Ethan:
I am tired; need to crash; and will leave
this update to Ehlana.
Ethan – out!
***
Ehlana:
Ethan is tired; so I’ll let him get away
with that – even though I’m ready to get some sleep now too.
He might also be trying to avoid a review
of our camping and campfire adventure; since the guys were in fine form last
night – and I’m not just talking about the razzing he got for cuddle time with
Naomi at the campfire or before we split up and headed for our tents for the
night. I’m getting ahead of the story;
so let’s back up and start from the end of our last update.
Once we took our things out to our tents,
Ethan and I were put to ‘work’ keeping the younger cousins and kids entertained
and out of trouble until dinner was ready.
When it comes to Zack, Eli, and some of their buddies – and ours – the teachers
and daycare workers around here can testify that keeping up with them can be a
full-time job; and those guys were seriously fired-up about our camping night
plans. That kept us busy until we sat
down for dinner; and I’m just going to skip over the scary parts of that meal –
other than to suggest that we try to avoid putting Zack and Eli at the same
place as Miles and Joshua for any meals for the foreseeable future. They’re scary in pairs; and possibly
dangerous when put together!
Not including their antics, the food and
time with our friends was great; we followed that up with some park play time
and baseball-watching; and then Dad got the fire started before the parents and
younger adults headed for Sheldon’s while the teens, tweens, and kids gathered
around the campfire. The drinks, toasted
treats, campfire music, and kid-rated spooky stories kept us busy and
entertained for a couple of hours – including that quality cuddle time for
Ethan and Naomi. Sure, the teen and
tween couples were cuddling too, but the usual guys were happy to razz all of
the couples. Our chaperones had orders
to get the youngest kids into their tents starting at eleven o’clock; so Ethan,
Naomi, Aiden, and I helped out with that; and then we hung out around our tents
to make sure that the kids went to sleep too.
That was the second round of cuddle time for Ethan and Naomi – and they
got razzed about that too by our friends at first; and then by Zack, Eli, and
their buddies when they were sent to their tents in the second wave of kids by
the teens in charge.
They weren’t happy about that, but found
other ways to entertain themselves while sneaking out of their tents and going
on ‘missions’ to annoy the rest of us.
They’re due congratulations for that; since they succeeded brilliantly;
and even managed to exasperate even our most-patient babysitters. Their fun came to an end after they went
too-far and woke up some of the younger kids; though they still didn’t go to
sleep then even though they did stay in their tents. Ethan and Aiden went into their tent with
Zack and Eli after that while Naomi and I dealt with getting our junior campers
back to sleep; and then we joined them in nap mode after some girl chat time
while the boys stayed up and played video games for another couple of hours.
That’s why Ethan and Aiden were tired when
we got up for Tai Chi, and with a gang of kids and teens in the yard; I couldn’t
help them out with any fatigue healing.
Tai Chi by the river with all of the extra exercise buddies was great;
and then our breakfast meal and getting everyone ready for church was another
crazy adventure – even with all of the parental support that arrived to help
Mom, Dad, and the teens still on babysitting duty. We did get everyone fed; made it to church on
time; and had fun there with the service and Sunday school. Most of the camping gang and their parents
came home with us; that made it easy to get the campground cleaned up and the
gear hauled away or back to wherever it belonged; and then Mom and Dad only had
Ethan and me for lunch – and the rest of the day.
Dad had a lot of work to get done, so after
any easy-lunch; Ehlana and I went out to play for the afternoon. Naomi and Aiden were busy so we were on our
own, but we ended up hanging out with some friends while biking the trails and
then going for a long swim. There was
some playground fun and a visit to the Emporium for ice cream mixed in too; and
then Ethan and I eventually headed home in time to get ready for the late buffet
dinner at the Inn. That was fun too; we
got to spend some bonus time with Naomi and Aiden because they were there too;
and then they came home with us for a little while – so that Mom could do a
Magi lesson with us while Dad continued to get his work done for the night.
We took Silkie for a walk after that while
walking Naomi and Aiden to their homes; there might have been a goodnight hug
and kiss for Ethan from Naomi that earned some attention from her neighbors –
including Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace; and then it was Jacuzzi time for me while
Ethan opted for a shower before getting ready for bed. That’s the news from today for home; so that
just leaves the Cassie and Michael update.
They’ve had a good weekend; and seem to be
settling into their new routine already.
For Saturday, that was morning chores and supply shopping; an afternoon
with their study group – which I’ve already mentioned; and a play evening that
this weekend included dinner out and then an evening at the rec center watching
football and playing volleyball. Rowen
and Tim went on to a party at one of the residential halls with some of their
engineering friends, but Cassie and Michael went home instead; and don’t plan
on giving the party scene another chance – though they will likely make an
exception now and then for special occasions – like at Christmas or Valentine’s
Day. Their Sunday routine is going to
include church in the morning, but instead of studying with their friends
today; they used a time-phase to get the rest of their assignments done; and
then spent the rest of the afternoon at Eagle Gorge before coming home again
for a late dinner and early bedtime. No
other news will be included for the rest of their night in this or any other
update in our journals; so that’s the end of my update for tonight too.
We have one week of summer holidays left to
go with the Labor Day weekend and a visit from Cassie and Michael to look
forward to in just five more days; so I’m going to get some sleep now; and try
to fit as much fun into this last blast of summer before we’ll be back in
school every weekday for most of the next ten months.
This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live
from what is now my past!
