Heirs of the Magi News Flash!

***Heirs of the Magi News Flash!*** Winter has, for the most part, been mild so far - or awesome for the month that Cassie and Michael spent in summertime-Australia! They are home now and will be working from home for most of the time until Easter. The hometown work will include getting ready for their next trip, but there will be a lot of fun to get in on and share with their favorite people - including their March Break trip to Florida adventure. All of your favorite Magi Masters will continue to work and play while their future plans unfold; so... ...Visit Witch Falls often to keep up with all of their latest stories; and Happy Reading!

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Cassie's Journal - July 13, 2013



I may have jinxed Michael’s baseball team.  The Wranglers lost today; and it might be because Vanessa wasn’t helping Nora support them – she was at Quarry Lake with Martin instead.  That was their first loss of the season, and Tim suggested to Michael and me that it may be entirely my fault.  He had fun teasing us about that, but his suggestion that we break up to help the team get back on track is not going to happen.  Nora and Vanessa thought that some of his jokes were funny, but I’d also like to smack Tim because his little monologue reminded Vanessa that she was supposed to be mad at me; and trying to get Michael interested in her.  Hopefully she’ll also remember that Martin helped her to have a really fun day at Quarry Lake; and I doubt that Michael even crossed her mind once until we all got together for the campfire tonight.

Other than that little blip of tweeirdness, and wishing that Michael could have spent the afternoon at Quarry Lake with us; it’s been a pretty good day.  The Tai Chi lessons are going great, and Michael, Ethan, and Ehlana are all able to work through the simplified form with me.  The twins continue to do a modified version that’s within ‘normal toddler’ physical abilities; but anyone who knows Tai Chi well enough would see that their postures are being done perfectly.  Michael is trying to match me move-for-move; and I keep that in mind when doing things like the kicks so that I don’t do more than he’s ready for yet.  He is catching on fast, though, and I only needed to show him a couple of corrections this morning.

There were chores to do before we could head out to Quarry Lake, plus we needed to get the picnic and supplies packed too; so after a quick and easy breakfast; most of us got to work while Jaimie and Kaitlyn kept Ethan and Ehlana entertained.  Dad, Chris, and Martin started on the yard work while I led the third floor clean-up and started running loads of laundry.  There was some outdoor work for Dawn, Gillian, and me too; and then we helped Mom with our contributions for the picnic.  The chores were done and we were on the road to Quarry Lake by eleven-thirty; and our camp was set-up and we were swimming in the lake by shortly after noon.

We had a pretty big group with us, but there were lots of other Witch Falls families spending the afternoon at the campground too.  Rowen had come with us, but Patrick and Scott were there with some members of the Faulkner and Palmer families.  Rowen, Dawn, and I spent a lot of time playing with Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Kara; and Jaimie was particularly happy when Lindsay Faulkner and Jessica Bassett wanted to hang out with us too.

Note to me:  Jessica, Ryan, and Sophia are Michael’s cousins; and we should try to spend a little more time with them – just as he’s been doing with my cousins all week.  That’ll have to wait until at least a week from now, but I’m sure we can do that; and Sophia already gets to play with Ethan and Ehlana now and then when they’re all at KidZone.

Continuing the Quarry Lake report, we swam for a half hour; stopped for lunch; played some games; visited the playground; and spent a total of another hour and a half in the lake before needing to pack up and head home again.  Once we were back and had everything unloaded and put away; Rowen, Dawn, and I set up three tents.  We put sleeping bags in all of them, and rounded up the gear we’d need for the night; getting all of that done with time to spare before the parents and grandparents had dinner ready for us.

That was another fairly big group barbeque, but comparatively quiet too after a long afternoon of sun and fun.  Rowen and I were on the clean-up crew, and skipped most of the grandparent-led park visit while doing that and then helping Dad with getting everything ready for the campfire.  We caught the tail-end of the park play, and then went for a swim back at home again before getting the younger kids ready for the campfire and camping.

The campfire was fun, and we had quite a few friends and neighbors stop in at least for little cameo visits.  Even after a busy day of running around, the youngest kids were still wired for sound.  The lulling effects of the stories and songs were counteracted by the sugar rush from marshmallows and s’mores snacks.  That didn’t keep Mom and Aunt Leanne from ordering the five-and-under kids to bed at eleven; and Michael, Rowen, and I helped with getting them tucked into sleeping bags.  We also stayed near the tents after that too; and were pretty much out of the loop for the rest of the campfire.  Dawn, Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Kara decided they’d had enough fun by midnight – as did all of the adults; and maybe half of the teens and tweens.  We had a little chat with them before they went into their tent for the night, and Rowen made an excuse to give Michael and I a bit of alone time so we could say goodnight in a partially non-verbal way before we split up into our own tents too.

Going to sleep while the campfire was still going on wasn’t an option for me, so I’ve been doing a little work on my computer and talking with Rowen since snuggling into my sleeping bag.  We really should be getting some rest, but Violet is the only teen still at the campfire who will be in the middle of the same crazy-busy morning rush that we’ll have; and the other teens don’t sound like they’re particularly worried about staying up late again.

There isn’t anything special to report from my work tonight, but Rowen and I had fun chatting about Michael, ‘Tommy’, and commenting on some of what we overheard from around the campfire – and from one couple that was apparently oblivious to the fact that even whispers carry quite a distance along a river.  That moment definitely qualified as too much information; and I won’t be recording the details here either.

I guess there is one news flash that I haven’t written about yet, and Rowen brought that to my attention just now by telling me that she’s thinking about working at the store tomorrow afternoon.  Violet and Dawn are going to take Jaimie and Kaitlyn up to Crystal Springs and have a visit with their parents and grandparents.  Grandpa Richard and Aunt Carrie are going to take Jaimie and Kaitlyn the rest of the way back to Granite Park from there.  Dillon’s working at the Inn anyway, so that’ll work out – and save Mom the drive; but the travel news for tomorrow is actually that Chrissy and Josiah are going to take Kara, Eddie, and Nicole to their half-way home meeting point.

That’s going to keep Aunt Leanne from doing the trip, so I’m all for the idea; and giving Chrissy and Josiah two and a half or three hours of alone time for the trip back is a nice matchmaking bonus – not that Aunt Leanne’s services seem to be needed in this case.

With Dawn away for the afternoon and Rowen possibly working; I could end up with nothing to do for five or six hours.  That’s a novel concept; but then I’m also sure that something will come up.  If we don’t get some sleep soon, that ‘something’ might just be an afternoon nap.  That’s all I have for this journal update, though, so I’m going to put my computer away and hope that the campfire action is about done for the night so we can get some sleep.

Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging out!