Ehlana, Aiden, Naomi, and Ethan:
Happy New Year 2024!
Our top news for the first day of the New Year is not that I’m taking over writing our twin journals, but it is news; and we have Naomi to thank for suggesting that Ethan has been writing them for too long without more of a girls’ perspective. Let’s go with that; since the real reason is that she wants the extra cuddle time with Ethan on co-ed sofa sleepover nights like this one!
New Year’s Eve was definitely a best-ever-so-far for all of us; and having that as our last date of last year and the first for this year is awesome too! As always, the buffet dinner was a major highlight of the night. Our boys get bonus points for not needing to be in the small dining room to watch the NFL football game; and keeping track of the score wasn’t hard for anyone at the Inn; since some of the game-watchers were quite vocal about their reactions to the on-screen action. Okay, we also had tablemates tracking the game on phones, but Ethan and Aiden weren’t two of those guys! We shared that meal with Sophia, Aaron, and six of our younger cousins or siblings. For the record, we were not officially babysitting at all; the six girls mostly wanted to stay away from tables with boys like Zack and Eli; and we were happy to help them out with that. We can’t cover every little detail from last night or today; so let’s move along.
Naomi, Sophia, and I also want to give our dates credit for their dinner manners, and while that included things like holding chairs out for us; they also didn’t try to eat too-much despite all of the great food temptations! We were happy with the total lack of food games or pranks, but let’s not go there; since that wasn’t true for some other kids and teens last night; and best behavior was only a hope for some of our favorite parents! We really don’t want to go there; and the problems were really pretty minor compared to all of the amazing moments of the night!
For us, our best moments included our unplugged ‘set’ that we were drafted to share with everyone; Cassie and Michael were also drafted to sing a few duets; and we collectively helped out with the happy for everyone – especially when it came to the dancing and ballads that were very popular with the couples of all ages. Trust us that you really don’t want all of those details; since there are things that tweens do not need to know about their parents and grandparents! We spent most of our night in the main dining room, but in addition to the football-watching option; the other small dining room was available for video gaming or other games ranging from cards to darts. We made appearances in both rooms; joined in on some games other than with the too-popular video gaming; and had fun with that too – though the dancing and socializing were more-fun for all of us.
Midnight kisses were another highlight of the night, and while we’re not at any level where we take those kisses to any levels that older couples do; we’ve moved on from little-kid kisses too; and I am happy to report that Ethan and Naomi earned whistles for having their first kiss of the New Year last longer than it did for most tween couples in the room! The party continued after that, but we didn’t mind getting drafted to help out with getting younger cousins home while some of our favorite adults stayed out longer – or until much later for anyone staying to help with the post-party clean-up. We didn’t leave until getting in on the midnight buffet, but we didn’t need much food by then; and some of the kids really were starting to fall asleep by then and needed to be taken home.
We did that at three homes; headed for our home after that; and had more than an hour to get started on our co-ed cuddle time and a movie before Mom and Dad got home too. They, by the way, were not designated drivers tonight; so they didn’t need to stay out late doing that and weren’t on the work crews at the Inn either. While that idea might seem weird to other people, let’s add that all of the staff at the Inn are there for the party too even when scheduled to work; so getting any of them to stay up all night with post-party clean-up doesn’t work for their friends and neighbors; so we take turns helping out. We’ll likely start getting drafted too by next year; so we’ll just be happy that our contributions this year were kept to music! We did eventually get to sleep early this morning; enjoyed the co-ed naps; and then we started our New Year with a Tai Chi workout that Mom and Dad skipped. The tweens in the house also took care of making breakfast for eight. We enjoyed that meal in the sunroom; took care of the clean-up with help from Dad; and then our friends needed to head for their own homes for the rest of the morning while Ethan and I were drafted to help with getting ready for the college bowl game watching party that Mom and Dad have been hosting since early-afternoon. Naomi and Aiden came back with their families, but Sophia and Aaron had other plans with both of their families; and that’s also why they aren’t here again overnight. Other than a snack, we basically skipped lunch because major snacks were available all afternoon and evening. Dinner included a major Pizzeria pizza order, and that was another buffet, eat-when-you-want kind of event. As usual, football-watching was in the living room; chick flicks were in the sunroom; and kid-central was the lounge and third floor.
We spent most of the day upstairs and helping with the younger kids, but there was a lot more going on than that with our family – including for the Johnson clan as they gradually hit the road for their homes in waves from early-afternoon to early-evening. Parents with the youngest kids mostly wanted to leave early; the teens and older kids were happy to stay for some of the action at our house with their hometown cousins and friends; and the grandparents generally went with the majority for their grandkids. We didn’t help with much of the work around those travel plans, but we did help out with entertaining some of the kids while their parents were busy; and were in on the goodbyes with everyone. Ethan, Aiden, and Aaron did more to keep Zack, Eli, and some of the other guys from getting into too-much trouble; Naomi and Sophia helped me with the girls; and our games and play time included everything from playing with toys in the workout room to board games in the dining room to music in my room. We checked in with the chick flicks in the sunroom, but didn’t watch even one entire movie; and the highlights of our visits to the dining room revolved around one of Cassie’s demonstrations of play-calling and the request for me to attempt the same feat for a play too. I’m not like Cassie for a lot of things, and don’t normally make a big deal of my math skills, but I am competitive; and had fun with making my own correct prediction – and hope that it won’t mess up Cassie’s growing legend for that talent! ;^)
The guys might want us to include the football highlights, but to be honest with you; Naomi and I just don’t care, so if you really need to know those sports details; check out the current events archives in the sports section and we’ll move on. I’m also thinking about wrapping this up, since I might soon scare all future readers if this becomes the longest one-day update since before Ethan’s latest turn at writing our journals! Okay, this is for a bit more than a day, but you know what I mean; and Naomi is laughing while also enjoying the extra time cuddling with Ethan. She has also already pointed out that it isn’t the same for Aiden and me; since he can still hug me while I type on my computer and that is true; so maybe I’ll use that as my excuse for longer reports. My motivation for keeping them short won’t be as strong as Ethan’s have been over the past year or two!
With that decided, I guess that we can move along and keep going. We mostly played all afternoon with the breaks we’ve already mentioned for departing guests and other social visits elsewhere in the house. It wasn’t very warm today, so we didn’t go out to play at all; and had too-much going on anyway for any major bike rides or playground adventures. The tweens and teens in the house mostly ended up having a later dinner after getting the kids fed and then busy again; and then our evening continued with the play time except with more of the breaks to spend time with favorite adults. Many of our guests stayed to the end of the last game and beyond, but we started losing some younger kids and their parents by around nine o’clock. Sleepy kids were only part of those choices, since it is also a work night for many, but whatever the reason; we helped out with the kids and even walked home with some to help with hauling kids and gear. We still had older cousins to keep up with on the third floor, and Zack and Eli were the most-challenging, but Naomi and I still left them to Ethan and Aiden; and only had to deal with the pranks when we didn’t manage to totally avoid them or needed to help the other girls with the aftermath from them. As with last night, we really don’t want to make a big deal of the not-so-fun moments; since the rest of our day has been really great! That’s true for right now as we’re winding down toward nap time with music videos and cuddle time that I will again note that Naomi is enjoying a lot more with me doing the writing! ;^)
Moving along, the party on the main floor began to wrap up with the last movie choice for the girls; some clean-up happened while the game-watching gang finished up with the final bowl game of the day; and we eventually needed to help out with getting the rest of the kids in the house ready to head for their homes. While we didn’t need to help with getting them to those homes, we did have a major clean-up that was needed on the third floor; and that kept us busy until after one o’clock – including the work we helped with in the kitchen. Mom and Dad had other help for that; there was a minor snack break once the work was pretty much done; and then we split up to either head home or to our bed or sectional sofa. There really is too-much to cover without turning this update into a small novel; so maybe this is a good place to just stop and call it a night. We’ve had another amazing day with many of our favorite people; so... that reminds me that I’ve skipped some news that should get mentioned!
The members of our family that have been away for the weekend are home tonight – or most of them are. The Everetts are back from Granite Park, and while they made a cameo appearance here; they didn’t stay long; and went home again early. They didn’t have Jaimie or Kaitlyn with them; and Micah and Jeremy are staying for another day or two before coming back again for either a few more days for Kaitlyn or longer for Jaimie and Micah before they head back to college in a couple of weeks. Violet, Dillon, and their kids are home too, but they got in later; and didn’t come over here at all. We’ll check in with them tomorrow; and Ethan and I might see them at the lab if we decide to do some work there – a choice that will depend on weather and what the rest of our friends are doing.
Okay, that definitely is enough for tonight – this morning; so we’re out of here; and I’m going to enjoy a bit more cuddle time with Aiden before we get started on yet another wee hours of the morning start to our winter’s naps!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
