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#Post#: 13693--------------------------------------------------
7 July 2019 - Family Night
By: Jack Date: July 7, 2019, 8:51 am
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After a busy week, we had an intimate family game night last
night.
Quick: define intimate.
Okay, there were 34 of us. Besides me, it was the kids who live
here full time (Curtis, Connor, Kenny, Devon, Colt, Kaden, Leif,
Van, Liam, Parker, Jeremy, and Zeke), plus the kids who live
here part-time (Jake and Ryan Turner), plus our summer guests
(Craig, Griffin, and Duncan), plus the college kids (Ethan,
Bryce, Johnny and Josh, John, Greg, Barry, Noah, Mickey, and
Mike), plus the guys who are kind of part of the family but
don't like here (Emmet, Chandler, Billy, and KC, plus now
Garrett and Chance), which is a total of 34. It was going to be
more. I'd invited Daniel, PJ, and the Henderson boys, but
Daniel had plans with friends, PJ needed some solo time, and
Bridgette decided to do their own night together, so they don't
intrude too much (or maybe she just wanted to spend time with
her own kids before she gets too big).
We started out by the pool. A storm front blew in, and it got
cloudy and a bit cooler and windy, but not enough to make us go
in, and I don't think it ever rained. I okayed skinny dipping,
but it didn't happen too much, I think because of the age range.
Most of the boys were already in suits anyway, and it stayed
that way. Plus, Garret, Chance, and Craig all seem pretty
modest, though Craig is adjusting to how we do things around
here.
We did Tex-mex for dinner - beef, chicken, pork, and shrimp
fajitas (bell peppers and onions grilled with the fajitas, and
Mexican corn, Spanish rice, and refried beans as sides, along
with sour cream, shredded cheese, guacamole, and a variety of
dips). For dessert, we had sopapillas and tres leches cake.
We all ate outside. First, by the time we were ready to go
inside, it wasn't regular twilight (though it seemed like it
with the cloud cover). Still, we use the misters to keep things
cooler and to keep bugs down, we have the bug zappers and
mosquito traps around the yard, and we use bug and mosquito
repellent candles and torches when the light starts to fade. It
keeps everyone bite free.
When we were ready to go in, everyone (including Garrett and
Chance) stripped down, showered off, and went to get dressed -
mostly in some variety of light weight pajamas.
We avoided the fantasy/sci-fi stuff towards which we normally
gravitate, and played 'regular' family games - cards, dominoes,
and a variety of board games. I did make one rule, which was
you couldn't keep playing with the same people over and again,
so their was a slow and not quite constant Brownian motion as
groups broke up and reformed as games finished and started
again.
I know I had to carry Curtis to bed about 11pm, and I decided to
chase the rest of the younger boys (really just Connor, Jake,
and Craig, all of whom were barely keeping their eyes open) to
bed. I wasn't far behind them. I just made sure Garrett and
Chance both knew where they were sleeping, and I was in bed by
midnight. I'm not sure how late the rest were playing, but it
was long enough to finish off all the dips and chips with which
we'd started. At least they did clean things up pretty well
before they turned in.
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