This has been quite the day!
We skipped Tai Chi by the river and got our
exercise through the mall-walking and shopping instead. Getting ready for that was our first job of
the day; and then we headed for the Inn and the pre-trip buffet breakfast. Michael was working the early shift, but not
because he was coming along – he was booked for the day at the Inn while
Rebecca and most of the teen girls went along with us instead.
The food, family, and friends time was
great, but it was over too soon; and then we were loading up and hitting the
road for Crystal Springs. Mom had a full
van load, so I went with Rowen and her mother.
I won’t bore you with the full list; but we had quite a turnout for the
trip; and the town and Ridge River area was missing a notable percentage of the
population for most of the day. We didn’t
have a lot of boys on the trip, but Ethan and Aiden were two of them; and Rowen
and I spent a lot of time with the younger kids in our shopping group while we
played dress-up and picked out our summer clothes.
This trip was a bit different because Mom
had to be back home in time for her ballgame; so our group needed to speed up
our schedule a bit to get everything done; and Mom and Aunt Leanne had extra
volunteers to make sure that the late groups had everyone accounted for before
leaving the city when we were among the first groups to head for home. We shopped at the Mall until one o’clock; had
lunch in the food court; and then headed over to Wal-Mart for the supply shopping
and the rest of our usual trip to the city purchases – like some of the gifts
for upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, and other events. Though we hadn’t had lunch all that long ago
by the time we were ready to hit the highway for home, we still picked up fast
food to go; and ate that lighter meal on the way back.
The annual sale in town was still on, so
doing some more shopping was an option for some of us – and one that Rowen and
I took with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden along for the fun. Yes, we missed part of the game, but then Dad
missed the entire thing because he got held up in the city with work; so we’ll
only be taking part of the blame for the loss.
That doesn’t seem fair, since our team had the lead when we arrived and
began cheering for them, but I’m okay with that; since Dad shouldn’t get all of
the blame either.
Do you ever notice that lawyers get a raw
deal when it comes to jokes? Dad gets
the lawyer jokes even when it’s just being teased about keeping him around
simply because he’s the only lawyer we have; yet is also apparently vital to
the success of his ball team if he doesn’t make it home in time for a
game. That just doesn’t seem fair at
all! ;^)
Let’s not dwell on that loss, but for the
record, Rowen, Ehlana, Naomi, and I got some great deals at Palmer’s and Taylor’s
while we were having fun shopping instead.
Oh wait, I meant to report that the Ridge River Raiders won a pretty
good game by a score of twelve-to-eight; with the win mostly thanks to a
three-run homer in the sixth that gave the Raiders some padding on what had
been a narrow lead at the time – and a lead that had switched hands twice
during the game.
Michael had been given some time off during
the day, but worked until close tonight; so I didn’t see him until he came over
after helping Jake and Stephanie to close the Inn for the night. He has to work the breakfast shift again, so
he didn’t stay long; but we had fun for the hour or so we did spend
together. That included the story
exchange; tucking Ethan, Ehlana, and Silkie into bed for the night; and a bit
of cuddle time in the lounge.
By the way, our trip today included the
first of going away while having a puppy to be cared for while we were
gone. Grandma and Grandpa took care of
Silkie today; and she apparently has them wrapped around her little paw
already. For her part, Many finds that
amusing; since cats are obviously superior – and self-sufficient enough to
handle a day or two without their family around to wait on them hand and
foot. I won’t jump in on that debate;
and will just be happy to love both of our family pets!
Michael went home at eleven-thirty; I’ve
been doing this and the rest of my computing in a time phase; and will still
manage to be sleeping by midnight. That’s
better than staying up half the night, but the time phase is pushing my limits
a bit thanks to a very long, fun, and busy day; so it’s time to wrap this up
and get to the nap time.
The holiday weekend chores day ahead of us
isn’t likely going to be a whole lot of fun, but I’ll try to make the best of
it; and hope for a bit of fun tomorrow night once Michael and I are both done
work for the day – which in my case will be the dinner shift at the Inn while
he’s busy with his ballgame. Okay, it’s
time to not think about that while going off to sleep; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
