Naomi, Ethan, Ehlana, and Aiden:
Happy 18th Anniversary, Mom and Dad – or Mom-and-Dad-to-be for Ethan! ;^)
Yes, I’m taking over this journal tonight; and that is happening because we’re giving my parents a kid-free night. Okay, the Carringtons get more credit for that because they’re stuck with Zack and Eli, but we’re happy to make this co-ed sofa sleepover sacrifice for my parents too! Before we get to the news of the day; let’s start with a Cassie and Michael travel update; since that’s what we’ve been talking about anyway.
We’re still getting used to the time change, but it is Monday morning in China, so while we’re writing this; Cassie and Michael are already hours into their first ‘work’ day that includes business and charity meetings all day. They had a vid-chat with my parents this morning our time, and since that was after their first sightseeing day; we got to hear some of their stories from the Great Wall and Forbidden City tours. Ethan and Ehlana have had video chats with them too, so between us; we’ve probably been given most of the highlights of their Sunday. There have been a few pictures sent too, but we’ve been advised that we’ll have to wait until they get home before we’ll get to see all of them – and the videos. Their work so far today probably won’t be interesting for us except for how much good those projects will do, but if you are one of the few that might be interested in the boring business details; I’m sure that Cassie and Michael have an archive for their work somewhere that you can look up and read later!
Our adventures weren’t together to start this morning, but I had fun with my family with the anniversary breakfast that I put on for Mom and Dad with a little actual help from Eli. The fun continued at church and Sunday school, but for the four of us, that was off-set by just a bit of sadness as we got ready to say goodbye to all of the visiting cousins except for Kaitlyn. I helped out with the final goodbyes after church, but not with any of the packing or work before lunch because I was busy with my family and a barbeque lunch at our house. Ethan and Ehlana did help out first, but then they joined the party at our house – along with Aiden; and we’ve been together since then. We should mention that Ethan and Ehlana’s parents took care of the drive and meet up with Jayden’s parents and that Kaitlyn and Jeremy went along to have a late lunch visit with them too. That choice was made so that Uncle Mark could stay home in case of doctor emergencies while Uncle Adam went along to help out with the Johnson clan meet-up and cousins’ return to their parents. They had the same kind of late lunch plan, but all of our favorite parents were home in time for the anniversary buffet dinner party at the Inn; and most of the kids stayed behind instead of doing the drive too.
We were happy to stay home and enjoy the lunch and afternoon of play time with my family and a lot of our friends. Mom had the day off from the salon; and the weather was great for most of the day except for one little blast of rain that rolled through and didn’t last for very long. In addition to the back yard social time and games, we had groups of adventurers go biking, canoeing, and swimming. It was a bit different to be sharing all of that with my family at the center after weeks of having that kind of fun around Ethan and Ehlana’s family, but then we still have connections through the Ayres anyway; so there are overlaps that are close to us anyway. The sleepover plans were finalized before we went to the Inn, so Aiden and I packed our overnight bags and dropped them off here on our way to the Inn.
As usual, we were put on kid-control duty at the Inn, but we were also at a table next to Mom and Dad; so we were able to keep up with most of the roasting that the adults sitting with my parents offered while we all enjoyed the always-awesome food. Having Brianna, Faith, Leah, and Hailey with us was not a challenge at all; and we’ll thank whoever was behind keeping Zack and Eli away from us because we’d had enough of them for today by then. No, I am not going to add details; and we are not going to let their goofiness diminish what has been an awesome day in every other way. We were at the late buffet so that most of Mom and Dad’s best store-owner family and friends could join us; and we were there for nearly two hours before my parents-to-be brought us home with them for the rest of the night. We took Silkie for a bedtime walk; there was a group Magi lesson after that; and then we were sent upstairs for bath or Jacuzzi time while the parents in the house continued to work in the office. Ehlana and I took turns in her Jacuzzi; the boys opted for showers; and we all mixed in some music play time around getting cleaned up and ready for bed.
We’ve started a movie, but the bedtime computing and chat time has kept us from getting immersed in the story, and that’s okay with us; since the only good parts of the show are easy to pick out because the blowing stuff up and fights and chases are the only good parts anyway. As mentioned, we’ve been talking about Cassie and Michael; wishing that we could be there with them; and dreaming about future trips that we can take to get out there and see the world too! We love many of the precedents that Cassie and Michael have set for us, but waiting until after college to start with major trips might not work for us. We’ll have to see whether we can do better, but even our parents probably won’t let us spend a summer in Europe or elsewhere when we’re thirteen; so we’ll table that idea for now! Getting back to Cassie and Michael, they’ll be in or near Beijing all week. Ethan and Ehlana will have daily updates in their journal; and we’ll all keep up with their travel stories – hopefully with regular updates directly from them! We’ll be busy around here while they’re away, and while there will be a lot of fun too; we’ll be doing more work that for Ethan and Ehlana will include play time at the lab or archives. They’ve been very good about playing over the past two weeks and more, so I’ll cut them some slack on that, but then I need to get back to helping my parents more-often too; and Aiden is going to be spending more time at the bakery. That’s part of life even for Magi kids, so we’ll deal with the responsibilities and fit in the play time when we can.
Since that is including a co-ed sofa sleepover in our imminent future, I’m ready to get back to the cuddling with Ethan; so that’s all for this report! I won’t be here for the update tomorrow night, but while Ethan might enjoy getting the control back; I can promise you that he won’t have as much fun as he is right now while I write and he holds me! I am a big fan of being an active participant in cuddle time; so I’ll get back to doing that right now! ;^)
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
