School started Tuesday. There was a ton to do, and Henry's family was out of town.
It didn't look like there was much chance of anything social, but the social came to us!
Grandpa's brother, Mike, and his wife, Janet, stayed at their house over the weekend to visit Kim and Ryan (Twas Kim's bday on Saturday! Happy bday!) Instead of driving directly home, they detoured past our farm.
I'm not the only photographer in the extended family.
Uncle Mike took photos of everything. I took photos of him taking photos, so that some Mike & Mike inception for you.
Shane showed off a dead Hercules beetle and blew some minds (I found it weeding the arena).
"Is that really real?" Uncle Mike asked. "You're not pulling one on me? The only time I've seen one that size it had a crank and was made of plastic!"
I wish I could remember exactly the way he said it. He kept shaking his head and muttering, "That's the biggest bug I've ever seen."
Carrie was happy to introduce all the animals to everyone.
Grandma was happy to guide the tour of the barn and property!
Shane was happy to talk while everyone else was talking. He treated that beetle as newly discovered gold.
We ended the visit resting on the porch.
It wasn't as bad as July, but everyone tried to stay under the awning's shade! I took Loki inside to cool down after a while.
Shane wasn't shy about hugs when it was time to go. I was a little surprised when he got them, too! We'd been playing it COVID-cautious for Uncle Mike's and Aunt Janet's comfort level.
We gave Uncle Mike and Aunt Janet one piece of advice for their trip home: "Stop at Moo Thru."
I know they listened, because they posted a picture of it when they got home!
New for the day, was Nick visiting to finish the new stall doors.
Carrie played assistant while I managed horse chores, Loki, and Shane.
We had plans to meet the cousins at 1 PM in Richmond for lunch. Originally, I was going to go to The Point to be closer to the Interstate. I didn't get in from horse chores and random help until 9:15 AM, though. It was a 20 minute drive and the 9:30 AM service wasn't happening. I made Shane bathe and gambled on going to the small local church at 11 AM.
I thought, "[The local church] has gotten out early before. The Point rarely does and we'll be close enough Carrie could meet us or we can drive back for her. It's on the back-road route she likes. She'd have to come to the Point to meet us and I bet she runs late working on the barn, anyway."
I was wrong on multiple levels.
The other interim pastor was the one who we perpetually got out early with. The service ran 22 minutes early. It was a communion Sunday and I didn't want to miss out. I texted Carrie we'd be home in 8 and then the time nearly tripled! A woman stopped me to ask a question as I was trying to herd Shane out and it took a few minutes to politely make our exit.
Meanwhile, there was a bad crash on 20. Nick got the call (He's a volunteer emergency responder). He left to help which meant Carrie was done early on the barn. She was showered, dressed, ready, and waiting by the garage door by noon texting, "Where are you!?"
It's about an hour and ten minutes to Short Pump from where we are. We didn't pull up to the house until 12:27 PM, so we were running late-late. Carrie was upset.
We got in the car and got underway as quickly as I could get us going safely (A ticket or a crash takes more time and costs more cash than anyone should want to risk). I was praying the whole way! We made good time and arrived at 1:35 PM.
Luckily, the cousins were running a little late themselves. They got to the restaurant and walked around for a bit, but we showed up within 10 minutes of them, I think.
We all met at Kabuto Japanese Steakhouse.
The restaurant fits into Carrie and I's personal history. It's where I was introduced to Mom-Mom when we were dating. "He's too short," was Mom-Mom's first impression of me! "And too casual."
I won her over eventually!
We were celebrating Nate's birthday a few days early.
I had a harder time getting pictures of him, because he was on the opposite side of the table! Nate got to hang out between Grandpa and Grandma. At the end of the meal, the hostess brought out a gong and they sang "Happy Birthday!"
Noah, Sophia, and Shane sat on our end.
Shane has been to a teppanyaki grill before, but he didn't seem to remember it well. He kept calling the cuisine "Chinese" food.
"Chinese, Japanese, whatever! They're all the same." he said.
"Not even close kid."
Shane didn't want to admit he was wrong and got some looks when he was corrected.
Noah's look was probably from noticing I had my camera out, though. It fit well with the narrative, though!
The soup was a hit.
Everyone enjoyed the salad, too. Carrie wanted me to get a picture of Shane eating his ("Proof!"), but he was constantly talking to Sophia and I had my own soup to eat (Carrie stole most of the salad!).
The kids all loved it when the chef came out. He started to flip eggs into his hat and juggle utensils.
When he offered to throw rice I volunteered to be the first. Carrie went second and the chef worked around the table.
Carrie caught it, but Shane and I had no luck! I blame the throws!
The chef went around the table: Sophia, Noah, Chris, and Nate all tried. I caught a part of it on video.
There were lots of good smiles going on.
I focused my pictures on the kids on my side of the table. I noticed Rachel had her camera out, so she may have got some good shots from other angles.
The chef offered Shane some special sauce. He was afraid it would be spicy and turned it down! I insisted he'd like it and soon there were more laughs!
The fire was a lot of fun!
Nate got birthday pineapple that he shared around the table. It was a fun family moment. The cousins will be heading up to their new home next Saturday. Chris already started work and was in for a weekend visit before heading back.
Carrie spent the end of the meal talking to Chris and Rachel about Triple R camp. We almost sent Shane last year, but the move affected everything.
It would be fun if Shane and Sophia both got to spend their first overnight camp experience together some. I want Shane to go to a camp for fun and to build independence. Going away for a week was a little scary at the start from what I remember, but I have good memories of being at Camp Highroad with Bill. I eventually worked at a summer camp when I was in high school (more great memories!).
Nate and Shane got squirrelly by the end of the meal. Shane was trying to breakdance/spin-drill while Nate jumped over his legs whenever they came around!
I let it go on for a little bit, but when Shane didn't pay attention to servers trying to walk by it was time to cut it out. It was a good cue for everyone to pop up and make our way to the door (and mints!).
We traded some stuff and said our goodbyes in the parking lot. I may have thrown a pokeball at Sophia.
"I'm going to miss them," Shane said.
He and I both wish that more of our friends lived closer together, but at least people are in driving distance. The Cassano-cousins were all the way in Signapore and Italy, so this is way closer for them!
We hit up Lowe's on the way home and came back to find our power was out. The wreck that Nick had been called away must have hit a power pole. We didn't get power back until 7 PM!
We played some cards by flashlight until then. Shane was upset, because he said he didn't want to play and then when we started without him he changed his mind. Then when he stayed underfoot, chased the dog, and sang in our ears we got annoyed and he couldn't understand why! He did play some with us, but he was ready for some electronics when the power came back on and I had to go out for horse chores.
And so ended our winter break! I was looking forward to Shane going back to school and a little reticent about going back myself. I had enough of a plan that I wasn't going to be swamped from the start, at least.
It can be hard to wait! Especially when you're young!
Grandma, Grandpa, Chris, Rachel, and the cousins all met us at the Tavern for lunch.
I tried to get Shane to play some paper games with Nate like Connect 4 and Boxes. I had to play with him myself. Uncle Chris tried to get the boys to play a Scrabble game on paper, but that wasn't to Shane's interest.
Cell phones did the trick. Uncle Chris had a word game on his.
We headed to the farm after we finished. Sophia drove with us in the truck. Carrie let her sit up front, where she immediately commented her mom would want to clean up the dirt on the dash!
"We live on a farm," I said. "There'd never be time for anything else if all we did was worry about dirt."
I talked from the backseat. I'd been temporarily banished to give Sophia the First the royal treatment! (There's a joke there if you know kid's cartoons!)
Shane was excited to show off his room when all the cousins arrived.
The kids piled in and made themselves at home!
I encouraged the boys to play some Kirby to quiet the racket down some. I was a little worried 10 people and lots of noise would put Carrie over the top.
I needn't have worried. Carrie wasn't even in the house. Heidi had brought a friend over and she was out playing barn manager and socializing.
It let the adults hear each other, at least.
Sophia showed more interest in the animals instead of the video game.
She popped back and forth and could have joined in.
But she checked in on Loki and then went and found Max.
Uncle Chris thought that was a great idea and called in his boys to greet Max, too! They've all met Max and even played with her at our house and at Grandma's.
Carrie was worried Sam and Eddy might be out of hay while Heidi and her friend were walking around, so she sent me to check on things. Rachel wanted to go with and see the barn and the group quickly grew from one to two to everybody not addicted to a video game (aka - Shane and Noah!).
Nate, Sophia, and I scrambled up the hay bales for an impromptu climbing game.
Grandpa and Grandma strolled down at their leisure.
Carrie played group leader for the trip (which she's done before!).
Heidi popped out of the tack room like a local celebrity as we entered the barn. Chris and Rachel's crew have never been anywhere 'rural' before, so the whole experience was new to them.
Sophia and Nate were ready to go back to the house, so I started to walk back with them.....
...and then I detoured everyone to the gator! We went for a joy ride out front while everyone else walked ever so slowly on their own two feet!
There may be pictures out there somewhere. I'll post them if they ever float up to where I can find them.
There was a minor scare when I got back to the house and found the door wide open. A quick check located all the felines and averted a rescue mission.
The big event of the evening was Sophia's first ride. She was a little nervous about whether or not she should do it. Her dad helped her fit her helmet and Carrie provided her with some breeches.
It went well! Carrie was excited and handwalked Sophia on Maddy around the arena a couple of times.
Carrie's hoping to teach Sophia more in the future!
While Carrie was cleaning up, the rest of us went back up to the house. Chris and Rachel were eager to get back on the road, but I brought up cards. Specifically, bridge and spades.
It turned out Chris was a card player! He started to shuffle and bridge rapidly. I asked if he enjoyed cribbage as a Navy man and Grandpa asked Chris, "Did you get a cribbage board thrown at you?"
"Yeah," Chris replied. "I double-skunked my [navy position I forgot] and he said I could keep it."
So we ended up playing an impromptu spades game while we waited for Carrie to come back in.
Meanwhile, the kids were having a party in Shane's room. We'd kicked them off the video games and I saw Shane and Nate hustling Loki into the room ("Poor dog. It'll be good socialization training, at least."). There was a bunch of hooting and hollering, but it all sounded friendly.
The lights were off when we opened the door to check on them. Sophia was shining the spotlight and it looked like the boys were throwing things off the bunk bed.
I didn't even notice Loki trapped up top until after a few moments! I helped them down as the kids chatted rapidfire about the war they'd been waging.
However, it was time to go. Everyone shoed up and we headed back outside.The cousins piled into the car with their parents and grandparents. It was great seeing them.
I don't know when it will happen again. Chris has to report for duty next week. The kids and Rachel will stay and Grandma and Grandpa's until their house is ready. Both Chris and Rachel said it was a long drive with their kids to get to our house from Grandma's and it's a longer trip from their new house (Shane's a terrific car traveler, so I sometimes forget road trips are harder for others).
After a wild afternoon, Shane was ready to put up a bunch of Pokemon wall stickers and hang out with us.
He'd asked me earlier and I said, "Ask mom." Carrie said, "They're for walls," and I breathed a huge sigh of relief!
It's been an excellent holiday week. I have no regrets. We made it to church and made memories with family on both sides of the tree.
