over here to see us tonight. Uncle
Blaine and Aunt Alison got here not long after I went over to help with Ryan’s
party; and that was mostly so that Uncle Blaine could have a couple of meetings
for work with the construction companies about upcoming work plans for the new
section of town. I don’t think about any
of that work at all, but Uncle Blaine’s drawings and plans are always way ahead
of the construction. While there might
have been some current issues to deal with too; they were likely dealing with
the plans for next spring and summer today, and while the construction crews do
indoor work around here in the winter; Uncle Blaine designs all of the new
houses, townhomes, and apartment buildings then too.
We didn’t talk about any of that tonight,
and Uncle Blaine and Aunt Alison spent most of the evening with Brianna and her
parents; but they did all have dinner together while I was away; and all of the
parents stopped in for at least a little while during the campfire. I even got to have a bit of cuddle time with
Brianna during her cameo visit between feedings and nap time; and she seemed to
love the little campfire lullaby I sang to her while having that little
snuggle. I don’t feel as though I’ve
seen Brianna much this week, but that doesn’t matter for us; and she definitely
has me wrapped around her little finger – just as she’s done with pretty much
everyone around her.
Our youngest junior campers began falling
asleep shortly after the raiders had left; and I was kept busy getting them
tucked into sleeping bags through until the last big push to get all of the
kids off to sleep when we put the fire out at eleven-thirty. I have four junior campers with me tonight,
and while Michael and I definitely had more fun last night; my little buddies
tonight are all sleeping now; and I’m definitely going to get more sleep. Leah’s also cuddling with me while Ehlana and
Naomi have Hailey between them. Dawn and
Jillian are in charge of two other tents of girls, and while we don’t have any
teen boys with us tonight; Eddie is working as a junior counselor tonight; and
the boys’ tents are next to mine; and I’ll know if any of the boys need my help
tonight – though I doubt that they will.
I guess that’s it for now, and while I’ve
missed most of the family fun news, that’ll be covered by others in their
journals anyway; so you can read about that news direct from those involved
instead if you’re interested. For me,
though, getting some sleep in now number one on my to-do list; so, until next
time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
