My top news story of the day is a surprise
family trip to the pumpkin patch this afternoon that our parents and some
grandparents put together for us. The ‘us’
part of that was all of the home town cousins and a few of our friends. The surprise was sprung on Ethan, Ehlana, and
I this morning; so my morning started out great too – especially when we also
had a lovely morning for Tai Chi by the river; and I had breakfast with Michael
and his family. I’m pretty sure that the
only way my morning could have started better would have been if I’d woken up
cuddled with Michael after a sofa sleepover; so I’m sure that you can guess
that I was fired up all day even though I haven’t had a lot of sleep this
weekend.
The church service and Sunday school was
fun too, if not on the same level as our afternoon adventure; and our teen time
included getting ready for our next teen-led service next weekend. We’re not doing everything for the fall
festival service; but we will be doing a lot of the music, a skit, and all of
the bible readings next Sunday. Spending
that time with Michael was great too, and while I would have loved it if he
could have come with us to the pumpkin patch, he had to help out at the Inn for
lunch; so I walked with him there and had to settle for leaving him with a
consolation hug and kisses before coming home and getting on with the rest of
my day.
We didn’t get together for a big family
lunch, but we did start meeting up at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house in
time to hit the road for the pumpkin patch by one o’clock. Grandparent support was required because we
had more kids than available seating in the cars, minivans, and truck that the
parents were driving. Michael couldn’t
come, but Rowen and Tim could; and the three of us were all drafted to help out
with the younger kids. I was good with
that, since I also got to spend lots of time with Brianna, Leah, Ehlana, Naomi,
and the other girls. There was quite the
little convoy heading out of town when we left; and that felt a lot like our
shopping trips to the city – or the trips we’ve done to the Christmas tree
farm. The drive time was short-enough
that none of the younger kids had time to get fussy, and that was good for me
too; since I was with Brianna, Zack, and Eli in Uncle Adam’s minivan.
The temperature was into the eighties by
the time we arrived, and while it might be fun to have fall weather for a visit
to a pumpkin patch and farm; I can assure you that it’s nice to be able to
enjoy all of that fun wearing tees and sunglasses instead of sweaters and
windbreakers or winter coats. The
pumpkin patch is apparently becoming very popular, so it was very busy there;
and they’ve added some entertainment options too. We started out our fun with a pumpkin-picking
hay ride; and our group pretty much filled one wagon. Our guide and tractor driver was, according
to him, the youngest guide that the farm owners allowed to drive one of their
tractors. The bad news for us was that
it also meant we were being pulled by the oldest tractor; and that the brakes only
sometimes worked to stop at the bottom of hills. The good news was supposedly that, one way or
the other; we’d have the fastest, thrill-ride-worthy hayride available on the
farm. The commentary was fun, and so was
the ride; but it was definitely not thrill-ride scary or exciting.
Picking out our own pumpkins was quite an
adventure too, and we had quite a few highlights from that part of the hayride. Pictures of Brianna and some of the other
younger kids ‘riding’ giant pumpkins was one of those fun moments, and while
picking out the pumpkins was fun; the guys weren’t as thrilled with having to
haul the bigger ones out to Dad’s truck after the ride. The parents probably found the cost of those
pumpkins a bit shocking too; though we did get a bulk deal on all of the
toddler-sized pumpkins that we picked for each of the younger kids – and for
some of the teens too. Ehlana and Naomi
insisted that I needed a pumpkin to carve and put in the lounge for Halloween,
and while Rowen and Tim didn’t need to do that for their rooms; they did each
pick up larger pumpkins for their homes – one for Tim and two for Rowen and
Patrick.
After the hayride, we had some more play
time doing a corn maze; the haunted house in one of the barns; and playing in
and on a fort that was made of straw bales.
The kids had a blast with all of that; and the haunted house had several
‘scare’ levels so that it could be toddler-friendly when needed or teen-rated
terrifying for the older customers.
Just for the record, my grandfather does
not really scream like a little girl! ;^)
When we were finished playing, and most of
the youngest cousins were pretty much ready for some quality nap time; we
wrapped up our adventure with a stop at the little store where we picked up
some fruit, treats, and jugs of apple cider before loading up and heading
home. I’m sure that it’s possible to go
there and have fun on a budget, but I left more than fifty dollars behind when
we left; and I don’t even want to guess how much some of the parents spent
today by the time they bought all of the tickets, pumpkins, and treats. We did have an amazing afternoon with our
family and friends, though; so let’s just not worry about putting a price on
that anyway.
By the time we got home again and had
everything unloaded and put away; it was time for me to grab a shower and get
ready to go over to the Inn to help with the dinner buffet shift. I didn’t get there early-enough to help with
the prep work for the first buffet, but I was there in time to jump in and get
everything ready for the first wave of food that hit the buffet tables shortly
before five o’clock. From there, it was
non-stop action; with just one break after the second buffet was taken out to
the dining room when Michael and I stopped long enough to eat a quick dinner
and get some fresh air before getting back to the cleaning that we both helped
with through until close tonight.
I was part of the work entertainment today
with my pumpkin patch stories, and while that was fun; it was spending that
time with Michael and his family that I loved the most – even if all of that
work was exhausting too after a play afternoon that had included a lot of
walking around and keeping up with a gang of toddlers. My day was far from over once I got home; and
my studying and work began with my Magi lesson with Mom. That Magi play time included an extended
practice with a handful of advanced transmutations. That was fun, but added to the tired I was
already feeling by then; and I hadn’t even gotten to the main part of my work
and study time yet. I still helped out
with getting Ethan and Ehlana off to bed before coming up to my room and
starting in on all of that computing; but I’m glad that I spent that time with
my brother and sister. We all have a lot
on the go this week; and I probably won’t get to spend nearly as much time with
them as I’d like – including during the fall festival.
It was past-midnight by the time I was in
bed and got to work on my computer; and it’s taken more than three hours to get
everything finished for the night.
Sometimes that seems crazy to me, so it likely sounds nuts to anyone
reading this in the future; but everything I’m doing is either important right
now or will be important for my future; so my workload isn’t likely to change
much anytime soon. I’m heading past
exhausted toward unconscious, but before I go there; let’s cover a bit more
news from tonight and look ahead at the next week.
On the email and college student front; I
had some updates from my favorite collegians today. Starting with Jake and Stephanie; they are
having such an amazing adventure in Europe that I wish that Michael and I were
there too. Jake may be the hottest young
fish in our little pond here at home, but he’s also apparently very, very
popular with everyone they’re becoming friends with; and Stephanie was joking
about needing to stay close to him with all of the beautiful young women that
are interested in hanging around with him – and don’t seem to care that he’s
married. She didn’t mention much about
any issues she might be having with amorous guys, but I can read between the
lines; and can guess that she’s quite popular too. They are hanging out with other young couples
when they’re not busy with school or chef training, though; and they’re getting
to have some really amazing adventures when they do have time off together.
Violet and Dillon, and Christina and Josiah
aren’t having as much fun or enjoying exotic adventures overseas, but they are
doing great; and they had a fun weekend after writing their mid-terms over the
past week. I should have mentioned that
before now in my journals, but there’s always news going on around our extended
family that I don’t keep up with here; and that’s just another example. I can also report that living off-campus is
going great for them, and while we haven’t written about it at all; I’m sure
that it’s so much better for them now that I’m seriously looking at ways to
live off-campus starting in my freshman year – and not only because that would
be way more fun from a Michael and me perspective! I have to think about how I can keep up with
everything I’ll need to keep doing while at college; and using my Magi gifts
while living in a dormitory won’t work out very well. Not using my talents would make keeping up
with all of my work nearly impossible; so I’d better get on that problem soon.
Yeah, I know that I’m only in Grade Ten,
and we’re talking about something that won’t happen for more than two and a
half years yet; but I like to plan ahead!
That’s something to deal with another day
when I’m not ready to drop; so let’s wrap this up.
We’ll be starting the week out with Zack’s
second birthday tomorrow, and since I hear he’ll be having a little gang of
guys over for the party along with our family guests; I’m going to try to get
put on kid control for the girls.
Watching Brianna will be more fun that keeping up with Zack, Eli, and
their little buddies. I wouldn’t say
they’re terrible, but they can be little terrors when in packs! ;^)
The other highlights of the week will be
the football game, the fall festival that includes the teen dance on Friday
that we’ll hopefully catch the end of after the game; and Aunt Leanne’s
birthday. Somewhere, around all of that
fun, I’ll need to get all of my work done; keep up with the regular practices
and school work; and help out at the Inn as much as possible too because this
will be a very busy weekend for them. I
foresee another week filled with long days and late work nights.
There is also going to be a lot of fun too,
and I need to get what sleep I can to be ready for that; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
