We had a frosty morning around here, so I
was glad to be at the Inn for the breakfast shift – though it was a chilly walk
to get there; and still cold when I headed home – even though it had warmed up
by then.
The cold brought in the customers looking
for a hot meal – and because farmers needed to do alternate work until it
warmed up a bit anyway. That worked for
me too, since I could stay and help Miranda for a bit longer; and Dad waited
for it to warm up before getting around to the outdoor chores. We did still have work to do, since the fall
clean-up will continue for weeks more thanks to the nice weather lasting longer
than usual. With the high temperature
only reaching the mid-forties today, though; I would have been okay with
another warmer day for doing that yard work – even if the chores are easier
thanks to Dad’s toys – like the attachments for the lawn tractor that let us
vacuum up and mulch the leaves. That
doesn’t help for things like the gardening, though; and we do have a lot of
plants that need to be put to bed for the winter – along with everything else
we do to get the gardens ready for winter.
I’m sure you’re not interested in gardening
tips; and I wasn’t all that interested in the work – but it did keep us busy
until we needed to clean up, have dinner, and then head over to Witch Falls
Road for the Haunted Halloween Walk.
This year, I didn’t sign up to help with
anything so that I could just have fun with Michael and our families. There were still all of the games; musical
entertainment; special food and drinks; and more to help keep everyone entertained
before and after their turn going on the Haunted Halloween Walk; and we got in
on all of that fun too. I met up with
Michael as soon as he was done at the Inn.
They closed up early – as did most of the businesses in town; but they
had considered staying open this year and having Jake and Stephanie run it
while Miranda and Jacob were busy with the walk. They decided not to risk taking any business
away from the food booths, and that was likely a good idea; since it was
cold-enough out that quite a few people might have opted to wait in the dining
rooms instead of wandering the streets.
Ethan and Ehlana met up with Aiden and
Naomi; so we ended up having a fairly large group with parents, siblings, and
some aunts, uncles, and cousins too. We
had a fairly-early time thanks to younger kids getting priority for that; and
we got to have Miranda for our story-teller too! I think she’s the best at that; and I loved
getting another chance to experience the Halloween magic with her as she led us
from the first tragic tale through to the ultimate battle between good and evil
at the falls. There wasn’t much change
from last year, but that doesn’t matter for any of us; and I will never, ever
get tired of this amazing tradition for our humble little town.
Our Halloween fun was far from over after
the walk. We had a bit more play time
with more games; and then we headed home so that we’d be there in time to
welcome all of the kids and junior babysitters that were converging on our
house for the night so that the parents could go out to Sheldon’s for the
Halloween party there. Rowen and Tim
joined us along with Patrick and Jessica; and the kids included all of my
hometown cousins and a bunch of their friends.
Memo to me – in hindsight; dreaming of a
sofa sleepover with some quality alone time with Michael was wishful thinking
at best; and possibly a flat-out delusion caused by lack of sleep! ;^)
That means that I am not writing this
between getting all of those kids to bed and hooking up with Michael for some
teen-rated fun for two. We have had fun
tonight, though; and the kids have kept us busy and entertained. We played spooky games; watched kid-friendly
Halloween shows; and the babysitters in our group have run ourselves ragged
keeping up with all of the action. We
didn’t even have the first kid fall asleep until after eleven; the last group
was put to bed – for the fifth and final time – at one-thirty; and then Michael
and I got to start dealing with other issues – like Faith’s need to wake up and
have some quality cuddle time with us after Zack and Eli woke her up with their
efforts to stay awake and scare their babysitters.
Mom and Dad took on designated driver
duties tonight, so they were late getting home; and Michael and I were the last
babysitters still awake by then – though Faith had fallen asleep again by
then. We put her to bed; had a short
visit with Mom and Dad; and then Michael and I finished the clean-up before
heading for our separate rooms. We have
campers in the lounge, and Mandy has Brianna in my room for a cuddle buddy; so
I’ll need to see about having that alone time with Michael another time.
This update is being done now because I
needed to wind down anyway; and ended up having a bit of work to do along with
my usual bedtime computing and email checks.
I’m keeping the trend for late nights alive, but the Halloween fun has
been great; and I’ll continue to survive the lack of sleep. Brianna and Mandy look very happy right now,
though, and cuddling with them for a few hours is going to be really nice; so I’m
going to get to that right now.
Until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
