Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 22, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 19^th Birthday, Jeremy Green!

We probably wouldn’t have had anything to do with Jeremy’s birthday fun today because he and Kaitlyn were both working most of the day anyway.

Here in London, we’ve had an awesome day, and we’ve even enjoyed a cooler weather day where the high didn’t even hit seventy.  Cassie and Michael’s work today was often a bit different to normal; and we were in on two charity education scholarships meetings that included visiting the University and college partnering with us for those low-income scholarships.  Both campuses were interesting, but the University of Western Ontario impressed us; and I really enjoyed a quick look at the research partnerships they have with the city hospitals.  For some reason, they wouldn’t let me play in their labs, but I wish I could have done that; and missed my lab a lot while there!  Cassie and Michael had some finance meetings and another site visit for a business partnership, but we didn’t do all of that with them; and did some sightseeing instead – including to a museum and a mall.  Cassie and Michael met up with us for a Thai dinner; we all went for a riverside walk downtown; and now we’re back at our hotel and getting ready for an early bedtime.  We need to be up very early for our drive to Sudbury because we’re taking a ferry ride and need to be in a little town called Tobermory on-time for the first departure time of the day.  We really just want to get to the co-ed nap time; so let’s wrap this up with the world news report.

The Middle East tensions remain high; the threats and bombings continue daily; and the two Straits either are or aren’t open depending on who you ask.  President Trump has added new threats to bomb bridges and power plants for every ship that Iran attacks in the region, and we have no idea what he means by that; since he’s already promised to destroy all Iranian bridges and power plants over the current two weeks if Iran doesn’t basically surrender and do everything he tells them to do.  For the Ukraine war, the escalations continue with attacks on civilian food and supplies distribution warehouses and markets on both sides; and that is a very bad change in tactics that Ukrainian leaders started and that will definitely end badly for their citizens and infrastructure.

We’re going to stop there; since that co-ed nap time sounds a lot better than continuing this update – especially when that early wake-up call will be coming in just a handful of hours!  Stay tuned; since our adventures in Northern Ontario are going to be very interesting!

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 21, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 14^th Anniversary, Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah!

That celebration might be the top story from home, but we don’t have much news about it since our short breakfast vid-chat with the Ayres; so details will be added tomorrow if we hear anything especially-interesting and also kid-friendly!  Mom spent some time with them this morning, but then she headed for Crystal Springs; and we don’t have any news from her visit-so-far to the city and with Dad.  If you’re reading that and coming up with mental pictures about our parents getting permanently banned from the courthouse – cut it out! ;^)

As for our own adventures in Toronto, we’ve had an awesome day despite the rain and thunderstorms in the area off-and-on for most of the day.  We helped with some work with Cassie and Michael, but also visited the science center and the C.N. Tower.  We loved both, and the science center was amazing, but the tower was an all-new experience for us; and it is really something unique to experience during a rain and storm day!  Highlights included the elevator rides to and from the observation decks; the view from around fourteen-hundred feet even on a cloudy, messy day was awesome; and you would need to experience the glass floor to relate to how that feels; since even junior Magi Masters are affected by standing on glass with nothing below you for more than eleven-hundred feet!

Cassie and Michael only caught parts of our play time while mixing in the work they did without us too, but when we left Toronto for London – our next stop; we all decided to make a side-trip to Niagara Falls because we were so close and didn’t want to miss out on that natural wonder.  The rain didn’t follow us, but it was stormy and wet in Niagara Falls too.  Fortunately for us, we got a break in the rain for an hour or so while there; and we took that chance to walk along the river gorge to the falls.  For anyone that might not know any details, there are actually two sets of falls at that location on the Niagara River – the Horseshoe Falls that are most-famous and the American Falls that are smaller and split in two by a small island on the American side of the river.  Our fellow Americans should not be jealous of the cooler-looking falls on the Canadian side; and we are mostly surprised that the Canadians have apparently done a better job promoting the tourism with bigger and better attractions!  We didn’t get to visit many of those attractions; so we really should come back again sometime to try out some of those options including the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the base of the falls; the zip line into the gorge; and everything from the two towers to the Clifton Hill attractions that we only managed a small sample of before needing to head for London and our hotel.  We did visit an awesome haunted house and checked out some tourist trap stores, but you would need several days or maybe a full week to do everything.

We are in-transit to London as we are writing this; Cassie is taking a more-direct, but somewhat rural route through the middle of the Niagara Peninsula; and even after dark we are enjoying the view that feels a bit like home to us.  That has more to do with the farms and small towns than the geography, but this is amazing too; since this whole region is a geological wonder carved out by the past ice age – including the two Great Lakes that border the length of the peninsula that ends at the Niagara River and falls.  We should mention the Niagara Escarpment as part of those features of the region; and the view of it rising above us during the drive from Toronto to Niagara Falls was amazing; since it rises hundreds of feet above Lake Ontario while being different from mountains because it just tops off and then is ‘normal’ land again across to Lake Erie.  For the record, we crossed one of the highest points on the Peninsula a little while ago in a town called Fonthill; the climb-drive up that hill to the top of the town reminded us a bit of southern and western roads into our hometown – though about three or four times higher; and the view was awesome too.  That town was interesting for also being split by the hill, and there were even homes built on the hill, but while that was interesting; we didn’t suddenly picture Witch Falls with a town expansion in the valley below the ridge or falls!

Ethan would be happy to write about geography and geology for another hour, but I’ve had enough of that; so let’s cover the world news and then call it a night.  We’ve skipped mentioning the change in Prime Ministers in the United Kingdom, but that’s mostly because it doesn’t really matter who is in charge when the policies remain the same – and they will with Prime Minister Andy Burnham.  That is bad news for their country and people; so expect more internal trouble there as people continue to get angry and rebellious.  In the Middle East, Israel has offered up a new target for President Trump in Iran; claiming that Axe Mountain is the new location for building the next imminent nuclear bomb; so we expect the place to get bombed soon while doing nothing to change the reality in the region.  There hasn’t been much news about the new blockade beyond reports that ships are Turing back and avoiding risks of attack from the Houthis and there was a report that Saudi Arabia is included in the blockade of that Strait due to their recent attacks on Yemen.  There were more incidents in the Strait of Hormuz too; the attacks continue on both sides; and the only good news so far is that it still hasn’t escalated into a full-out war.  There is still talk of a ground offensive to take over the Strait, but that would be insane and impossible to implement for very long – if at all; so we hope that doesn’t happen.

In Ukraine, the top media news might be that the President fired yet another military leader, and while we don’t like any of the Ukrainian leaders as they take their country into total destruction; these political moves are always a disaster for both the military capabilities and for civilians that will suffer the most.  Russia is also adding in retaliations for Ukraine targeting of civilian food infrastructure warehouses and markets; they’ve begun to destroy similar warehouses and processing plants; and food shortages are already a problem in Ukraine that will be getting much worse now.  More ships are being targeted in and near Odessa; the port facilities are also being hit daily; and shutting down that critical transportation hub for Ukraine will be devastating for the country, economy, and people.

We don’t need to write about the growing world economic stresses again tonight, but will still again mention that adding blockades and trade challenges to the global supply chain will make everything worse, and as we already know; it takes weeks and months for those impacts to work through the supply chains so the results won’t hit most consumers until the fall or winter.  That is a tough thought to end this update on, so we’ll stop now; enjoy the co-ed cuddle time during the rest of the drive to London; and work on making happier thoughts and memories while we do that!

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 20, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Toronto is a city that feels normal to us for our ‘home’ cities – not that we’ve actually visited many of the American cities that are this large very often.  We actually haven’t visited much of this city so far yet either, since we did some work this morning and then headed north to Canada’s Wonderland for the rest of the day – the largest amusement park in Canada.  Cassie and Michael didn’t come with us for the afternoon, but after working all afternoon too; they joined us in time for dinner and a play evening through until the park closed at ten o’clock.  We have been to some awesome amusement parks; and this one ranks right up there with the very best.  They have several of the fastest and tallest rollercoasters in the world; the range of thrill rides is amazing; and we only managed to experience most of them thanks to paying extra for fast passes.  No, Cassie and Michael didn’t get to do everything, but then we helped them out with our reviews and they did get to try all of our favorites!  There is an awesome water park here too, but we didn’t spend much time there; and only took one cool-down break there before returning to the thrill rides.  We don’t need to write about those experiences – it would be faster for future readers to look up the park and virtual tours of the rides instead, but we definitely recommend adding this stop to anyone wanting to visit the best parks in the world!

We’re currently writing this update while driving back to our hotel tonight from the park, and while it isn’t really that far from park to hotel; we’ve spent extra time just getting out of the parking lot and onto the highway heading back south to Toronto.  Ethan and I might feel a bit guilty about the cost of this play day, but then Cassie and Michael did manage to close finance deals today worth several billion dollars over the next decade; so our family businesses will survive the hit to the bottom line! ;^)

We’re going to be in Toronto for most of tomorrow too, and while they are expecting rain; we’re going to mix work and sightseeing that will mostly be in the downtown area – and indoors if we do end up with all of the forecasted wet weather.  We’ll have those stories for you sometime tomorrow, but we’re getting to the end of our own news; so let’s move on to a quick hometown update and the world news of the day.

It has been very nice here today with a high in the low-eighties, but it was much-hotter at home with lots of sun and a triple-digit high.  Our cousins and friends had a quieter play day after the visiting cousins headed home yesterday afternoon or evening; we missed out on our ball practices that were likely shortened due to the heat; and we don’t really have news for Mom and Dad because he’s in Crystal Springs for the week and Mom mostly stayed cool and worked indoors while getting ready to head to the city tomorrow for a few days too.  Try not to be scared, but even after weeks of kid-free time together; our parents still miss each other when Dad is away; so we are not surprised with Mom’s plans this week – and won’t comment on how we might feel in the future for the precedents they are setting!

As for world news, there has been a mixed bag of ugly and stupid news over the past day.  “Our’ leaders apparently decided to pause attacks on Iran until after the World Cup final game on Sunday – and then resumed the bombing for several hours.  Spain won that game over Argentina, and while we didn’t care about the game or tournament at all; it was funny to have President Trump up there on stage with the winning team after he’s spent a year and more threatening and bullying their country over NATO contributions and support.  On a more-serious note, the Houthis have declared their intention to stop sea transit through the Strait along the Yemeni coast, and if they manage to do that; it will add significant pressure to the global supply chain for more than petroleum products.  It will take time to see what happens with that story, but it is another expansion of the Iran war conflict; and tensions continue to rise in the region.  There are also reports of American forces moving from Jordan to Israel, but we don’t see how that will do much more than put Israeli bases on the Iran target list instead of the Jordanian bases.

On the Ukraine war front, there were upwards of four-hundred drones sent toward Moscow and some of them certainly got through the Russian air defenses; and there were some reports of damage and injuries – though nothing compared to what is happening in Ukraine every day.  As more details come out about the attacks on Kiev and Odessa, the damage from missile and drone strikes includes the destruction of a one-million square foot AMTEL facility; massive damage to Odessa’s port facilities; and strikes on ships attempting to travel to or from the ports as Russia begins to enforce a blockade against Ukraine in retaliation for their attacks of civilian tankers and ships in the region.  None of that is good for the world economy; and every ship lost to damage or destruction reduces transportation capacity and will take years or decades to rebuild.

That’s enough for this update.  We’ve had an amazing day, and don’t want to mess up all of the happy with extending our commentary of bad world news, so we’ll stop; and enjoy some quality co-ed cuddle time while we return to our hotel.  Your ‘now’ might not be this amazing, but if it is and you’re taking a break to read journal archives; stop now and get back to having fun too! ;^)

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 19, 2026

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 1^st Anniversary, Madelana and Stefan!

We joined in for the morning vid-chat with Cassie and Michael’s friends; they are on a work trip in Europe; and they were taking the weekend off for that celebration.  Along with missing out on their travel fun today; we’ve missed a busy day at home that included a Quarry Lake bike ride for cousins and friends; a play afternoon there with adults and next-gen kids that met up with them there for the hot, sunny play time; and then we also missed a late buffet at the Inn that Mom and Dad went to ahead of his week in Crystals Springs.

This update is coming to you while we’re on the road from Ottawa to Toronto.  We’ll have more on the imminent visit to the largest city in Canada and the Capital of Ontario, but we’re still a few hours away from arrival; so that part of our story can wait for our next report.  We have had a great final day in Ottawa with only two work-related activities mixed in with more sightseeing.  The more we see on this trip; the more we know that it would take a lot longer than a handful of weeks to visit more than a fraction of this country!  Just on this drive time between cities, we are just passing by amazing sites and natural wonders that we just don’t have time to check out.  This is a work trip, so we’re doing pretty well with mixing in the play time; and we’ll do our best to keep that trend going and be grateful for everything we are getting to do!

On the world news front, nothing has changed today as both of the top wars roll on at the new, higher levels; more American soldiers have been confirmed dead or injured; and we’re starting to see more reports of significant damage from the Iranian attacks including the loss of helicopters and weapons depots.  The missile and drone strikes in Ukraine have been devastating; there are more reports of faltering front lines as Russian forces push harder while the summer weather is comparatively-good; and we can’t imagine what summer must be like in Ukraine with ongoing power shortages for everything from air conditioning to simply keeping food cold or frozen when they have food at all.  The pressures on the world economy continue to grow, and while some leaders are oblivious; there are also new reports of protecting resources; China is leading the way for that trend as they add to the list of export restrictions for most-needed petroleum-based, refined products to ensure they have enough for their own internal markets and production.

Ethan and I are sure that those economic challenges will continue to develop; and there are new signs of social stresses growing too.  Reports of violence are coming in from many countries – and in new places; some leaders and politicians are promoting division and hatred to take advantage of the problems; and new fights over resources are more-likely every day.  We don’t want to start in on a rant tonight; and would love it if our assessments prove wrong over the coming weeks and months.  Instead of keeping this going, though, we’re going to stop there and get back to enjoying the quiet co-ed cuddle time and travel chat fun with our best friends – and Cassie and Michael.  Stay tuned while we do that; since we expect some awesome stories to share with future Magi as we make our way across Ontario over the coming week!

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

 

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 18, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

This is another afternoon update because we’re taking a break at the hotel before going out again for dinner and a night of sightseeing and fun – and expect to be out and up late tonight.  That’s why we don’t have any hometown baseball news yet – the first family game of the day is just getting started; and we haven’t been sent any reports yet.  We can mention that the forecast rain hasn’t gotten in the way of the baseball or chores today; and we’ve been teased again about the pay for those extra chores paying better for our younger cousins and their friends.  There hasn’t been much added news from home yet, but we do know that the visiting cousins are doing smaller sleepovers tonight for last visits with various members of our hometown family before they head home tomorrow afternoon.

Here in Ottawa, we’ve mostly had a sightseeing day with just one work site visit and a lunch meeting.  There has been more rain and thunderstorms to dodge here than at home, but that hasn’t slowed us down at all; and we’ve had a lot of fun with the work and play time.  We plan on keeping that trend going for the rest of the day and weekend, and want to get back to that fun soon; so let’s wrap this up with the world news update.

The Iran war is topping the media cycle again – this time because there have been American casualties in Jordan after an Iranian attack on military bases in the country and region.  Two soldiers have been confirmed killed with one still missing; more were injured; and the retaliatory attacks from Iran are now officially costing more than ‘just’ the destruction of our bases and equipment and supply depots.  Escalations are again near-certain; and our worries are for the people at risk on both sides of that fight.

In Ukraine, the missile and drone strikes continue on both sides, but the bigger, quieter story is that Ukrainian front lines might be starting to collapse.  Another significant defensive fortification town is either near-to or has fallen to the Russian forces.  That gives the Russian military an easier path to the last major defensive positions in the Donbass region; and we doubt that anyone except the Ukrainian troops know how long they can hold out against these non-stop drives along a lot of those front lines.  There are ongoing stories of starving and ammunition-limitations all along the front lines; and these losses can only add to the pressure and loss of confidence – if not to total defeatism for those soldiers.

War is always in the news and bad for everyone; so let’s wrap this up with something different out of China.  First up, China has successfully tested a reusable rocket similar to SpaceX, and while they didn’t have the cool giant robot to catch the rocket; they did land it on a platform, and if that is actually all that is needed to make those rockets reusable; then they don’t really need the bells and whistles of that robot to have the system work as-well as the SpaceX rockets.  Yes, our leaders and pundits needed to claim that ‘we’ are still years ahead in that tech, but that might not be true at all – just as we doubt a lot of what is claimed about China and their tech advances that often seem to be far ahead of western research.  The other story we saw of interest from China was about computer chips – though the article was more about the South Korean perspective and worry that China has caught up with their technology.  We expect that Chinese companies are passing them too – and Taiwan tech companies, so considering how much of their business exports go to China; they both have reasons to worry if their products are no longer superior.  Ethan and I know that those trends are going to continue and accelerate; China is gaining advantages over most competitors because of western leaders’ focus on war and other detrimental policies; and their longer-term thinking and planning is proving far more-effective than the never-ending mindset of neo-colonialism pushed by the United States and western Europe.

I could get into a rant about that and won’t; since we really do need to get going soon.  While we get back to our adventures here; we hope that your ‘now’ in our future is as-awesome! ;^)

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