Ehlana, Ethan, Naomi, and Aiden:
Happy 4th of July – again; since
Naomi ordered us to take yesterday off! ;^)
We can’t possibly cover all of the news for
the past three days; so we’ll only write about a few highlights.
First up, the parade yesterday felt very
different from normal, but we managed to have it for everyone by getting
everyone to wear masks and making the route much longer so that we could all be
spaced out in smaller groups. That made
for more work for the people in the parade because they ‘performed’ for
nearly-double the normal time; which was tough on a hot day. Our celebration at the park was different
too, but we still had food and games booths; and socially-distanced events
including a co-ed baseball game; shows and a dance; and an awesome fireworks
display.
We won’t bore you with the details, but
think that we managed to find a good balance between enjoying our holiday
celebrations with keeping everyone as safe as possible – short of just
cancelling everything and staying in our homes.
Most of the day was also awesome for the weather, but we did get a short
blast of rain roll through in the late-afternoon that most kids and teens just
enjoyed while some of the adults took cover to stay dry.
Moving along, our camping each night has
been awesome – and growing as we’ve added campers – and also moved the ‘campground’
to the combined back yards for the Carringtons, Everetts, Seagers, and
Emersons. We’re not all actually
together, but the teens hanging out with Patrick and Jessica are helping
Jaimie, Kaitlyn, and Kara with the younger kids; and we’ve also had college
teen support last night and tonight – including Cassie, Michael, and May. The highlights for today included one church
service at the park; an optional trail ride or corral adventure; lots of
swimming, canoeing, and biking; and a couple of barbeque meals at lunch and
dinner that were also in the joint back yards anchored by the Carringtons. We’ve just finished a campfire tonight; and
most of the kids in our group are ready to get some sleep after three busy
days. The teens are tired too, but still
hanging out in socially-distanced groups by the river or in tents. Naomi would have been happy to take Ethan
along and join those teen couples, but that would have just been weird for
those teens; so we’re still together for a while longer in the boys’ tent
before we’ll split up for the night when we’re ready to get some sleep.
We’ve had an awesome weekend; so the rest
of the details don’t really matter. That’s
the real news too; since it has been months now since we’ve really been able to
have any community, family, and friends celebration. That’s pretty much all we have for tonight,
but before we wrap up; we should mention that some of the parents and
grandparents have headed home tonight while leaving the cousins behind for
their summer vacation. The rest of the
visiting adults will be here for another day or two before going back home and
to work – or away on a kid-free break.
We’re happy to have our cousins here for two weeks, though; and we’re
looking forward to keeping the fun going as we keep them entertained and happy.
Cassie won’t get to do very much of that
entertaining with us, since she has to get back to her online classes again,
but she will hang out with us when she can during this coming week; and then
she plans on heading back to her townhouse with Michael and May for the rest of
her summer session through to her final exams.
We’ll have more on all of that as we go along through this first full
week of July, but that’s all for tonight; so we’re going to wrap this up; enjoy
a bit of co-ed cuddle time; and then get some sleep.
Stay tuned; since there is sure to be a lot
more to come over the next two weeks.
This is Ehlana Proctor and gang; live from
the hidden home of the Magi of the Light – and May the Magi Force be with you!
