Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - October 16, 2024

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 43^rd Birthday, Aunt Leanne!

Ethan and I are only stopping in at home to repack our overnight bags; so we’ll only offer a mini-update and add more details tomorrow night.

It was a bit below freezing this morning, but Aiden and I still went outside for Tai Chi by the river; and we don’t need to comment on what Naomi and Ethan did instead of Tai Chi forms that included staying warm.  We all needed to get ready for the day quickly after that because Aunt Leanne was the guest of honor at a birthday breakfast buffet at the Inn that was very popular with more than the invited guests.  The early celebration was because Uncle Adam took Aunt Leanne to Crystal Springs for the rest of the day and their plans for a night out that we’re helping with by babysitting their kids – a job that we need to get to now; so the rest of our story for today really can wait for our next report.  Stay tuned for that; and we’ll try to survive Zack, Eli, and the other guys that will likely end up with us tonight.  Naomi and Aiden are helping too and we have back-up from Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace in case of emergency, but we’ll hope that medical treatment won’t be needed tonight; and double-hope that we didn’t just jinx ourselves by writing that! ;^)

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - October 15, 2024

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Ethan and I are only home to grab our overnight bags; and this update is early because he’ll be with Naomi tonight while I’m staying with Aiden and his family.  Just to be safe, I’ll also add that Naomi’s family will be at her house too and I wasn’t trying to make it sound as though they’d be alone all night! ;^)

Moving along, Mom is in the city tonight – and for two nights this time; and we have other plans for both nights.  It was chilly again today but still sunny; so it only feels like fall and we have still spent most of our time indoors except for Tai Chi by the river and walks between homes and school.  Our academic adventures weren’t anything newsworthy and we had fun all day through to and including our school band practice as we continue to get ready for playing at the seniors’ Halloween party and the Haunted Halloween Walk.  We’re pretty much ready for that now, but we also need to find a bit of time to practice the music for our own band for the set we’ll be doing at the walk too – though we won’t be doing that tonight.

I have no idea why Naomi might want to keep Ethan to herself, but if I find out; I’ll pass that news along to you with our next report!

For now, we need to get going; Silkie is already at her sleepover with Brianna and her dog; and the rest of our story for today can wait for our next update too.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - October 14, 2024

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

This has and still is a travel day for some of our favorite people; and that’s our top story of the day.  Dad – and Anna Marie – had the shortest trip to Crystal Springs and their work week there that they got to before we were even at school for our academic adventures.  Grandma and Grandpa are in Arizona at their usual winter rental; and they definitely prefer flying there now instead of driving – though they do still love driving trips as long as they can putter along and not spend more than a few hours a day actually driving.  Cassie and Michael are still en-route to Egypt – their first stop on their east-to-west tour of northern Africa; and it will be Tuesday afternoon local time by the time they arrive in Cairo.  We’ll keep you posted on all of our travelers’ adventures as we hear their stories, but that’s pretty much all we have so far for their collective news.

Here at home, we braved the mid-thirties chill for Tai Chi by the river with Mom after we also were up early to see Dad and Anna Marie off to the city; we followed that up with a hot breakfast and drinks; and then Ethan was off to the school for weight training with his friends while I enjoyed the extra time with Mom before meeting up with Naomi and Sophia for the walk to school.  It only warmed into the low-sixties today, so most of our academic adventures were indoors; and then Ethan and I headed for the lab to play-work there while our friends were busy elsewhere.  We didn’t check out the park tear-down, but that was popular for a lot of kids and teens; and is already nearly finished despite the chilly start to the day for those workers.  Mom joined us at the lab to play with us too and brought a picnic dinner; so we stayed and had fun with books or beakers until nearly ten o’clock.  Time phasing helped us with getting even more done; so Ethan and I are happy with our progress; and we were glad to get back to the lab after taking the time off for the festival – and because we won’t be able to do that again for at least a couple of days while busy with other things.

That brings us up to now, and we’re quickly running out of steam thanks to those extra time-phased hours; so let’s wrap this up.  Our usual computer checks only showed that all of the bad in the world is still there and our leaders are more-interested in political theatre than in fixing any real problems; so that trend will continue despite our best wishes and hopes for better.  No rants are about to follow, and we really don’t have anything to add tonight; so that’s all and we’re out of here and off to dreamland soon where we can make the rest of our night as happy as we’d like it to be while sharing that happiness with one or more of the people we love the most! ;^)

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - October 13, 2024

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

It cooled down today and felt like fall, but it was still around sixty this morning and sunny; so the teen-led church service was at the park; we still had a high above seventy; and that made our final round of festival fun awesome!  We were with a gang of family and friends for the early buffet at the Inn after the final round of thrill rides, shows, and games; and then we were put to work helping with chores and seeing our weekend guests on their way home after that amazing meal.  Naomi and Aaron still have minor roles with the teen group leading the church services, but Ethan really appreciates his girlfriend a lot; and loves seeing her shine even when that is for tiny, cameo moments while the senior teens take the spotlight.  We’re actually happy with that this year; since it has been a lot of work in the past when we’ve done more with our little band.

The rest of our Saturday was great too, and while there was some weird to go with Zack’s birthday dinner at the park; we were on the edges of that while helping with next-gen cousins and kids.  The food booth choices were great; so we’ll only add that we’ve had enough of festival food to last us until next year.  The family dance included a lot of fun with our favorite dance partners and friends; there were only two comedy moments aimed at Naomi and me for dance cut-ins; and we even managed a bit of bonus fun with Cassie and Michael – even though they were in high-demand with everyone wanting to see them before they head to Africa in the morning.

Ethan and Aiden ended up having Jayden with them when they left the park for the Carrington’s house and Zack’s all-night video gaming with his buddies, but while we offered; Susan didn’t come with us for the girls’ night.  Sophia was talked into coming along while Aaron opted to go home and get some sleep after a tough football week and all of the festival fun-so-far.  Michael was far-outnumbered by the girls in his house last night, but he loved most of the fun and found other things to do when the girl chat moments got weird for him.  Cassie and Brianna led the way for those hours of play time, but we also didn’t try to stay up all night either; and managed to get hours more sleep than the boys did last night.

We had it easier for Tai Chi by the river and breakfast; we dressed accordingly for the cooler morning and outdoor church service; and layered to also be ready for the afternoon festival adventures too.  Let’s mention that lunch at the park was really just some snacking for us after a big breakfast and our desire to save space for the buffet food.  While we also had our best friends with us a lot today, we also tried to spend time with our visiting cousins and friends – along with the parents; so our play time also felt like a series of cameo moments strung together to fill up those hours between the service and when we headed to the Inn.  We can also report that this festival has been one of the most-successful in recent years thanks to the amazing weather; and that’s good for everyone involved – especially the charities that get a lot of their funding from the festival booths.

Moving along, after seeing our visiting guests off; Ethan and I helped with cleaning at cottages and homes; we took care of some extra laundry; and had a last visit with Cassie and Michael; since we won’t see them before they head to the airport in the morning.  Grandma and Grandpa are heading for Arizona in the morning too, but we said goodbye to them at the Inn; and they were sleeping long before we were wrapping up our chores.  Dad is ready for his week in the city and finished that up while we were busy helping Mom, so we need to head for our nap time soon; since we’ll be getting up early to see him off to Crystal Springs.  That will have to be enough for this final festival weekend update.  Ethan and I still did our usual bedtime computing and twin chat fun, but we are not going to mess up all of our happy with commentary on politics, world news, or anything else.  Sure, the world moves along in too-many terrible ways whether we write about it or not, but life here in our little corner of it is amazing and wonderful; so we’ll enjoy that and hope for the same to be possible for everyone else someday too.  We’ll do what we can to help that to happen, but for right now, we just need to get some sleep; and then we’ll be ready to get back to doing that – and enjoying our everyday awesome!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - October 12, 2024

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 11^th Birthday, Zack!

Happy Day-Late, 2^nd Birthday, Hannah Sinclair!

We’re taking a home break before heading back to the park for dinner and the family dance tonight while also packing overnight bags, but we also don’t have much time; so this is going to be a partial update for the news since our last report.

First up, we sadly report that our team didn’t win our home game last night; and we found out that we aren’t ready to play against the best teams yet this year as Hillcrest cruised to a fifty-five to sixteen victory.  Aaron earned our only touchdown early, but then Hillcrest successfully shut him down after that; and we only managed three field goals through the rest of the game.  The teen dance was still pretty good despite having some disappointed players and fans, but then the Hillcrest teens and some fans joined in and stayed for that fun too; and the dance was a hit with everyone there.  Ethan and I hosted our four best friends for a short co-ed nap break after we got home from the park and watched a Halloween movie; and then we were up at normal time for Tai Chi by the river and breakfast.

Our day-so-far at the festival since then has been amazing.  We’ve hit a high of ninety this afternoon, so the thrill rides, outdoor shows, and everything else has been awesome – including the time we spent with Zack while he’s been celebrating his birthday.  Those adventures included a birthday lunch with family and friends; a round of rides in the midway; and a round of game booth competitions with the kids vying for bonus birthday party gifts to go along with any prizes won from the games.

There is going to be a birthday dinner at the park along with the dance and more thrill rides and games and more; so we need to move on soon to help with kid control.  Ethan and Aiden are booked to help with Zack’s party sleepover that won’t include much sleep; so Naomi, Sophia, and I are going to stay with Cassie and Michael to help them with the girls’ night they are hosting for Brianna, Faith, and quite a few of the other cousins and friends.  Sure, they’re saving Brianna from a house full of boys, but we should also mention that this is about Cassie and Michael spending time with us before they leave next week – and then did the same with Zack and the guys last night.

Okay, we’re out of time and need to go now; so that’s all for this update.

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!