Ethan and Ehlana:
We’re going with an early bedtime – for us, and while that’s mostly to play ‘normal’ with our guests around; we’re tired too and don’t mind the orders from Mom and Dad.
Church was more-entertaining with all of the extra collegians going along with us, and while faith and beliefs vary quite-widely among Cassie’s and Michael’s friends; they each seemed to enjoy their adventures in small-town church services and the social time with the rest of the congregation. We also had fun at Sunday school; so our morning was really great. Lunch was another quick and easy meal for a fairly-large gang of family and guests; and then our afternoon highlights were all about a trail ride at the ranch. We did not have all of the collegians doing that ride with us – only about half of them, but Naomi and Aiden went along; and we got to spend most of the ride time with Cassie and Michael.
There were several moments of interest while at the ranch; and we agree that our favorite story was being there when Lee got to meet Cody and his family. May had a lot of fun with that too; and her girlfriends helped out with the fun. We are very observant; and won’t comment on anything we overheard that was definitely not-rated for tween ears! Cody was one of our guides, but not for our group; since we needed three groups to have room for everyone in our gang of ranch adventurers. The ride was really great, if a bit chilly; we helped out with the horses once back at the stables because we could do that while Cassie and Michael took some of their friends on a tour that included a special ‘show’ in the arena that Christy put on just for them. That seriously impressed everyone watching her; and we’ll again pretend that we didn’t overhear some comments that this time came from some of the guys in our group! ;^)
Moving along, due to having a full house, we opted for quick showers after getting home while Naomi and Aiden headed for their own homes to get ready for dinner at the Inn; we had some fun in the lounge while Ehlana’s bathroom was used by some of the other girls; and then we eventually met up with everyone for the late buffet dinner sitting. We didn’t technically have half of the tables reserved in the main dining room, but once all local family connections were added in; we probably did account for half of the Inn’s customers for that second-sitting. Ehlana and I were at one of the kids’ tables with Naomi, Aiden, Sophia, Ryan, and two of Ryan’s friends. That was a bit different for us, but we enjoyed the change from normal where we took care of younger cousins, siblings, and their friends. Outnumbering the girls didn’t really make a difference in our conversation topics, but there was a bit more guy talk about sports and video games; and the girls were happy to carry on their own chats when what we – the guys – talked about didn’t interest them at all.
We were also among the first to finish eating; Mom and Dad set us free to come home early; and we collected Silkie along the way to take her for a bedtime walk while seeing Naomi and Aiden to their homes. That was fun; we still got back before most of the collegians arrived; and Mom sent us up to bed soon-after she got home with Dad. Note to us, remember tonight when we’re parents of collegians; since the bill that Mom and Dad were responsible for tonight was truly-scary! Miranda and Jacob are also likely very glad that Kyle, Michael, or Tim never invited their college football teams for a visit; since that kind of group at an all-you-can-eat buffet might bankrupt small nations! ;^)
Okay, we’re nearly ready to get some sleep, so we’ll only add that while we’re going to be sleeping soon; Cassie, Michael, and their friends are still having fun. Some of them are here in the living room; others are visiting elsewhere; and Cassie and Michael are splitting their time between his family and visits to the Emerson’s and Landry’s homes. They don’t have school in the morning, so that’s an option, and while collegian study sessions will be happening over the next three days while we’re at school; that doesn’t need to start early for most of them. We’ll still be up at normal time, though, so that’s all for this report; and we’re going to crash and nap for the rest of the night.
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
