Happy 2nd Anniversary, Uncle
Mark and Aunt Grace!
They’ve loved getting to share their
special day with both families this year, but have a house full of guests and
Caleb to take care of; so I don’t think that this anniversary will make the top
five list for hottest or most romantic for them – or at least it won’t once
they have six of them on the list! ;^)
I’ll get to the anniversary celebration
news as we go along; but let’s go through this report from the start of the
day.
Tai Chi by the river was amazing
today! That was mostly because Aunt
Leanne and Uncle Adam joined us for it; and that brought back memories of Mom
doing that with us in the days before Ethan and Ehlana were born. Aunt Leanne didn’t go into labor while we
were exercising; though she did joke about it and at least wish just a little
bit that the baby would choose to make an appearance today. Mom, Dad, Michael, Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and
Aiden all exercised with us too, and while we didn’t really pay any attention
to the spectators; we also had more than a dozen kids, teens, and adults
watching us this morning either from tents or neighboring houses.
We’re getting lots of rain now as I write
this; but it was a beautiful morning and sunrise today; and Tai Chi with some
of the people I love the most was a perfect way to start the day. Breakfast at the Inn was a fairly awesome
follow-up to that, and while we didn’t know about it until we got to the dining
room; Jacob and Miranda had opted for a breakfast buffet to feed all of us –
and most of their other breakfast diners.
That wasn’t advertised at all, but word gets around in our little town
fairly quickly; and they ended up with more than one hundred customers – which is
a lot for a Monday that was not technically part of a holiday weekend.
Yes, most of my family took today off
instead of Friday; but that was almost entirely either personal choice or
employer mandate for those who didn’t just take both days off.
The breakfast buffet was great; Michael and
I had fun with our families and friends; and then he was drafted to help out in
the kitchen with the clean-up while I went back to the campground to help with
the clean-up and camp tear-down while grandparents mostly took care of kid
control with the youngest cousins and the parents were busy with other jobs
that ranged from cleaning and laundry to packing bags and vehicles for the
trips home. That took a bit more than an
hour to finish up by the time the camping gear was stored and Ethan, Ehlana,
and I had our own things back at home too.
It was time to play again after that, and while there were lots of
entertainment options; I was one of the teens drafted to take younger kids for
canoe rides to the park and back.
Our water adventures for the kids also
ended up being more of a shuttle service; since most of the kids wanted to be
dropped off at the park to play with the other cousins and friends that were
hanging out at the playground. We had at
least two or three passenger switches at each end of the route; and the
round-trippers started at home or at the park for the kids that wanted bonus
time in the canoes with us. Rowen, Dawn,
and I were the primary members of that ‘us’ group of paddlers; though we did
get some help now and then from other teens and the older kids. We didn’t just canoe all of the time. It was already hot out by then, so regular
swim breaks helped to keep us cool; and there seemed to always be at least a
few people of varying ages swimming and playing in the river at home and the
park.
Since we were busy with kid control and
entertainment duties, most of the teens missed out on the lunchtime work and
cooking, and since that was also going to be the main anniversary celebration
for the day; it was a fairly big job to get set up and the food cooked for all
of the guests. That wasn’t just our
collective families. Mom and Aunt Leanne
had also invited most of the staff at the lab and med center; and all of Uncle
Mark and Aunt Grace’s best, hometown friends.
I was out of the loop for most of that action; but did hear some of the
jokes suggesting that we should have booked the Inn for that meal too.
I’m glad that we had the barbeque instead;
and really loved getting to have that meal outdoors instead of in the dining
room at the Inn. While I wasn’t on kid
control for the meal, I also wasn’t at the table with Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace
either. Michael and I were instead put
at a teen table with Rowen, Tim, Dawn, Chris, Martin, and Jonathan; and we got
to enjoy the meal while actually having a chat that didn’t include any
discussions about the letter and number of the day.
Today’s journal update is brought to you by
the letter ‘A’ for Anniversary; and the number ‘2’ for the number of years my
Aunt and Uncle have been married now!
If that reference is too old for you
whenever you’re reading this in my distant future; look up Sesame Street for
details. My brother, sister, and younger
cousins don’t actually sit around debating things like that; but I’m sure that
you get what I meant.
Speaking of second anniversaries, today is
the two-year dating anniversary for Michael and me, and while that was
mentioned to us a few times; we are not celebrating the occasion with gifts or
anything else. Yes, the wedding was our
first official date, but we were an unofficial couple before that; and I also
don’t want our little milestone to get in the way of Aunt Grace and Uncle Mark’s
big day.
Aunt Leanne kept joking about giving them a
new cousin for their anniversary, and she wouldn’t have had a problem with her
baby sharing a birthday with their anniversary; but that still didn’t happen.
It would have been a great story if it had;
but maybe my cousin wants to have her own special day.
The kids were generally uninterested in the
anniversary celebration part of our lunch break, though they did love the cake
and ice cream dessert; and some of Uncle Mark’s cousins wanted to help out with
opening gifts until they found out that they were only given ‘boring stuff’
instead of toys or games. Michael and I,
and most of the teens and collegians, had to jump in by then and help out with
keeping the kids entertained again while the adults enjoyed an extended break
and chat time; and we continued to play with the kids pretty much until their
parents collected them to either leave for other local destinations or load
them into vehicles for the long trips home.
Michael and I took a break from the play
time when it was time for my Proctor and Rice family cousins to head out, but
it was getting very cloudy by then; rain was heading our way fast; and the
parents and grandparents wanted to get on the road as soon as possible so the
goodbyes didn’t take long. I spent most
of that time saying goodbye to Dawn, Jaimie, and Kaitlyn; Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi,
and Aiden did the same with Jayden; and then we wrapped that up with hugs and
kisses for our aunts, uncles, and grandparents before the four vehicles were
away and soon out of sight – heading for Woodvale or Granite Park with Chris,
Martin, and Dawn in the pace car for the mini, temporary caravan.
Michael needed to head over to the Inn
after that, but Mom, Dad, the twins, and their friends went back over to Aunt
Leanne’s house with me so that we could continue to help out there while the
Johnson and McEwan families also finished getting ready to leave and began
heading out. It was another hour before
our last weekend guests were away and on the road for home. By then, the back yards for both the
Carrington and Everett houses were cleaned up; and it was time to split up and
head to our own homes before the rain really started coming down for a while.
We were all really glad about getting most
of the fun and work out of the way before that happened; but the timing of the
rain wasn’t good for everyone in town. The campgrounds were full all week with
families on holiday; the rain drowned out campfire dinner plans; and that meant
that the Inn was full for dinner with all of the campers that chose dining out
as their back-up plan. That was both
good and bad for Jacob and Miranda. They
loved the extra business; but it made for a crazy night in the kitchen and
dining room as they tried to keep up with the workload with a normal Monday
night staffing plus the couple of call-ins they were able to add to the crew on
short notice.
I wasn’t one of those call-ins, but I did
go over to the Inn for a visit before dinner; and ended up staying to help out
through until close while skipping the leftovers, easy-meal at home. Dad had work to do in the office anyway, and
there weren’t any family plans for the evening; so I didn’t miss much and was
glad to help out – and spend that time with Michael.
The alone time with Michael in the lounge
after we were finished at the Inn was definitely a highlight of the day for
both of us; though we also spent some time with Ethan and Ehlana and eventually
took care of tucking them in for the night before we were able to have that
break from everything else. We were also
really tempted to have another sofa sleepover; but managed to settle for an
hour or so of fairly hot play time for two and a follow-up cuddle time before
Michael headed home for the night at the same time that Mom and Dad were
wrapping up their work in the office and ready to head for bed too.
That pretty much covers the main news for
the day. I took care of some family
business work while doing my nightly computer and email checks after getting
changed and into bed with Mandy. That
took more than an hour to do; but at least I won’t have to deal with it in the
morning. I’ll be busy enough tomorrow
with more kid control duty. My cousins
are either back home or will be back to normal weekday life here while their
parents are back to work; but I’ll be helping out with Uncle Mark’s nieces and
nephews as much as needed for the rest of the week while they’re here. That won’t be as tough with just the five of
them compared to having the entire gang of kids here on the weekend; but then I
won’t have quite as much teen support either – at least on the days that
Michael, Tim, and Rowen are working their part-time jobs.
I’ll likely get to play with all three of
my best friends tomorrow, though, and they’ll help out with the kids, but it’s
still going to be a very busy day; so I should wrap this up and get started on
my nap time to be ready for all of that family and friends action.
Until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
