Ehlana and Ethan:
This is an afternoon update because we’re
having another camping night; and don’t want to spend any time on our computers
while having that fun with our cousins and friends.
Top news from last night was that we didn’t
have any co-ed camping. There were boys
and girls tents for everyone; and Jaimie and Kaitlyn were in charge of the
youngest cousins in their tent – Brianna and Faith. We didn’t have any teen boys to watch over
the younger guys, but Zack and Eli were on their best behavior because they had
the options to either do that or be banned from distance-supervised camping
until they’re thirty. Sure, Aunt Leanne
was exaggerating by a decade or two, but at a time when we don’t have a lot of
play options; even our most-likely-to-prank cousin wasn’t going to take chances
on messing up being able to camp for even a week.
We had four campfires – and four camping
areas for our tents – though the spacing wasn’t ridiculously-far apart. Our group was at the main fire pit where we
normally have our campfires, but we don’t have other spots in our yard; so the
other campfires were around borrowed, portable fire pits. There was adult support for the campfires,
but we still kept our distance between the groups – even as we played our
games. There were group challenges for
races in the dark with glow sticks; food contests; and music competitions. Add in some campfire stories; and we had fun
for a couple of hours before it was time to head for our tents – or into the
houses for the night.
It stayed even a bit warmer than forecast
overnight, so it was still in the low-sixties this morning – which was great for
Tai Chi. That needed to be done in
groups along the river, but we had quite a gang with all of our favorite
exercise buddies. Breakfast was done in
groups at four houses; and then we – the kids and teens – were split up among
those same houses for our study and online lessons time until lunchtime. Our cousins have different home-schooling set
up through their schools, but that’s true for most students; so the only
strange part of that news is because our small-town school has a more-advanced
set-up than they have – though that’s likely because their schools are dealing
with so many more students using different computer and internet systems while
our students all use the same computers and network.
Lunch was still in groups, but we did that
in the back yards of the Carringtons and Everetts; and then we – the kids –
were set free to bike and play for the afternoon. We’ve done that in groups too, but we were
also crossing paths regularly; and had the same options for our snacks and
drinks break that we were in the same area for near the river-bridge on the
main path below the ridge on the edge of the park. The temperature topped eighty degrees – if only
by a bit; so it was great to be outdoors for most of the afternoon; and the
camping tonight will be awesome too. We’re
going to have an extra couple of tents tonight – in another spaced-out area of
the back yard, but we’ll write more about that with the next update.
For now, we’re moving on to some kid-control
entertainment while some of the parents and older cousins are busy with getting
dinner ready for us. We’ll likely help
out with setting up groups of tables and chairs around the back yard too, but that won’t take long; and we’ll
likely get out of the clean-up tonight too.
Before we move on, we should also mention that our parents are still
mostly keeping busy with their own work – whether they’re doing that at home or
elsewhere; and Cassie, Michael, and May are still putting in a lot of time on
their video lectures and assignments. We’re
missing out on the lab and archives play time, but can’t really get away with
doing that every afternoon or evening while our visiting cousins are here; so
we’ll have to save up that work and get back to it next week.
That doesn’t really feel like the right
thing to do when we might be able to help more than we are right now, but we
are still kids; and have to live with the restrictions that keep us safe. Having so much fun today is something we
think about while so many people are suffering, but then that’s an everyday
truth that more people are just aware of during this pandemic crisis. As always, we know that love and joy is what
helps us to get through the challenges in our lives; so we won’t have regrets
or feel bad about the blessings we have in our lives – including the happy days
like this one that we get to share with our favorite people.
It’s time to get back to those adventures
now; so that’s all for today.
This is Ehlana and Ethan Proctor; live from
the hidden home of the Magi of the Light – and May the Magi Force be with you!
