Happy Birthday, Uncle Nick!
Wow, three birthdays in a row, including Valerie’s. As if I didn’t have enough reminders
yesterday, Aunt Deborah had a few too many details for Mom, Aunt Leanne, and
Liz about the birthday weekend away that she’d taken Uncle Nick away for in
Crystal Springs when we all got together at our house for a pre-dinner social
hour before going to the Inn for the late buffet. The news from Michael’s birthday dinner had
reached Aunt Leanne by then too, but I can at least thank Aunt Deborah for
distracting her; and the comments she did have for me were passed along while
we were at home, and not at the Inn.
I’d really like to leave it there and move along. Since it’s the last day of the month, it’d be
even better if we could leave the weird behind us in September too, but that’s
probably too much to ask.
After working yesterday, I had the afternoon off, and Rowen
and I spent part of the time in the lounge practicing the sax and flute; we
took Ethan and Ehlana to the school playground for an hour; and then had a
little snack and chat time in the lounge again while Mom and Dad were
busy. Rowen stayed with us when the rest
of our company came over because her parents were on the guest list for Uncle
Nick’s birthday party. She and I were in
charge of the kids while the rest of our family was having their pre-dinner
fun, and then we had grandparent support at the Inn. It was a bit crowded at our table, but Rowen
and I had fun with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, my grandparents, and Nathaniel and Lydia Ayres.
I haven’t spent much time with Naomi’s grandparents, and
they’re much more reserved than mine, but Naomi has no problem making up for
that with her bouncy enthusiasm; and they absolutely adore their beautiful
little granddaughter. Our grandparents
talked a lot about travelling, and I expect that we’ll be getting a pair of new
charity volunteers sometime in the not too distant future; though it’s a lot
harder for the Ayres to get away from their store and work. Since I have a pretty good idea of what the
next few years will bring them in the grandchildren department, they might want
to think about doing a trip or two sooner than what they were talking about
tonight.
We, the kids, were on the sidelines for most of the birthday
party action, though we all gathered around Uncle Nick’s table when he was
opening his presents with some enthusiastic help from Naomi, and when it was
time for him to attempt to blow out twenty-five candles. Naomi was there to help him out with that
too, and she, Ethan, and Ehlana all really got into eating birthday cake and
ice cream in a very messy way.
Thankfully for me, it was up to the grandparents to clean them up!
Since we’d gone to the late buffet, there was no hurry to
finish and make room for the next sitting.
Miranda and Jacob came and sat with Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah for a
while once the cleanup was in full swing, and when we did finally head out;
there was a long round of goodbye hugs and kisses.
Okay, Aunt Leanne did tease me then that I should go into
the kitchen and give Michael a hug and kiss goodnight too, but she whispered
it, and I’m pretty sure that only Mom, Rowen, and possibly Miranda overheard
her; so it wasn’t completely embarrassing.
That’s about it for tonight.
I helped out with putting Ethan and Ehlana to bed after we got home; had
a long soak in my Jacuzzi; and multi-tasked with my nightly computing. The only news from around the family was an
email from Violet assuring me that she and Dillon had fun while he was there,
but then I already knew that by then after talking with Dillon before dinner
when we got to the Inn. She’s coming
home in two weeks for the Ridge River Fall Festival weekend, so that’s going to
be great too; though she’s not bringing Dawn and Jillian this year.
It’s been a busy weekend, and I’m actually getting tired
now, so it’s time to shut down and get some rest.
Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.
“Goodnight, Cassie.”
