I sat alone in the loft. I heard a noise behind me. "Sorry. You...you can be friends with her if you want." It was Amanda. "Thanks." I said. We went down for dinner. It was chicken pot pie. My mom is an amazing chef. "So how was school?" Mom asked us. "Good. I made a new friend today." I said. "That's cool," she replied. After dinner, I went out to the garden and sat on a bench in the tomatoes. I picked a tomato off of the vine and popped it in my mouth. I smiled. I had always liked tomatoes. I went inside and sat on my bed, my cat purring beside me. I sighed. Most of this day had been a good day.

                                                                               *====================*

When I woke up on Saturday, I realized that I was too late to watch the sunrise. Oh, well, I thought. I poured myself some cereal, and sat down. I heard crying upstairs. I walked up and went into the toddlers' room. It was Rose. I picked her up from her crib and walked her downstairs. I gave her some baby food and walked her to the playroom. We played Diner. I sat at the little plastic booth and asked for a hot dog. She laughed and gave me a plate with plastic green beans on it. I laughed. She picked up the green beans and shoved them at my face. "Okay, let's not do that!" I laughed. We colored for a bit, then Ryan came downstairs with Amanda. "Mom said that our cousins are coming today.  We have to clean up, quick!" Amanda said. I cleaned up the playroom while Rose colored. "Rosie, want to help clean?" I asked her. "No." She said. Ryan laughed. I picked her up and walked into the living room, where we cleaned the toys off the floor. We then went and cleaned up the kitchen. Chris, Bryan, Tyler, and James walked downstairs in baseball caps and with baseball gloves on. "We're going to go play catch outside," James informed me. They walked out. We went up and cleaned our bedrooms, and I heard Avery yell "Wake up!" I went to get her, and I helped her clean her room. Brendan woke up and went to Emma, Lucy and Stella's room. "Wake up, young'ins!" He shouted. They woke up and cleaned their rooms. We all went to get dressed. I put on a pair of overalls with a pink shirt underneath, a hat, and put my hair up in a ponytail. I pulled on a pair of combat boots and went downstairs. Stella wore a white shirt with a hot air balloon on it and a pink tutu. Suddenly, her tutu fell down. It was too big. "Go change!" I told her. Lucy giggled. When Stella got back and sat next to Emma and Lucy, I walked over to them. "Okay, what'll it be? Sausage and eggs, bacon and pancakes, fruit and veggies?" I said in a goofy voice. They laughed. I made them chocolate-chip pancakes. They ate them all up. I made some for the boys, and they walked in. I pointed at the table. "Your food is there. And go shower!" I said, pinching my nose. They ate, then went to the shower upstairs. They took turns in the shower, going oldest to youngest. The doorbell rang. There was a stampede to the door. Alyssa rolled her eyes as we walked over to the door, pushing through the children. I opened the door, and saw ny large extended family. They had more kids than there were in our family! In age order, they are: Delaney and Teague (3), Milo (4), Tate (6), Katie (7), Mitchell (8), Ben (9), Cade (10), Parker (10), Lance (12), Madison (13), Regina (14), and Felicity (15). They walked in and went to the living room. They also lived on a farm, so they were used to the smell of farms. Madison and Regina followed me upstairs, along with Alyssa and Amanda. Felicity went to Chris and Bryan's room with them. Felicity looks like the girl version of Chris. Delaney and Teague ran to the playroom. Rose and Avery were already there. Tate and Milo followed Stella, Emma, and Lucy to their room. Ben, Cade, Parker, and Lance went upstairs to Brendan's room with him and Ryan. Mitchell went outside to the playground. Upstairs, I sat down on my bed while everyone else sat on beanbag chairs or other comfy chairs. My cat, Minnie, sat on my lap. We were bored, so we went to the barn outside. "We should get everyone to play hide-and-seek!" I said. Everyone liked that idea. We went and got everyone who was not a toddler and went to the North Barn, the one with the horse stables. "I will count first," I said. I counted to two minutes and rang a bell to let people know I was coming. I first climbed the ladder to the hayloft. I heard giggling and turned. "Hey, Milo!" I called. He fod up from behind the hay and walked with me. I peeked in the silo and saw Stella. "Found you!" I said. We went to the south barn, which had been turned into a playhouse. The hayloft, for example, had gaming tables like Ping Pong, and Pool. There was a big slide going around the inside of the silo. I found Emma and Lucy hiding under the Ping Pong table. We went to the entrance to the Silo-Slide. It was a tube slide. I slid down, and halfway through, I hit something. I felt Milo bump into me...then Stella...then Lucy...then Emma. "Found you!" I said. "Aww!" Said Amanda. She let go with her feet, and we all slid down. We landed at the bottom and kept looking. In the treehouse, I found Bryan, and I found Regina high up in a tree. Felicity was on the porch under the swing, and Tate was in Stella's room. Brendan and Mitchell were on the playground, and Katie was in a shed. Chris was inside one of the carts for the horses, and Ben was under the wheelbarrow. Parker and Cade were in the silo of the south barn, and Madison and Lance were in one of the haylofts. We played one more round. I hid on the roof of the porch, flattening myself against the outside of the house. There was one part where the bricks were uneven on the side of the house which I used to climb on. I was found last. At that point, it wad time for the cousins to leave. We said bye, and they left. It had been a good day. At bedtime, I looked out my window at the stars and thanked God for all he had given me.