Ehlana, Ethan, Naomi, and Aiden:
We have a lot to write about tonight; so let’s start with the rest of the news from yesterday.
Dinner and a movie night was the biggest we’ve had so far this year. Our available home-town family was here; Naomi and Aiden were just two of the friends with us for the evening; and we had a blast – even when we were on work crews before and after dinner. The semi-potluck food was great; the movie was family-friendly and fun; and all of the happy far-outweighed the moments of annoyance that Zack and Eli led the way for and directed at the four of us most of the time – except for their general feats of food and drink. We also ended up with a small gang of kids here with us for the night while a handful of parents got kid-free nights. You’ll have to look elsewhere for any news about what those parents were doing last night, but we – the kids – had fun with video gaming and movies in the lounge; the girls took turns with bath or Jacuzzi time; and there were some random music moments too. The junior pranksters had more of their kind of fun too, but as with the rest of the night; everything else was great-enough that the jokes and pranks couldn’t offset that and mess up our night. The co-ed cuddle time was a highlight for us during the movies; all of the younger kids eventually fell asleep and were either put to bed or went to the guest rooms under their own power; leaving us free to transition from cuddling to a co-ed sofa sleepover.
That led to an awesome start to our morning – especially when we woke up before the junior pranksters were up and going again. Tai Chi was fun with the extra exercise buddies – especially Brianna; and we should definitely try to exercise with the Carringtons more-often. Yes, we say that too-often and don’t work that out; but maybe that’ll happen this year! ;^)
Dad cooked a hot breakfast for our gang; parents picked up some of the kids; and most of us moved on to a chores morning at our own homes or elsewhere. Thanks to awesome weather; our chores included some outdoor work too, and while getting an early start on the annual spring clean-up isn’t really fun; we got a lot done; and enjoyed the time with Mom and Dad. Our chores were finished by the time we stopped for lunch at one o’clock; and then we were set free for the rest of the day – and released into the custody of Aiden’s parents.
Mom and Dad are getting a kid-free night in repayment for taking the gang of us last night; and we’re all at Aiden’s house tonight because Naomi’s parents have Zack with Eli; and two of us didn’t want to be there with them for a second night in a row. Naomi and Aiden get credit for working that out for all of us; and Aiden’s parents get bonus points for taking Leah for the night so Hailey can have her best friend here for the night too. We should mention that the kid-sharing tonight began with getting a kid-free night for Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne ahead of his birthday tomorrow – while the extra night off they got on Friday was just an added bonus. We’re okay with that and don’t need the parents-side of the weekend adventures when it comes to their couples-only time, but we do need to mention that most of our parents went out tonight for dinner and-or some play time at Sheldon’s Pub.
Here at Aiden’s house, we had some grandparent support for dinner and the evening while his parents joined in on the early birthday fun for Uncle Adam. That wasn’t a tough job because we had pizzeria pizza for dinner and bakery desserts; took care of the clean-up; and have been entertaining ourselves since then too. Our after-dinner adventures began with a walk and some play time at the park; Hailey and Leah picked their bedtime movie; and then they had us take care of getting them off to sleep with a story and music fun that had the bonus of getting us the opportunity for co-ed cuddle time for us without the younger sibling and cousin giggles while we also watched an action-thriller with lots of fights and stuff getting blown up.
Aiden’s parents got home before that movie ended because they didn’t want to stay out late after a long work week. They stayed with us for the rest of that show and chatted with us; went to bed after that; and had no doubt that we’d be wrapping up our day with a co-ed sofa sleepover. We have no idea how long our parents will let us get away with doing that before deciding that tweens or teens shouldn’t do that anymore, but we’re having fun; and will deal with that inevitable change whenever it happens. Naomi wants me to mention that she’ll have a plan ready by then instead of just giving up on co-ed sleepovers with Ethan during those years, and judging by Ethan’s smile; he seems to be okay with that idea! We started another movie, but don’t expect to stay awake through to the end of it; so it’s time to wrap this up and wind down toward nap time.
The last bit of news we want to add for tonight is that Cassie, Michael, and their friends are busy getting ready for their mid-terms next week. We had a very short vid-chat with Cassie and Michael tonight, but they were busy; and couldn’t really spend much time with us – even digitally. They are happy and doing well, though; haven’t had any new problems with the Hathornes; and manage to put a bit of fun in their days too – though that is likely happening in ways we don’t need to write about here in our journals!
Okay, that’s all for tonight. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow; so we should really get to the co-ed down time sooner instead of later.
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!
