Ethan:
Black Friday isn’t the same for guys as it
is for girls around here, but it is a play day for everyone that isn’t stuck
working instead; and I’ve had a lot of fun again today. Tai Chi by the river was followed by the
breakfast buffet at the Inn; and then we split up for the shopping so that the
girls could have their kind of dress-up fun while the guys checked out the fun
stores – like the Fix-it Shop and computer store. Our kind of shopping didn’t take as long as
it did for the girls; so we had some snacks at the Olde Bakery and play time
once we got bored with the shopping. We
had lunch at home, and while most of the girls went out for even more shopping;
we had play time at the park. For the
older guys, that included the annual football games; Jayden, Aiden, and I
watched some of that action, but kept Zack and the younger cousins entertained
at the playground too; and then we headed for Zack’s home for some
late-afternoon video gaming when it was time for the parents to do some work
ahead of smaller family dinners at multiple houses.
We only had our Rice family guests for
dinner at our house; I moved on to more gaming with the guys while some of the
girls had movie time at our house.
Jayden came home with me after we wrapped up the gaming early due to
parental exhaustion and bribes to get us to go to our respective homes; and we
didn’t do much more gaming on our portables before Jayden crashed into nap
mode. I’m only doing this update and
then I’ll be heading off to sleep too; since we have a busy day booked for
tomorrow too – including the annual Ridge River Ranch family and friends trail
ride.
There was some work to go along with all of
the play time, but we – the kids – got to have a lot of fun packed into our
second day of the holiday weekend, and I’m sure that trend will continue for
our last full play day before we’ll have to deal with our family guests heading
home on Sunday.
I’m not going to think about that now,
since Cassie and Michael will be leaving again too, and that’s all I have for
this report anyway; so I’m done.
Ethan – out!
***
Ehlana:
We – the girls – definitely had more fun
with the shopping; I loved playing dress-up with most of my favorite Moms,
teens, cousins, and friends; and this is a great chance to pick up clothes for
winter and the Christmas holidays – which we all did thanks to all of the
sales. The breakfast buffet at the Inn
was great too; lunch at home was a nice break between the shopping parts of our
day; and then we had fun at the park too – whether that was watching football
or playing there with the rest of the kids and teens. I liked having the quieter dinner at home and
the girl chat and movie time in the lounge that was also quieter because we
didn’t have everyone there this time while Cassie, May, Dawn, and about half of
the other girls in the family were elsewhere.
I don’t have extra cuddle buddies or guests tonight as I’m writing this,
and Cassie, May, Dawn, Martin, and Kimberly are still out at the Inn or
visiting with Violet and Dillon.
We haven’t been able to spend much time
with Cassie and Michael today – though I guess that the girls collectively
shared Cassie during the shopping when we could do that. Michael’s been busy with his family all day
as host while his parents, brother, and sister have been busy at the Inn or
pizzeria; and Cassie has helped him out this afternoon and evening. They had dinner with his family at the Inn,
but then we’ve heard since then that they surprised Miranda and Jacob with an
offer to work at the Inn until close after that while sending his parents home
and then they’re closing for Jake and Stephanie so that they can leave early –
already have left by now. May was with
them for dinner and stayed at the Inn too even though she couldn’t work there
too; but she went on to Violet and Dillon’s to hang out with Dawn and everyone
else there whenever Jake and Stephanie were able to get out of there after
filling the final food orders of the night.
They may be having more fun – and I’m
including Cassie in that, since she’ll be happy to spend that time with Michael
and her friends at the Inn; but I’m good with the comparative quiet and am
tired after such a busy day. That is the
news of the day, though, so sleeping now is an option that I’m going to choose
starting right now.
This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live
from what is now my past!
