Ethan and Ehlana:
We don’t normally make a big deal about any gifts we get for any occasion, but since our friends have had a lot to say about our main gift this year; we’ll make an exception. Mom, Dad, Cassie, and Michael gave us an awesome media projector and ten-foot, powered screen for our lounge. Both were installed while we were at Quarry Lake yesterday, but our friends were even more amazed when we found out that we also now have an outdoor option for the projector – a twenty-foot screen-tarp for the side of the storage barn that works with a tripod for the projector so that we can have outdoor movies at night! It was set up for last night; we got to watch two movies for our entertainment; and expect to have regular movie nights for the rest of the summer.
Let’s move on to the rest of our news from the past two days!
Our birthday celebration plans for yesterday began with having a gang of our friends meet up with us and then bike the trail out to Quarry Lake. Some of our cousins joined us for that while a gang of parents packed food and gear first before driving there with younger kids and some teens that were brought along for support. We loved the bike ride; the new water slides were among the entertainment highlights of our day; and we spent most of our time at the water park or in the lake with just one round of play time on the rock wall and zip line. The bike ride home was pretty good, but a bit quieter after the non-stop fun at the campground; we needed to cool down in the river after getting back; and then it was time for the barbeque dinner with most of our hometown family and quite a few more kids and teens. There were more gifts and the usual birthday fun around dinnertime; and some of those gifts tied in with our major gift – including two streaming media subscriptions and a large hard drive for media storage.
Getting out of the work and chores all day was great, and we got to play after dinner while the clean-up was done, but we also spent some of that time getting ready for another camping night – this one with a gang of cousins and friends. We went for another swim; followed that up with taking turns getting cleaned up and ready for the movies fun; and then we started the first movie at dusk. Our friends were definitely impressed with the quality of our new entertainment option, and while we had neighbors over for the first movie too; our neighbors to the east can also see the screen pretty well from their own homes – and hear the movies too if we have the volume turned up. The first movie was family-friendly; and then the second was tween-rated and with some scary scenes that worked for any couples in need of excuses for cuddling! ;^)
The movies wrapped up by a bit after midnight; a late swim was an option that some of us took advantage of while winding down toward nap time; and then we stayed up too-late with riverside chat and cuddle time. We got razzed by our friends for ending our birthday fun with co-ed camping, but while we were the only tweens doing that; at least a few of our friends wished that they could do that too. By the time they are ready for that next step; we’ll guess that our parents will join the club of parents that are against tween and teen co-ed camping. Ehlana wants me to point out that Naomi still plans on getting around that future restriction on us – for the record only! I’ll point out that our co-ed sleepovers have been in one tent, not two; so everyone should just relax; since Ehlana and I are not so close that anything improper is going to happen when we’re hanging out together and with Naomi and Aiden.
Moving along, we eventually had a nap early this morning; and then we were awake in time for Tai Chi by the river. Our birthday was officially over, so we helped out with the work on both sides of breakfast; we cleaned up the campground and put the tents away due to rain in the forecast; and helped our friends and cousins with taking their gear and tents home. Mom had a picnic ready for us to take along when we were ready to resume our play time with some of our friends; we spent a few hours biking and playing at the park on either side of that picnic lunch; and then we came home when some rain showers moved into town. We haven’t gotten a lot of rain so far, but while it was damp outside; Ehlana and I went to work at the lab or archives for a few hours while Naomi and Aiden went to spend time with their own families for the rest of the day. We had fun with that play time at the lab; followed that up with a late dinner with Mom and Dad; and then we did some work and a Magi lesson in the office before coming up to our rooms for bath or Jacuzzi time that we really needed. Now we’re tired and ready to catch up on our sleep – especially when the annual shopping trip is up next on our summer adventures schedule. That’s enough for this report too; so let’s just wrap it up; and we’ll get started on that nap time right away.
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!
