The Journal of Phillip Grant - March 12

Stephen practiced making drinks for much of the evening the night of the girls' birthday party. He managed to get his hands on a professional bar, it has the added equipment he needed to mix better drinks.

"Hey Dad, can we talk now?"

"Sure Stephen, what's your problem?"

"Well, not a problem as such. But you know how you let Vincent take Erica on a vacation?"

I sighed, that didn't work out so well in the long run. "With us, he didn't go alone with her."

"Well, I'd like to take Abbey on a vacation."

"Fair enough. It's time the family went on a holiday together."

"The family?"

"It's time that we take your sisters overseas as well as you. Don't worry, there will be plenty of places to visit, you and Abbey won't have to hang with the rest of us. But you said there were two things to talk about."

"Yes, well, I've decided that my life's calling is mixology."

"I suppose you could have decided on something far worse than that." Keeping a bar, well, he'll know almost everyone in town and be really in on the gossip loop. "What's the catch?"

"I was wondering if we could buy a pub?"

"Stephen, we'll have to think about that one. We buy you a pub and you'll be in debt to your mother and I for the rest of our lives." Our family finances aren't bad. But the pub would eat all the surplus and require dipping into the inventory to sell a few things. Much as I love the kids, that would be a very big ask.

What the hell?

Why on earth is Elsa Grant playing drums in our bedroom? Shouldn't she be home with Jerod and their toddler by now?

It's certainly killing the romance in the room.

Maybe she reacted badly to some of Stephen's new cocktails. That could explain her drumming and this. It was his first batch ever of party drinks.

-----

Very early the next morning, we assembled the kids and prepared to set off.

Yes, Abbey is coming. Brad and Em didn't mind the idea of sending their girl away for a few days. One less teenager in their house...one more for me. Why, exactly, do I let my kids do this to us?

I've picked China as our destination. From memory, there's plenty to keep everyone occupied in China. Sights to visit, the academy and the scholar's garden.

After a long and dull flight, we finally arrived at our destination.

It feels great to finally be able to stand up and stretch properly for awhile.

It wasn't long before we parted for the day. I left on my trusty scooter to see what new adventures would be on offer.

The girls went over to the Martial Arts Academy.

Vanessa grabbed her fishing gear and headed out to see what new fish she could pull out of the water.

Stephen and Abbey stayed at camp for awhile. It was, from their point of view, the most family free place they've been for ages.

I ended up joining the girls over at the Academy. I had an offer that if I meditated for a couple of hours, I would be rewarded. The problem with that is you have to have pretty proficient in martial arts before you can meditate.

The girls both enjoyed training with the dummies. Even if at the moment, they still slap it it, rather then use a proper hit. They'll learn, fairly quickly at the rate they are going.

I'm still using the foam trainers on the board breaker. The wuss option but you have to start somewhere to learn technique.

It's not often a parent can see their kids fighting and smile about it. Stephen and Abbey wandered over eventually and Stephen challenged Ronnie to a sparring match. He's a little bit better than his sister, but if he doesn't keep practicing, both the girls will be a match for him.

One of my favorite bits of being away from home. Nothing like a holiday to ensure the sparkle is still there in your love life.

After a couple of days in China, and quite a bit of time together.

Stephen and Abbey broke up.

While they seemed fond of each other's company, it just wasn't really quite as good a relationship as it seemed.

Abbey didn't take it well though. And I don't look forward to telling her family that she came all this way just to be dumped.

I don't remember going through nearly so much teen drama.

Dear, that's because you were the cause. Cecil never did forgive you for getting me to dump him.

Cecil?

My first boyfriend. I had to break up with him to go steady with you.

Damn, I'd forgotten you ever had a different boyfriend. Do you ever regret that?

No, dear. I can't imagine life without you. And that was a long time ago.

Stephen was very apologetic to Abbey. He really does still want her friendship.

She was quite cross and not willing to listen yet. He'll have to give her some time and space to cool off before they can go back to being good friends again.

Penny decided that she'd help Abbey feel better by making friends.

Penny spent much of the day with Abbey, chatting about this and that.  I suspect that Stephen's flaws as a big brother and boyfriend may well have been part of the discussion.

And the girls trained together too.

So, by the end of the day, Penny and Abbey are made friends.

As for me, I finally was able to meditate in the Scholar's Garden. All that training did pay off.

My next task was to retrieve some papers from a local tomb. The local gave me the huge keystone to open the tomb.

Gack, why are there always bugs? Every time I try to find the hidden switch, it's another bug fest.

Thank heavens for long sleeves, the little beasts didn't crawl up my arms.

And fire traps. I seemed doomed lately to always be blocked by fire traps.

Or worse, getting caught in them. I thought they would have been permanently disabled by now. Didn't my granddad do this tomb?

----

And then we went home. Actually, it wasn't quite that simple. I did retrieve the papers from the tomb and escape barely singed. Vanessa finished a book, and did a lot of fishing.  The girls trained more, spent some time viewing the sights. Abbey and Stephen became friends again. I ran errands around town and have a level 2 visa for China now.

And my camera broke in that fire so I didn't manage to catch any of it. Ah well, things happen sometimes.