Ethan and Ehlana:
Happy 24th Birthday, Erica Bassett!
Erica’s birthday celebrations weren’t any part of our day, but with a gang of cousins around; we have been very busy. This is something of a double update, though, so let’s back up and start this report from yesterday morning.
Actually, I guess we should at least mention the rest of our fun on Thursday night – the campfire and camping the night of Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah’s anniversary adventures. The campfire was definitely a highlight of our Thursday, and the music we shared in-part for the couple of honor was the best part of the fireside fun. Our aunt and uncle weren’t the only couple that got up and danced to the love songs we performed for our families and neighbors; and I’ll add that we had one of our best-ever ‘sets’ with really good harmonies for our little quartet.
We stayed up too-late, and with Jayden camping with us; our tents were segregated. We still hung out together with some of our friends before getting around to the nap time; so our cuddling with Naomi or Aiden while we chatted with our cousins and friends was the next-best part of our day.
Friday morning began with Tai Chi by the river with a small gang of our favorite exercise buddies and a crazy-busy breakfast for all of the campers that included Olde Bakery treats and basics like cereal and fresh fruits. Our cousins and friends all had different things to get to after breakfast, and in our case, that meant helping with the breakfast clean-up before we moved on to getting our weekend chores done a day early – including getting some guest rooms ready for incoming cousins at three homes. Our cousins were put to work too, and while Zack wasn’t happy about that; even he knows better than to try and get out of work when our parents really need us.
Mom, Uncle Nick, and Naomi’s Dad kept our work efforts organized and supervised – especially after Aunt Leanne headed out to pick up her van load of kids after lunch. We got the lawn and gardens work done at five homes by working together; our breaks included snacks and swim time; and we were ready to play by the time our incoming guests began to arrive – with Aunt Leanne’s return the start of that next part of our adventures. The Carrington home, as we’ve already mentioned in our last update, continued to be ‘party’ central for our family and friends. The barbeque dinner last night wasn’t a huge event like the anniversary dinner had been, but we still had a gang to feed; so Mom put all of the tweens to work both before and after dinner. We were definitely ready for some down time once we were set up and ready for the outdoor movies; Brianna’s pick won the most votes; and we got to watch ‘Zombies 3’ again. Brianna didn’t actually get everything she wanted because the parents vetoed a Zombies marathon with all three movies, and while we did watch two movies; they also put a time limit so that our outdoor movies didn’t annoy any neighbors.
By the way, we probably should have mentioned before now that our outdoor ‘screen’ is fairly-easy to move and set up against nearly any large surface like the side of a house or storage barn, so while we’ve only used it at home or at the Carringtons; we may share it in the future with other friends if needed.
Moving along, the two movies kept us busy until a bit after midnight; we packed up our digital gear and stored it inside for the night; and eventually had another camping nap that wasn’t co-ed and just a bit less-fun for the two tween couples that would have liked to be paired up for the night. We will mention that there might have been some teen couples sharing co-ed camping; and also suggest that Jayden might appreciate the sisterly precedents! ;^)
The main reason we needed to get our weekend chores done early was because of our Saturday ball games. We had time for Tai Chi by the river and an extended breakfast because we didn’t have any early games to attend. Ehlana, Naomi, and the Belles won another convincing battle against the Lasses, and while we’re happy for them; it does seem as though the talent pool for their division is a bit lop-sided this year. Aiden and I had a good ball game too with our Bobcats win over the Wildcats, but the twelve-to-ten score was not nearly as impressive as the fourteen-to-six victory for the Belles. We had an easy lunch that Mom and Dad hosted after the baseball games; and then our afternoon adventures included a trail ride for all of the cousins and some friends with a lot of parental support. This time, we actually needed two groups for the rides. We got to have Christy for our guide; and that’s also why Aiden, Jayden, and I were the only guys in our group – not that there weren’t other guys that wished they’d been with us too. The girls got first pick – for the most part, though; and Christy probably appreciated the break from the usual issues she has with kid and teen guys and their infatuations with the most-beautiful and talented cowgirl in the region.
She is that and more, but Naomi knows that I love her; and only pretends to be jealous! ;^)
Moving along, we had a blast with the trail rides; we got back with time for cool-down swims; and now we’re transitioning from the afternoon adventures to another family barbeque that is technically being hosted by the Everetts with a lot of pot-luck support from at least ten sets of parents that we know about for sure. We need to get over there to help out with the work – including taking our family contributions to the meal; so we need to wrap this up. Our computers won’t be with us again tonight because we are going to be very busy with that dinner, a co-ed ball game, a campfire, and another camping night. The news from those adventures can wait for our next update; so that’s all for today. Feel free to flip the digital page whenever you’re reading this in our future; and we’ll get back to the real world and those adventures that we will write about tomorrow night!
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!
