The campfire last night was really great,
and while we couldn’t have co-ed camping; Dawn and I had fun with our junior
camping buddies – Ehlana, Naomi, and Brianna.
We’re having another camping adventure tonight, which is why I’m writing
this now while getting ready for that; but we’re rotating the campers so that
Jaimie and Kaitlyn are with Ehlana, Naomi, and Brianna while Dawn and I get
Leah, Nicole, and Robyn. We don’t have
as many campers tonight, but that’s mostly because most of the teens wanted to
go home after the dance tonight instead of sleeping on the ground again. I need to get out to the tents, though; so
let’s move this report along so that I can get back to the fun.
The campfire last night was a fairly large
gathering of family, friends, and neighbors, and while I really enjoyed
everything we did; the cuddle time with Michael and two duets we were talked
into singing were the highlights of the night for me. We kept entertained with that until around
twelve-thirty; and then the parents helped out with getting the younger kids
ready for bed and out to the tents for the night before leaving our group of
teens in charge and heading home.
Michael and I were among the teens that stayed up a bit longer to sit by
the river or on the dock and have a bedtime chat with our friends, but then we
split up and headed for our tents; with Dawn coming with me while Rowen may or
may not have ended up in Tim’s tent for the night instead of in a tent with
Rebecca. That might have been convenient
for Rebecca and Lucas too; but I’m going to leave it there instead of thinking
about why Michael and I couldn’t do the same instead of having junior campers
in our tents.
I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night
because I was awake later than I should have been; and then Brianna woke up and
wanted to party for a while with me.
Okay, partying might be a bit of an over-statement, since diaper changes
aren’t usually part of the entertainment at parties and warm milk bottles aren’t
something that they likely serve very often at Sheldon’s; but you know what I
mean. We did have fun, though; so I’m
okay with trading those memories for the sleep I didn’t get before it was time
to wake up and get our Sunday started.
Brianna was awake at sunrise again; so I had her for my bonus Tai Chi
exercise buddy – and we had her parents with us for that too today. That was a really great start to our day, and
the fun kept coming as we also did a lot of work to get everyone fed and ready
for the day before Michael and I needed to be at the park to set up for the
Sunday service – along with more than half of the teens in our camping group.
The action was fast and furious after that;
and I’d need to skip the camping tonight to write about every little detail –
so I won’t do that. We – the teen praise
team; and the rest of the teens helping out with the service – had a really
amazing hour and a quarter of high-energy fun while ministering to a
congregation of more than two thousand at the park. I’ll not-so-humbly add that the duet that
Michael and I sang as part of the music was another highlight for us and for
everyone at the park, but while we were given a lot of compliments for hours
after the service; I’ll also point out that what was important was that the
message in the music – and the skits and the rest of the service – was heard by
our audience. That’s particularly great
for us on a day when we’re not just preaching to the choir.
We didn’t have time to bask in the spotlight
– not that we’d want to do that anyway.
Michael and I helped with packing up after the service; we moved on to
help the parents and grandparents with getting food and drinks for the kids we
were watching during the co-ed championship game; and then I had to get to work
with my cheerleading squad for the sidelines competition we had against Miranda
as we supported ‘our’ team and she led the effort to cheer for the team her
brother was sponsoring this year.
The good news for us is that our team won
the game; but Miranda had the consolation of winning our cheerleading
battle. She managed to ‘steal’ some of
my junior cheerleaders; several dozen of our fans; and worst of all – my boyfriend
to earn that victory. I’m sure that
Michael and I will both enjoy that future day off he’s going to get, but then
he took the ‘bribe’ to make his Mom happy; not because that offer actually
meant anything. Michael doesn’t ask for
many days off other than for football; and his parents would never refuse him a
day off for something important anyway.
While I was getting beat at cheerleading by Miranda; Mom and Dad helped
the Olde Bakery Bandits to the fifteen-to-seven victory over the Ridge River
Raiders. Hannah was very happy about
that, and is glad to have the bragging rights to the co-ed championship title
for her store – a victory that was especially sweet after she lost Hailey to
Miranda’s cheerleading squad when Hailey and Leah were among the junior cheerleaders
that Miranda scooped from me.
While that co-ed game was among the
highlights of the day for me, I didn’t spend much time enjoying the post-game
festivities because Michael and I needed to get to the marching band fundraiser
booth so that we could take a shift working there. This time, in addition to the snacks and
drinks; we were selling the raffle tickets; and we sold a lot of them during
the next five hours or so that we worked – staying there for more than an hour
past our scheduled shift to help out when the dinner rush was busier for us
than expected. That was entirely because
a lot of people picked up their dinner drinks from us even though it meant an
extra stop, and I was glad of that; since every sale means just a little bit more
money raised for our trip. Doing that
work cut down on the play time I had with my family; Michael and I ended up
having dinner on our own when we didn’t get around to that until after nearly
everyone else had eaten except for other volunteers; and then we split the rest
of our evening between our families and teen friends while at the dance.
That was a few hours of music, dancing, and
chat time; we added a bit of playground fun to the mix when we took a turn on
kid control with the younger cousins; and I had to deal with Ehlana, Naomi,
Brianna, and Aunt Leanne all taking turns to cut in on me for dances with
Michael – a group comedic effort to mess with me that added to the
entertainment for everyone.
I am so glad that I could help with that,
but I may need to have a talk with Michael; since he seems to have a problem
with picking other girls over me today – whether that’s his Mom, beautiful
women, or cute, younger girls.
Moving along, the dance began to wrap up at
eleven o’clock; it was heading toward midnight by the time we had everyone home
and our gear mostly put away; and then I was busy getting younger kids ready
for bed and into sleeping bags before coming up to my room to take my turn at
getting ready for bed while some of the other teens are watching the younger
kids and hanging out by the river. I
needed a shower, so I did that first; have dried my hair; and finished getting
ready for bed. I multi-tasked a quick
round of email and computer checks before getting to this update; and I guess
we’ve pretty much covered all of the news for today; so it’s time to wrap up,
get outside, and enjoy another night of camping adventures with my family and
friends.
Monday is going to be mostly work for me
with just a bit of fun here and there, but it’s the last big business day for
the Inn – and most of the stores in town – until the weekend of the fall
festival; and I’ll do my part to make that work for Miranda and Jacob. If I can fit in a bit of shopping and some
more time with my family before they head home, that’ll be great too; but the
work will come first. I can write all
about that tomorrow, though, and it really is time for me to get back outside
now; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
