Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 27, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

We’ve been busy since our last update; so let’s get to the personal news of the day from where we left off yesterday afternoon.  In addition to getting our campground set up and hanging out with our family and friends; Ethan and I helped out with the work on both sides of dinner; that meal was awesome and we shared the food fun with our best friends and got a break from next-gen kid control; and then we eventually helped out with those kids while at the park and catching the co-ed ball game.  ‘Our’ Witch Falls Wild lost again – this time against Palmer’s Pride; and gave up ten runs again too – though they did earn five runs instead of four; so that was a minor improvement.  We had some next-gen kids to babysit after the game too while their parents went out to the pub, but they were all getting tired by then; and didn’t last through the first outdoor movie before falling asleep.  We watched two movies; there was teen chat time by the river after that; and co-ed sleepovers were an option because junior campers including Brianna and Faith took on the next-gen kids that stayed with us overnight.  It was past-two before we got around to some nap time; and then we were up at normal time for Tai Chi by the river this morning.

That workout was more fun with all of the extra exercise buddies and spectators; we rushed around after that with taking turns getting ready for the day; having breakfast and dealing with that work; and packing up our campground.  That was needed because rain and storms were in the forecast for tonight, but we had time for that too ahead of the family ballgames of the day thanks to getting most of our chores done on Thursday and Friday.  Brianna, Faith, and their Rebels team get top spot for baseball news because Brianna pitched a no-hitter against the Pizzeria Patriots while also leading the batting that earned them nine runs.  Ethan and I caught the last two innings of that game; we had a family-and-friends picnic lunch while watching the first innings of the noon game; and didn’t stay for all of Leah and Hailey’s game.  They helped their Med Center Mist team to a much-closer win – eleven-to-ten against the Sapphire Storm; so while they are winning too; their girls’ division is among the most-competitive this season.

The rest of our day has been comparatively-quiet.  We had some play time with our friends and cousins this afternoon that only had one interruption due to showers, but we decided against any sleepover plans with our best friends; so we were home on our own for dinner with Mom and Dad.  After enjoying that meal and helping with all of the work on both sides of the food; and then we did some work in the office with Mom that was mostly related to disaster support in Venezuela.  Mom didn’t let us work too long; bath or Jacuzzi time followed; and now we’re getting ready to catch up on our sleep without any of our favorite distractions.  For the record, our best friends do enjoy spending time with their own families and without us now and then, and we’re keeping that in mind right now because we are going to take them with us for that trip with Cassie and Michael!

On the world news front, there have been new exchanges of missile and drone strikes between the United States and Iran over the past day – including hits of commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz; so the ceasefire and memorandum are both looking very shaky again tonight.  The United States, Israel, and Lebanon announced another ceasefire deal, but that didn’t include Hezbollah; and they do not agree to the deal at all and are now warning that the Lebanon government will start a civil war if they keep attempting to give parts of their country away to Israel.  Let’s mention that the Lebanese government is weak and on the same side with Israel because they are bought and paid for by the United States; and they do not care at all for the majority of people in their country.  None of that looks good for imminent peace; and hatred and resentment continues to build in the entire region while most of the leaders of those countries only care about their own wealth and power.

The Ukraine war rolls on with little change as Russia dominates on the ground and in the air; and Ukraine dominates the western media and political ‘war’ with disgusting displays of brutality.  A good example of that for today was a drone strike on a Russian World War Two monument that injured twelve civilians.  Those optics ought to be horrific, but the Ukrainian military and political leaders brag about their ‘success’ while ignoring the reality that they targeted a war memorial site dedicated to lives lost in the fight against Nazi Germany.  While western media continues to re-write history; having Ukrainian neo-Nazi military target civilians while trying to destroy an anti-Nazi war memorial really is a disgrace that any soldier with even a shred of humanity should be appalled by his or her own actions.  We believe the same is true for every civilian attack that is intentional, but the hits keep coming; and we can only continue to hope that somewhere in the near instead of distant future we get some world leaders that will actually find a way to stop the insanity.

It is too tempting to get going on another rant against our leaders and biased media that pushes narrative over truth, but we are supposed to get the extra sleep now; so that’s all for tonight.  Stay tuned, since we are expecting an awesome week ahead of us as we roll toward the holiday weekend.  Ethan and I will rest up now so we can be ready for all of that fun and adventures.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 26, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 5^th Anniversary, Jillian and Julian!

Our adopted cousin and her husband are not here for their anniversary celebration, but they are having fun; and Dawn is helping them out with the fun – and actually spending some time with them too this weekend.  No details have been shared yet, but if we hear anything interesting; we’ll pass that along in a near-future update.

Here at home, Ethan and I have had another chores day; we finished up all of our usual weekend work; and even had a bit of time for some biking and a swim break.  That pretty much also brings us up to now; and we’re currently getting ready for a camping night with our friends and cousins.  We’re hosting that again tonight; our tents are already set up; and we have a small gang of kids and teens out by the river setting up their tents and gear too.  In addition to packing out camping gear; Ethan is rounding up the projector and a hard drive for our outdoor movies plan, and since we don’t usually offer any details about that; we use a tripod for the projector along with the white screen against the side of the storage barn; the movies or shows can be pulled from hard drives or our streaming subscriptions; and we have multiple options for audio from the built-in speaker to linked outdoor speakers.  That little blast of data seems a bit irrelevant compared to the serious problems in the world, but we want our journal to be about our normal daily lives – and Ethan does not want to write about things like fashion or teen gossip! ;^)

While that has me thinking about an entire series writing about current fashion in a small town compared to big cities or Hollywood, we need to get going soon; so let’s wrap this up with a quick world news report.  The aftermath of the earthquakes in Venezuela continues to draw attention from around the world, and we are glad to see the outpouring of support for actual needs for the people.  Search and rescue teams; mobile hospitals, and basic aide are arriving in the country; and we hope that will continue for the months and years that it will take to recover from that disaster.  Let’s also mention that there are leaders trying to take advantage of the situation, and we are sure that there will be profiteers gaining power; we can only be disgusted by everyone that takes advantage of the most-vulnerable people.

The Middle East tensions continue; the peace talks are going in circles; and the supposedly-open Strait of Hormuz is not open to everyone and there have been ships turned back and fired on for attempting to pass without permission from Iran.  Attacks continue in Lebanon; and trust remains near-zero.  We don’t like anything we’re seeing out of Ukraine either, and while changes on the front lines seem small and slow; everyone needs to remember that the human costs are catastrophic regardless of how much physical land control changes; and the destruction across Ukraine – and in Russia too – is compounding and the cost to rebuild will continue to rise for both cost and how long it will take to recover from the war whenever it does end.  We really want to see that war come to an end, but there aren’t even any negotiations going on; and there are very few leaders even offering solutions to peace that both sides would accept.

Finally, before we get back to our own adventures; the heat wave in Europe is going to break in some areas over the next few days, and that is good news for everyone that will get a break from the extreme heat, but we also hope that we won’t just see those problems moving into other areas of Europe.  I also want to mention that we can’t always relate to heat-related problems in other countries and regions of the world; since we live in an area where both extreme heat and extreme cold are annual norms; so our homes and businesses are built for both too.  In the United Kingdom, for example, their homes are usually built to retain heat; so that feature compounds the problems caused by a heat wave.

Okay, we really need to get back to the fun with our family and friends; so that’s all for this report.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 25, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 1^st Birthday, Geordie Johnson!

We weren’t really involved in Geordie’s special day at all today beyond the family gifts that were sent to him; and we’ve mostly worked all day without any major play time.  Our little corner of the world is getting rained on tonight and that weather moved into the area late this afternoon.  Tai Chi could still be by the river this morning; Ethan and I worked at the lab or archives for the morning; and then we worked on chores at multiple homes until we needed to wrap it up when the first bands of rain were imminent.  That early end to our chores plans allowed us to help Mom with making dinner; we shared that meal with Dad when he got home from work; and then we all went to work in the office after dealing with the post-dinner clean-up.

While Dad got busy with his usual homework; Ethan and I worked with Mom on charity operations directed at Venezuela and the emergency needs in Caracas and other parts of the country affected by the twin earthquakes that hit them yesterday.  The destruction has been extensive, and while we have limits for search and rescue; we can definitely get supplies and support there for the survivors.  Some time phasing allowed us to get more done tonight, but we needed hours of ‘normal’ time too while working with charity partners in Central and South America – and with Cassie and Michael; so it is getting late as we’re wrapping up our day now.

That’s why we aren’t going to offer any other world or war news tonight.  There isn’t really any significant news from either of the top wars anyway and most of the media stories are more about theatre than substance; so we’ll take a break from all of that daily idiocy – or at least give our future journal readers a break from another report about how badly our world is being governed by the rich and powerful leaders who care nothing for the majority of the ‘regular’ people.  We don’t want to get into a rant either; so that’s all for this update.  Ethan and I are moving on to nap time starting right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 24, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

There has been some rain and thunderstorms today, but a fair bit of sun too with a high that hit ninety, but while most of our younger cousins enjoyed a play day; Ethan and I worked in the lab all day; and don’t have anything interesting to write about here for those adventures.  We do write about our work in the lab or archives reports and journals we keep in that section of the archives, so if you are really into science or old books; feel free to check out the details of our work there.  Tai Chi was by the river this morning and we enjoyed breakfast with Mom and Dad; we took our lunches with us and ate on our own timetables and separately; and came home in time to both help with making dinner and sharing that meal with Mom and Dad too.  While rain was an issue this evening, the co-ed ball practices went ahead; we went to the park to help with the next-gen kids; and came home early when the rain arrived in town again and the practices were ended early.  That gave us time to do some work and a Magi lesson in the office; we used some time phasing to get more done; and now we’re winding down fast toward nap time.

That brings us to the world news report.  Tonight we are going to start with more of those smaller stories again – news that isn’t getting a lot of attention in western media.  First up, Niger has officially withdrawn from the International Criminal Court – the third country to do that over the past ten years.  Ethan and I put some importance on that because we see it as proof that more countries around the world have lost confidence in international laws and governance – with good reasons for coming to that conclusion.  There was a report we saw about the canceling of an eighteen billion Euro war ship project in Germany, and that would be good news if we weren’t also sure that the German leaders will just spend that money on other military weapons.  We haven’t mentioned that the United Kingdom is in the process of changing Prime Ministers again – for the seventh time in ten years, but we aren’t holding out hope for an improvement; since the elites in London are mostly on the same side – and against the people they are supposed to represent and protect.

On the wars fronts, western leaders and media are cheering on the market prices for oil that continues to drop on political talk more than on actual reality.  Israel continues to kill and destroy in Lebanon and Gaza and Palestine and Syria; and we can only be sickened that the rest of the world leaders appear to be okay with that as long as the oil flows again.  Frank Herbert was obviously a genius; since the spice, Melange, and the stories of the Fremen and Dune could easily be interchanged with the Middle East deserts and oil – without the giant sandworms!

I took that thought on a fun tangent, but the situation in and around Iran is still serious; and the actual negotiations don’t seem to be going anywhere beyond opening the Strait of Hormuz being opened again – though even that seems to be uncertain and temporary.  As for Ukraine, while Russia continues slow advances along the frontlines; Ukrainian leaders and military are mostly attempting public relations wins and stunts.  For example today, a so-called State-sponsored group took over the largest Russian-Orthodox Cathedral in Odessa while western leaders and media don’t appear to have any problem with the forcible eradication of freedom of religion.  The hypocrisy is stunning – especially when all of the recent gun and knife attacks against Jewish and Christian communities and churches in those same western countries.  No, we aren’t surprised by that reality; and only want to report it now and then because Magi of the Light all believe that morality and truth mean nothing if not applied to everyone.  Silkie just gave me a look at that comment, but Ethan and I think that dogs and cats are people too; so we include them as part of everyone! ;^)

I am obviously getting too-tired to continue this update, so that’s all for tonight; and we are going to move on to dreamland starting right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - June 23, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Our top news of the day for our own lives is that we began semi-official summer jobs at the lab or archives.  Ethan and I spent most of the day doing that, but started the day with Tai Chi by the river and the post-camping breakfast followed by the campground clean-up.  Most of our friends were starting summer jobs today too – though not everyone needed to start this morning.  That is why we had most of the clean-up done by nine o’clock, though, and then Ethan and I headed to the lab and got busy with our books or beakers for the rest of the day.  Let’s also mention that Aiden has an official summer job this year at the bakery; and Naomi is going to do some work at the salon to spend time with her Mom and then work with Aunt Grace, Violet, and Mom as an office intern.  There isn’t anything significant to report from the work today, but we were happy to get back to serious work-play; and we have a lot we want to do while we can.

That brings us to some news we’ve saved until after the start of our summer break.  Cassie and Michael’s summer work trip is going to be in Canada; and they are taking their favorite six teens along for the work and adventures.  No, Brianna, you’re not included – though you will join the favorite teens club in another couple of years!  We’re very excited about seeing as much of Canada as we can from east to west coasts, but we’ll save up more details for when we actually head out after the holiday weekend.  Let’s add that our summer jobs are going to be away from the lab or elsewhere for our best friends while on that trip, but Ethan and I are going to do related field work; we’ll all help with Cassie and Michael’s work; and we’ll fit in some play time along the way.

Since we’ve gotten away from our news of the day, let’s cover the rest of our birthday story now.  The birthday dinner was great, but short for us as we needed to eat and run to our ball practices.  We ended up saving the cake for after the practices; moved straight into the campfire from there; and our entertainment around the fire included our own musical contributions with Naomi, Aiden, Sophia, and Aaron.  There were scary stories; lots of teen chat and co-ed cuddle time; and late-night fun that included a river swim and more hang out time around the tents.  We stayed up late; some of us had co-ed naps in our tents; and then we were up early for the Tai Chi workout by the river that we’ve already mentioned.  Ethan and I don’t usually write about our gifts, and we don’t want to do that tonight, but we do want to mention that we did not get any extreme gifts – though there were some gifts that were chosen with our upcoming trip in mind for helping us to stay entertained during long drives between work and sightseeing stops.

After our lab or archives work, we ended up meeting with Mom and Dad at the park for the Pizzeria pizza picnic dinner that went along with the Tuesday ball practices.  We caught some of both rounds of practices; came home with Mom and Dad after that; and we did not have any overnight plans with our friends.  Mom did a Magi lesson with us; we all did some work after that; and then Mom had us head upstairs by ten-thirty so that we could catch up on our sleep.  That works for us; so let’s finish this update with a quick world news report and then get to that nap time.

Instead of covering the war stories; we’re going to mention some of the other stories we see that are comparatively-small but illustrate the growing stresses around the world.  Since we’re going to be in Canada soon; let’s begin with a shooting in Montreal, Quebec that appears to be a religion-related attack on a Jewish Rabbi – the latest of a handful of incidents in Canada.  In that attack, a police officer was killed and another one was injured in the shootout with the suspect, but while that is terrible and our hearts go out to the families involved; we’re worried about the explosion of this kind of violence in a lot of countries.  We’ve seen similar stories across Europe; more in Africa; and we don’t even see a fraction of the problems in places where nobody is paying attention to what is happening for the poorest places in the world.  Europe is also dealing with a heat wave that is leading to heat-related deaths; and that could be worse this summer due to rising energy costs that make air conditioning unaffordable for the most-vulnerable people.

Finally, for tonight, we do need to at least include a bit of war news.  There are some good and bad signs out of the Middle East, so while we can hope that there will be actual improvements for the people in the region; the fighting continues in Lebanon and elsewhere; Israel is pushing to take more territory by force on multiple fronts; and they are gaining new haters both in the region and around the world that will be a problem for years and decades to come.  The Ukraine war continues to go badly for Ukraine, but they – and their western backers – continue to talk tough; threaten to expand the war; and threaten Russian allies like Belarus.  Russian leaders are beginning to talk about an inevitable conflict with NATO and the need to prepare for that to happen; so nobody on either side are looking for or expecting peace; and we can only hope that those leaders don’t go down that escalation path that could again decimate Europe or blow up the entire world.

I do not want to head off to dreamland on that note, but let’s stop there; and we’ll try to think happier thoughts between now and when we crash into nap mode.

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