Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - January 9, 2019

Ethan:

Happy 19^th Birthday, May!

Her special day made for a fun start to our morning because we gave her a birthday wake-up call that included ‘first’ birthday gifts.  The Chinese custom is done for actual first birthdays, but she was amused by our choice to count this as her first birthday – with us.

Cassie and Michael took May to Crystal Springs for the day, so the rest of our morning was busy, and then when Ehlana and I went to school; our favorite teens headed for the city with Cody, Rowen, and Tim.  The rest of our day wasn’t birthday adventures-rated fun, but we had a good day at school; we played at the lab and archives after school; and then had a late dinner with Mom and Dad.  We had the birthday party stop in as a group when they got back from their shopping morning, SportsFusion play afternoon, and semi-authentic Chinese dinner in the city; we had snacks and story time; and then some gaming in the lounge and more chat time until it was time for the kids in the room to be sent to bed.

Michael, Rowen, Tim, and Cody headed out soon after; and Cassie and May are now having some teen girl chat time, but I’m in bed for the night; and don’t plan on staying up late for any bonus studying or reading.  We have had a good day, but I’m starting to feel the countdown pressure for Cassie going back to college; and wish that we weren’t running out of time.  We can’t change the fact that it is going to happen, though, so we’ll just try to have as much fun as we can between now and when they leave.

For tonight, that’s all I have; so I’ll wrap this up and get started on the sleeping part of my day.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

Good job, Ethan.

I’ll add my best birthday wishes for May too; leave it at that; and head off to sleep too.

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - January 8, 2019

Ethan:

We had a quiet morning at home with Mom, Dad, and May; school was good; the play time after that with Cassie, Michael, and May was better; and dinner and the evening with Grandma and Grandpa was the best part of our day.

Now I’m ready to crash and nap; so that’s all I have for this report.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

I’m tired too; so that’s a sure sign that we’ve both had a really good day.  The only news I’ll add is that Grandpa’s stories and talking about their trip plans and schedule was especially-fun; and I wish that we could go along on that adventure!

Maybe in another five or ten years.

For now, that’s all I have too; and getting a good night’s sleep is an option that I am going to enjoy.

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - January 7, 2019

Ethan:

We’re back to school again; and it feels like life is back to normal again too – for the most part.  Tai Chi and breakfast was busier with our favorite teens still at home, and Ehlana had fun with Cassie and May while getting ready for school.  That effort was apparently worth it thanks to the effect she had on Aiden when we met up with him and Naomi for the walk to school; and then it was back to our studies again.  WE had fun, but the morning fun was the last we had with Cassie, Michael, and May for the day.

While we were at school, Cassie spent most of the day with Michael and his family; May was with Mom for the morning and then Rowen at the computer store for the afternoon; and then while we went and played at the lab; she was at the pizzeria with Rebecca and Jen for the dinner rush.  They’re having a teen night at Michael’s house tonight, and Cody’s there along with May, Rebecca, Jen, and their boyfriends.  While Cassie and May are out, we’ve had a quiet work and study night in the office – including a long Magi lesson with Mom.  A time phase was involved so that we got our work done early; Ehlana and I have been sent to our rooms; and we’re actually going to get the extra sleep tonight after a long first day back on our normal school schedule.

It’s been fun, but that’s all I have; so I’m going to wrap this up and get started on my nap.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

Good job, Ethan!  I don’t actually have anything to add – other than I did like getting back into the lab today; and wish that we could have had a bit more time with Cassie today.  We are overdue to share her – and Michael – with his family and their teen friends, though; so this is a better time for them to do that; since we’ll want them back for their last weekend at home before they head back to college next Monday.

That’s all for me too; I’ve got Mandy for a cuddle buddy while Cassie’s away; and we’re going to get started on our cat-and-kid nap time.

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - January 6, 2019

Ethan:

It was a quiet morning here while Cassie had breakfast at Michael’s house; church and Sunday school was fun; and then we had a play afternoon between lunch at home and the family buffet dinner at the Inn that was our unofficial wrap-up to the Christmas holidays.  Cody invited May out to the ranch after dinner since he’d been at the Inn with his family too; so the quiet resumes around here tonight – and Ehlana and I are playing normal kids and heading to bed early on a school night.

My sisters needed some girl time – including picking out Ehlana’s outfit for tomorrow; so Silkie and I have left them to that; and I’m going to do a bit of speed reading before going to sleep.  That doesn’t make for a very exciting update, but it’s all I have for tonight, so I’ll wrap this up; and get to that play time in the archives for a while.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

This hasn’t been an extreme-excitement day – just a really good, happy family and friends day.  Wrapping it up with the sisters time tonight has been good too; though I wish that we had the extra time off to spend with Cassie before she heads back to college a week from tomorrow.  They still have two weeks before classes start again, but they’ll need to get their books and the rest of the usual supplies they’ll need for a new semester; so they’ll be busy with that – and working and reading ahead to get ready for those classes too.

I have no idea why I’m writing about any of that – possibly because I half-wish that I was going along with them, but I really wouldn’t change the way we’re doing things now; and I couldn’t imagine not being around our best friends for months at a time.

Or my brother; since Naomi would never let him go without her too! ;^)

Moving along, I really don’t have any exciting news for today.  The indoor-outdoor play time with family and friends was a highlight for me; so was the buffet at the Inn; and then the quiet time tonight with Cassie – and Ethan – while Michael was busy at the Inn.  I’m not really all that excited about going back to school tomorrow – even as I’ll like spending time every day with friends that we haven’t seen as much during the holidays; and I guess that it will be good to get back to some lab time too – since that is part of the ‘normal’ for Ethan and me.

Okay, I’ve really missed my lab, but the holiday fun with Cassie and everyone else was worth taking the break; so I’m okay with doing that too.

I seem to be rambling on a bit, so it’s likely time to just wrap this up and move on to a bit of bedtime reading – to get caught up on the latest from the lab so I can jump right into the fun again without wasting anyone’s time by getting those updates in person.  We’ve had an amazing holiday, and I wish it could keep going, but it can’t; so we’ll get back to normal life again tomorrow; and hopefully still have some great New Year adventures along the way.

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - January 5, 2019

Ethan:

Mornings at Aiden’s house after a sleepover are usually busy and short as we get ready for the day, eat, and then his mother needs to get to the bakery in time to open it for the day.  His father is always there early and doing the baking; so we don’t see him, and if Aiden doesn’t stay with me after that; he gets stuck at the bakery – or spends the day with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, or other friends.  We still made time for a Tai Chi workout this morning; helped out as much as we could with the work and getting out the door on time; and then his Mom and sister went to the bakery while we met up with Ehlana and Naomi and eventually moved on to our house.

There were some other chores to help out with at both of those homes, but then we were set free to go out and play for the rest of the day; we did that; and split our time between the great outdoors and fun around the house.  We had teen playmates for most of the day too; hot meals at home; and now we’ve wrapped up our day with a quiet evening of movies in the lounge and a comparatively-early bedtime for a Saturday night – at least for those of us not having a sleepover at Michael’s house.  While Cassie’s over there, May’s opted for a quiet night in too; and we’ve had fun while watching our shows.

That’s pretty much all I have for today.  The details of the indoor-outdoor entertainments don’t really matter; and just get repetitive after a while; and it was getting even more play time with Cassie, Michael, and May that was most-important anyway.  Now, it’s sleeping at the top of my priority list; so I’m going to wrap this up and do that.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

Sleepovers at Naomi’s are so much more-fun without Zack and Eli!  Have I mentioned that before? ;^)

We had a fun start to our day with Tai Chi for two that didn’t included getting razzed or pranked.  then we had a quiet breakfast for four with Naomi’s parents before her mother headed for the salon and her Dad got to work on some chores and running around while Eli-free; and then we got on with our play day once Ethan and Aiden had met up with us – and helped out with the chores that had been assigned to Naomi and me so that we could get them done and then be set free.  Okay, we still had to help out at our own home first – as Ethan mentioned; and he’s already covered the rest of the news for the day; so I don’t need to go over any of that again.  He didn’t mention the Jacuzzi time for May and me, but after a busy play day; that was a welcome end to the day for the girls in the house.  May’s headed off to bed now too; that’s all I have for my part of this update; and it’s definitely time to get some sleep – so I will.

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!