Ethan and Ehlana:
We’re home tonight, and happy to be here after a very busy weekend away that included lots of fun, but also a fair bit of sitting around and waiting for the special graduation moments for some of our favorite collegians. This is a multi-day update, though; so let’s get to it starting from Friday night.
There was some wet weather along the way to Cassie and Michael’ townhouse, but that only affected the drivers; and we kept ourselves entertained during the entire trip. Cassie and Michael were home to meet us by the time we got there, but Rowen, Tim, Patrick, and Jessica were still out at a party for the engineering grads. Jessica went with Tim’s parents for the trip – taking the time off from school; so she was very happy to have the extra time with Patrick – as well as getting to bring him home for the summer.
No, we don’t mean at her house for the summer; though some sleepovers are likely whether the parents approve or not! ;^)
Moving along, we – the kids – stayed with Cassie and Michael while the parents and other weekend guests had hotel sleepovers instead. Mom and Dad stayed for only a short visit on Friday evening before heading to the hotel; and we all basically headed for our beds comparatively-early so that we could rest up for a busy Saturday. We had a bedtime snack and chat with Cassie and Michael; and yes, there were junior co-ed sleepovers both on Friday and Saturday night. Don’t have too-much fun with that; since we’re kids and cuddling all night was the only thing that we were interested in doing while napping for a handful of hours.
We were up early on Saturday for Tai Chi in the back yard; we already mentioned with the last report that breakfast was with a gang at the Grill and Griddle; and then we spent a lot of the rest of the day on-campus for various events that included two grad ceremonies. Our first experiences with commencement ceremonies at a large school weren’t exciting for very long. Speeches get old fast; and sitting through hundreds of diploma and award presentations for the handful of them that we personally wanted to see left a lot of time to quietly chat quietly and try not to add too-much to the noise level for the arena full of people. Michael and Rowen received their degrees in the afternoon ceremony – along with many of their Computers and Economics friends; and then our favorite languages students – including May, Serena, and Madelana – were part of the evening ceremony. We had as much fun with those parts of our day as possible, and then the entertainment highlights included lunch and dinner; getting in on some of the activities happening around campus; and the exploring that we did for an hour or so – and not just to again check out our future college! ;^)
There was a family-rated party option that we attended for a while after the evening ceremony, but then we wrapped up the day with a group dessert break at one of the off-campus diners; and then Cassie and Michael brought us home with them – in the minivan; while Mom and Dad took the car to the hotel for the night. We headed to bed soon after that; and none of us stayed awake for long because it was past-midnight by then and we were all really tired.
Our Sunday morning began with Tai Chi for six again; we had to pack for home – though that didn’t include Cassie and Michael; and then we met up with our travel gang at the Grill and griddle again. That was our last blast of fun before heading home. Rowen, Tim, Patrick, and Jessica were in our caravan home too, but Cassie and Michael won’t be home for another couple of days because she attended the ceremonies today for the Master’s and Doctoral degrees for other friends that she’s made as a T.A. and her own doctoral studies. She also still has T.A. work to do; and isn’t sure whether she’ll be ready to come home on Monday or Tuesday. That’ll leave us with less time to spend with them, but then we’ll be at school anyway; so we shouldn’t really even think about that as a problem anyway. While Cassie and Michael were busy with work or celebrations; our trip home was uneventful except for more rain. We didn’t quite get back home in time for the noon shifts at the Inn or elsewhere, but we were in-town by early afternoon; the rain had moved on from town by then; and that made the work for unloading the van and the rest of the post-trip chores easier.
That work needed to be done first, but then Dad had work to do in the office to get ready for his week in the city; so we were set free for the rest of the afternoon. We went biking with our friends and had some play time with cousins we hooked up with along the way; dinner was a quiet, easy-meal after too-much food while on our trip; and then our evening has included a Magi lesson; some work in the office; and relatively-early bath or Jacuzzi time. Since getting cleaned up and ready for bed, we’ve been catching up on our computing – including the latest news from the lab or archives; we’ve kept an eye on the lunar eclipse that is happening tonight; and we may move outside to catch a glimpse or three of the total eclipse that we’ll be able to see in this part of the world tonight. That might seem boring to most of our friends compared to video games or big-budget movies, but we still love the miracles of nature; and lunar eclipses are awesome!
That is enough for this update, though, so while we wait for that big moment; we’ll move on to other entertainment; and then eventually get some sleep.
Until next time, this little blast from your near or distant past is written for you with love from Ethan and Ehlana Proctor – twin junior Magi Masters of the Light!
