It’s been a long, fun day, and I didn’t get
much sleep last night; so let’s get right to the news – starting from the end
of my last update.
While we still had some very hot weather to
deal with, that was a lot easier to take out at Quarry Lake; where jumping into
the lake to cool off was an option whenever we needed to do that. Michael and I were among the first to get to
the campground, so we had our tent set up before most of our friends even got
there too. We helped Rowen and Tim with
setting up their tent too once they caught up with us; and then it was time to
play for a few hours. The four of us did
most of that together – and with different groups of our friends; and the
highlights of the afternoon included climbing the rock wall; rides on the zip
line; and a lot of swimming and play time on the slides.
Most of the afternoon was open to do
whatever we wanted, but Vanessa’s family had an organized social hour before
dinner; and then the meal was at one of the pavilions so that we could do that
together too. Vanessa had fun yesterday
too, and I’m glad that we’re able to get along fairly well now – even as I also
know that Rowen and I are only included in some of these invitations because of
Michael and Tim. Yes, Vanessa and Nora
are happy with their boyfriends, but I am a fairly talented empath; so I know
how they still respectively feel about Michael and Tim. We did all have a good day, though, so let’s
not go there; and it isn’t as if Vanessa was the only girl at the lake taking
long, wistful or appreciative looks at my boyfriend!
All of the main birthday fun happened
around dinner, and then we were free to play again until dusk. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I rented bikes and
rode the new trails for an hour or so; swam to cool off and get reasonably
clean again; and then headed back to our campsite where we all gathered for a
campfire. That was an amazing blast of
semi-quiet fun, with the highlights for me being the cuddle time with Michael
and the music that we led – including a couple of duets. One of those duets was a request from Paul
Sparks for Vanessa, and while that was a bit strange for me; Vanessa genuinely
loved hearing our version of one of her favorite songs – though I suppose that
dancing with Paul and the kisses they shared while we sang might have had
something to do with what I sensed from her too. ;^)
Moving along, the music was only part of
the campfire entertainment. There were
scary stories; a lot of chat time; and some games around the campfire and
campground. Michael and I went for a
walk that included a loop around the lake; enjoyed some toasted snacks; and
stayed up playing and having fun with our friends until way too late. When we did eventually make it to our tent –
after splitting up for washroom breaks and to get changed; the quiet make-out
time for two was worth the trade-off for the lack of sleep – especially when I
might have cheated a bit and wrapped up our private play time with a bit of
fatigue healing for two under the protection of very carefully constructed
shields to make sure nobody else around us would notice.
We did have a short nap before waking up
and getting ready for Tai Chi by the lake; and that was again very entertaining
for us because we had an audience watching the show – including a few of our
friends. Breakfast was all easy foods –
including some Olde Bakery options, cereal, fruit, and Pop Tarts. In case I haven’t mentioned it lately, having
a gang of teen boys for any meal can be scary; and that’s particularly true at
breakfast – even though snacks had been available until two or three in the morning. That was just part of the fun, though; and at
least our boys are mostly over the tween phase where they needed to have the
eating contests too.
After having breakfast, it was time to pack
up our campsite; and then most of our friends and the camping chaperones headed
home again. That didn’t include Michael,
Tim, Rowen, and me because we got to stay and play for most of the day! For most of the morning, that was just the
four of us. We went biking again;
climbed the rock wall, and rode the zip line before heading for the lake to
swim and play there for the rest of the morning. Mom, Aunt Leanne, and Aunt Grace brought all
of their kids out to the lake in time for lunch; along with Naomi, Aiden, and
some other kids and Moms so that they could all take a break for the
afternoon. A few Dads were allowed to
come too; but that was mostly for driver support – and Dad didn’t get to be one
of those guys because he and Claire were stuck at the office all day.
While that addition to the fun plans hadn’t
been made until last night and this morning; it was a great way to spend the
afternoon – and I especially loved playing with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, Aiden,
and my younger cousins – and Michael’s; since Jessica, Ryan, and Sophia were
brought out for the afternoon too. For
the record, Patrick was there too; and yes, he and Jessica are still a
couple. Michael and I spent some time
with them too, but that was usually while we were all around the younger kids;
and they did more with Rowen and Tim when they wanted to do things that the
younger kids couldn’t while Michael and I stayed to help with the younger kids.
I’m due for a baby update for Aunt Grace;
and I can start that by reporting that she wishes that her due date wasn’t
still more than a month away! While it
was hot out, and she had to be careful; the swim time helped out with the lower
back pain; and an afternoon off from work helped a lot too. Aunt Grace and the baby are both doing just
fine from a health perspective, and while she complains about being too fat and
ugly; I think that she’s as beautiful as the rest of my favorite Moms were
during their pregnancies.
We played at Quarry Lake until around four
o’clock; packed up; and headed home. A
family and friends dinner was organized, and that included Michael’s family and
the Bassetts, Seagers, and Drapers; but Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I needed to
eat and run because we had to be at the school for a band meeting and
practice. The meeting was for
fundraising – including getting ready for the fruit and vegetable boxes orders
that would be arriving on Friday; and the practice was to start getting ready
for football season. I know, we’re just
coming up on half-way through the summer, but football season starts early
again this year; so we don’t have all that long to get ready for the first
game.
That practice was fun, and while we mostly
just worked on new music – including the songs we’d be playing at Disney; we
also did a bit of marching that was a bit more challenging than just walking a
parade route. As I’ve mentioned before,
we are not going to be working up any Super Bowl-worthy drills; but we also won’t
just stand there at mid-field and play a few songs either. Stay tuned for more on that when we get
closer to our first game of the year.
The marching band practice wasn’t the only
practice of the day for some of us – including Michael and me. We had to move on from the school to the church
for our teen praise team practice. We
have a bit more time to get ready for the Labor Day weekend service, but Stacey
wanted us to get the music and start learning it now; and we worked for about
an hour tonight before she set us free and Michael and I could head home – to our
respective homes. While I needed to come
home and get to work on my bedtime computing, Michael was okay with a
comparatively-early night too because he’s working the breakfast shift at the
Inn in the morning. It was still after
nine by the time I was in the house after saying goodnight to Michael on his
front porch; but I had a lot of work to get done tonight.
Fortunately for Dad, I also didn’t want to
stay up late, so I got my computer, went into the office with him – and with
Mom – and got to work using a time phase.
Ethan and Ehlana aren’t home tonight – they’re hanging out with Naomi
and Aiden at Naomi’s house for the night.
Violet and Dillon are here; but they were out with Jake, Stephanie, and
some other friends while we worked in the office. The time phase I put around the room allowed
us to get all of our work finished – and then some – by a bit before eleven o’clock. We all headed for bed after that; I was in
need of some Jacuzzi time after that; and time phased my tub time too so that I
could still be in bed before eleven-thirty.
All of that extra work and use of Magi
power has worn me out, but I’ll be sleeping before midnight once I wrap this up;
so it was worth the effort. We’ll be
back to work again tomorrow, and Michael will be busy through the weekend; but
we’ll try to have a bit of fun here and there around the work – even if it won’t
likely be co-ed camping and Quarry Lake kind of fun. That is all of the news for today, though,
and I really am looking forward to some solid, consecutive hours of nap time
now; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
