I’m back; and more awake than I was last
night while doing my nightly computing.
Yes, I do know that getting to here from there is just a flip of a
digital page for you in my future, and those micro-updates aren’t really
required; but it’s just the way I am – and those little non-reports do at least
explain what would otherwise just be gaps in my journal timeline.
With that said, I’ll move backward into
that timeline; and begin with the news from yesterday.
My morning was really, really busy; but
started out wonderfully with Tai Chi by the river for ten. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne surprised us by
coming over too, and we had Brianna to thank for that because she’d woken early
for her first morning feeding; and Aunt Leanne decided to stay up and exercise
with us instead of getting a bit more nap time.
Zack and Brianna weren’t our only spectators this morning, and that
worked out for us too; since Emma and Kylie were happy to entertain my cousins
while we were busy.
Breakfast was a crazy rush, and a bit
busier than I’d expected because Dad and Aunt Leanne decided to go with more of
a breakfast meal than we’d originally planned.
They were the primary cooks too; and whipped up heaps of pancakes and
sausages for everyone except Brianna. My
youngest cousin was happy to get passed around and entertained while we all
worked, got ready for the day, or were sitting down to eat; and Aunt Leanne was
happy with that knowing that Brianna would need a nice long morning nap after
all of the excitement. We – the campers,
Zack, and Brianna – ate out on the back porch while the parents were in the
kitchen. That worked because we ate in
smaller groups as the waves of food were ready and while we were taking turns
using the bathrooms and helping out with the work in the kitchen or at our
overnight campground. We had a lot of
fun with all of the busy-crazy action; and had the camp torn down, everything
put away, and the kitchen cleaned by the time we either needed to leave for
work or other activities – like the football workout in the park.
Lucas had been really happy about being
able to do a third workout with Michael and Tim, but all three boys were a bit
disappointed when they had a smaller-than-usual turnout. That wasn’t all bad for them, because Rowen,
Rebecca, Emma, Kylie, and I cheered them up again by helping out with some of
the training. Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and
Aiden added a bit of fun too; though their contributions were in added
entertainment instead of training help.
Then again, I guess they did help out with one of the drills. Tim had them carried for part of one of the
running drills in a fun little relay that kept the four younger kids giggling –
and running too; since part of the exercise included needing to catch them
first.
The fun in my day was toned down quite a
bit after the football action, and while my friends all headed off to work or
other plans; I came home and got to work on my weekend chores. Rain was in the forecast for Saturday, so I
at least wanted to get the lawn mowed and the gardens weeded in case our
outdoor chores did get rained out. It
was hot out, so I included a couple of swim breaks when needed to cool off; but
kept them short since it would have been easy to get distracted from the work
that I wasn’t terribly motivated to do.
I had lunch on the fly too; and downed a sandwich and some cold veggies
while switching from lawn mowing to gardening.
I wrapped up my work when Michael came over
to hang out with me on his afternoon break; and we spent a couple of hours
playing with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden.
We went for a swim first, since I was ready to cool off and wash off the
parts of the garden that were stuck to me; we followed that up with an hour of
playground fun at the park; stopped at the Emporium for ice cream treats; and
then wrapped up Michael’s break with another swim before he needed to get back
to the Inn. We had lots of company coming
over for a dinner and baseball night; so I helped Mom out with getting the side
dishes ready for that meal; with the potato salad being the most time-consuming
part of that job. We had bonus help and
entertainment join in for the kitchen fun as we went along. Aunt Leanne was first; and the other Moms
joined us as they either finished work or finished up with other afternoon
activities.
While we put some effort into the salads,
the meal needed to be quick and easy so that the baseball playing members of
our family could get to the park in time for the pre-game warm-ups; so Dad,
Uncle Nick, Philip, and some of the other guys only needed to grill burgers and
hot dogs to go along with the salads and other veggie and snack options. I was on kid control during dinner; and had
all of the toddlers and pre-schoolers with me by the river as we sat on the
benches or dock to have our meal. That
was fun – and tiring! I managed to eat a
hot dog and the salads I’d filled my plate with, but spent most of that time
running around after the kids and trying to get all of them to eat.
That running around after the kids became a
trend for the rest of the night. I got
out of the kitchen clean-up, but that would have been easier than keeping up
with my gang of kids at the park playground.
We walked over there after dinner, and while I had a bit of parent
support at first; they needed to move on once it was time for the game
warm-ups. The only way I managed to keep
up after that was thanks to the help that some of the older kids at the
playground offered. Rowen and Tim came
over shortly after the game started, and they helped me after that – mostly because
we needed to watch one group at the playground; one at the game; and at least
one or two kids at any given time that wanted to go for a swim in the river.
The baseball players didn’t get as much
exercise as we did!
Speaking of the game, Our Eagles played the
Hawks last night. We were the away team;
and it was a fairly wild match with a final score of twenty-three to
nineteen. The Eagles won, and they had
an even larger lead going into the bottom of the seventh, but since both teams
had high-scoring innings; it could have gone either way right up to the end. I missed more than half of the game while
busy with the hyper-active kids; and that also meant that our cheerleading
squad was missing most of the time too except for at the beginning and end of
the game. The win has almost-certainly earned
the Eagles one of the championship game spots; though there is still a very
slim chance that they could lose out in the event of a tie-breaker. I don’t think that’ll happen; so I’ll predict
that we’re going to have a very busy holiday weekend with lots of baseball to
go along with the rest of the family fun.
Having fun was the name of the game for the
kids after the game – and it was my job to make that happen for them. Rowen and Tim came home with us to help me
with that; and they were officially hired to babysit with me – and with
Michael; once he was finished work at the Inn.
While Mom and Dad got ready to go out with their friends and team mates
to Sheldon’s; we started that fun time out with a long swim in the river that
Michael joined us for after being set free from the Inn a bit earlier than he’d
expected. We only have three sleepover
guests here tonight, but after the swim; we got most of the kids ready for bed
before moving up to my room and the lounge for the rest of the evening. Mom and Dad were already having fun at the
pub by then; and the kids were still fired up and ready to party. Even Brianna was awake and happy to hang out
with us after having her feeding right before Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam
dropped her off with us on their way to the pub; so Rowen and I needed to keep
up with the other kids while tag-teaming holding Brianna and keeping her
entertained.
The boys had wanted to play video games, so
they did that first while Rowen and I played with the girls. We had a music time in my room; half of the
guys deserted Tim to join us for a game of hide-and-seek; we played with toys;
and then settled into the lounge at eleven o’clock to watch a movie that half
of the kids didn’t manage to stay awake to watch to the end. The lounge was a bit of a mess by then, and
there were pillows and blankets covering the floor between the sectional sofa
and the television; with kids sprawled out on them while watching the show or
sleeping.
If you’re wondering whether Naomi was
spending some quality time cuddling with my brother; the answer to that is a
resounding yes. Ryan and Tim teased him
about it; but Ethan really doesn’t care about his reputation yet; and I don’t
think that he’d be able to deny Naomi anything even if he did care. Michael probably wishes I was more like him –
and Naomi – when I first met him! ;^)
I’d like to say that we – the babysitters –
were able to take a break after that, but we didn’t. Michael and I cuddled with Brianna most of
that time, but Rowen and I were also kept busy with moving sleeping kids to
guest bedrooms; helping out when needed for washroom breaks; diaper changes; or
getting drinks and snacks for everyone.
Michael took care of Brianna on his own when I wasn’t with him, and if
she didn’t already have my boyfriend wrapped around her little finger before
then; Brianna had his heart by the end of the night. It’s a good thing that I know he loves me
too; or I’d be jealous!
As I mentioned before, we only have three
guests staying the night. Aiden, Naomi,
and Sophia are here with Ethan and Ehlana; but all of the other kids – and Michael,
Tim, and Rowen – headed home once the parents were finished playing at the pub. Mom was one of the designated drivers, so she
needed to do some running around first, but started her driving duties by
dropping off Dad, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne at our house. Aunt Leanne hadn’t been drinking either, but
wasn’t one of the drivers because she needed to nurse Brianna. She was very happy to find out that my
adorable little cousin had only napped a little while she was gone; and she and
Uncle Adam were both hoping that Brianna would be able to skip a feeding and
sleep through until morning. Zack wasn’t
a problem for them; sine Tim and Michael ran him to exhaustion by the time he
fell asleep during the movie.
While the kids were being picked up and
taken home, Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I got to work on the clean-up in the
lounge, my room, and the kitchen. We had
all of that done by the time that Mom got home from her last trip of the night –
a loop out into the country to deliver a handful of farm friends to their
homes. She had help with that because
they also delivered two trucks so that their friends didn’t need to arrange for
retrieving those vehicles in the morning, and while that might sound strange to
some people; it’s just the way things are done here in Witch Falls.
It was late by then, and you already know
from my lack of interest in writing this report last night that I was
exhausted; but we still had a short post-mortem chat with Mom and Dad before
they went up to bed and I went outside with Michael, Tim, and Rowen to see them
off. I should mention that we got paid
then too; though that really isn’t a big deal for any of us. Rowen likes babysitting with me; and Michael
and Tim do it because they love us.
Rowen and Tim left first after a quick round of hugs; and then Michael
and I sat on the front steps and had a little chat before doing our goodnight
hugs and kisses. After watching him walk
home, I came up to my room; got ready for bed; checked my email and wrote that
journal blurb; and then pretty much literally crashed and napped for the rest
of the night.
My Saturday morning was quieter than it was
on Friday; but Naomi, Sophia, and Aiden did still add to the fun and work until
they were picked up by their parents after breakfast. While I’m thinking about Sophia, I mentioned
that Ryan was at our house last night too while his parents joined in for the
fun at the pub, but should have mentioned that we didn’t have Jessica with us
too because she was with Lindsay and Geraldine instead. They’re in that transition stage between
needing babysitters and being able to do the job, but in this case; they’d just
already had other plans for a sleepover before the pub night was officially
booked. While that isn’t really an
important detail; I wanted to mention it because Michael’s cousins are as
important to him as mine are to me; and we really do need to try harder to
spend more time with them – especially when they’re growing up so fast!
The first half of my Saturday wasn’t
exactly fun and exciting – at least during the time between breakfast and
mid-afternoon. Dad was happy that I had
the lawn and gardens work finished; but that didn’t get me out of doing chores
today. We just got to work on other
chores that don’t get done every week – including some maintenance on the
storage barn and around the house. I did
get to spend that time with Dad, though; and we both love getting to do that
when we can. It’s been another scorcher,
so I needed some swim breaks and we both took regular breaks to stay hydrated;
but it was also great to be outdoors and enjoying the weather.
We even enjoyed the thunderstorm that
rolled through about an hour before lunchtime; and we watched the storm as much
as we worked in the storage barn while waiting it out. It didn’t last long; didn’t really get in the
way of our work; and the ground dried up almost immediately – or it seemed as
though it did. We stopped for lunch at
twelve-thirty; went back to work until two-thirty; and then I got cleaned up
and ready to go and watch Michael’s ball game.
Rowen met up with me at my house; we took
Ethan and Ehlana along; and headed for the school. The Arrows were up against the Catapults; and
were there in time to catch the last half of the Arrows’ warm-ups. After the thunderstorm, it just got hotter
out – and more humid. I brought lots of
water with us and some snacks; but we weren’t the only spectators at the game
wishing that we were at the park instead of the school. Swim breaks in the river would have been
really nice. That might have worked out
for the best anyway, since Michael, Tim, and their team mates seemed to be very
motivated to get the game over with in a hurry.
I’m sure that they also wanted to win and ensure their spot in the
championship game; but it still seemed as though all of the boys on both teams
also just wanted to get it over with.
For the Catapults, that was because they weren’t having a particularly
good game.
Our Arrows were the home team, so the
Catapults batted first. They were happy
when they scored two runs; but it was downhill from there for them. The Arrows went on to a blow-out win; and
even the twenty-one to ten final score looked better than it was; since the
Arrows coasted to the end of the game and tried not to make the win even more
lop-sided than it already was by the end of the third inning. Even with all of those runs, it was still a
fairly short game; and that left Michael with enough time for both an Emporium
ice cream break and a swim that he needed to get rid of the ball diamond dust
and dirt before going back to the Inn for the dinner rush.
While he was busy with that, we had a quiet
dinner at home; went for a walk; had a bit of playground time that Mom and Dad
enjoyed as much as the twins and I did; and then we wrapped up our evening with
a swim that Michael joined us for once he was again set free from the Inn for
the night. We followed that up with some
more play time with Ethan and Ehlana in the lounge while Mom and Dad did some
work in the office; we all got together again for the bedtime snack and story
time; and then Michael and I finally had some alone time in the lounge once we
tucked Ethan and Ehlana in for the night.
We took full advantage of that couple of
hours to enjoy a fairly major make-out session while not watching a movie; and
then Michael went home after we wrapped up our day with another short bedtime
chat with Mom and Dad when they were wrapping up their work and heading to bed
at a bit before midnight.
I’ve had some work to do since then, since
I didn’t do any family business work last night and won’t be able to do much
work for the next few nights either.
Getting that done required using a time phase; but it still took time to
get everything done; which is why it’s so late now. It’s also time for me to wrap this up and get
some sleep because I really am going to be busy for the next few days.
The highlight for all of that will be our
fourth-annual amusement park adventure on Monday and Tuesday. I haven’t mentioned that in my journal yet,
but have been looking forward to the trip – even if I haven’t paid much
attention to it with everything else we’ve had on the go. Since we are getting to do that, the busy for
Sunday is going to be another full shift helping out at the Inn. That’s the least I can do to thank Miranda
and Jacob for taking their days off next week and bringing Michael, Rebecca,
and Lucas along for the trip. We aren’t
going to have as many parents with us this year; so it wouldn’t have been
possible to have as many teens along with us without the extra parental
support.
I’ll be able to write more about those
adventures as they happen, and the work at the Inn probably won’t be all that
exciting at all; so I’ll wrap this update up now; and call it a night. It’s been another really great day; I’m
extra-happy thanks to the alone time with Michael; and the fun level is really
going to kick up a notch or six by Monday.
That should all help me out with lots of material to use for happy
dreams, and I’m ready for that visit to dreamland; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
