Ehlana and Ethan:
Happy 7th Anniversary, Violet and Dillon!
Happy 23rd Birthday, Reid Spencer!
It seems strange to be starting this update with best wishes when it is also Memorial Day, but then we still celebrated with Violet and Dillon and Reid still had birthday fun today too – including while we were all at the park for the Memorial Day picnic. Before we get to the rest of the news from today; let’s cover the basics from the rest of our Sunday.
We went to the last buffet dinner sitting of the day at the Inn so that the store owners in our group could join us; that meal was awesome; and then we eventually spent the rest of the evening and night with Cassie, Michael, and the gang of teens and tweens they hosted. We played some video games; watched a movie; and had a long chat to go along with the co-ed cuddling and too-many snacks and drinks. We also stayed up too-late; and then the co-ed sofa sleepover was pretty good for those of us that weren’t in guest bedrooms in pairs or on our own for the teens that didn’t opt for any co-ed napping.
Tai Chi by the river made for a fun start to today, but we also needed to keep busy after that while having breakfast and getting ready for the day. Ethan, Naomi, Aiden, Sophia, Aaron, and I all needed to get to the parade start pint to meet up with the school band for the parade, so we did more work before breakfast and less of the clean-up, but then we were busy again as we warmed up with the band and waited for the parade to start. Ethan and I haven’t mentioned the band very much lately, but then we really haven’t had much on the go with it since the Valentine’s Day luncheon for the seniors; and we really haven’t even had much in the way of practices either – though there will be a couple of them next month ahead of the Fourth of July parade. We’re still the junior members of the band too; so it isn’t exactly a challenge to learn our parts for the music – especially when it came to this parade when we only needed to learn a couple of songs. Ethan and Naomi might get to play their trumpets for the service at the cemetery when they are seniors, but that honor usually goes to the graduating class each year; and that was true today. It was different to be in the parade this year, and while it was a solemn morning for everyone as it should be; we’ll also admit that we enjoyed the nice weather – especially when our only previous experiences for parades were much, much colder last December! The parade and service at the park were special; we loved the family stories after the service that included some Draper family stories for me and Seager-Ayres stories for Ethan as we split up to share those moments with Aiden’s and Naomi’s families respectively.
The picnic at the park was up next after we helped out with the usual work needed to get food contributions to the park along with day camp gear. The picnic lunch was awesome; there were more games and activities available this year including some charity game booths, canoe rentals, and bike rides on the trails – whether with rented bikes or our own. For our family, Violet and Dillon got bonus attention and some gifts for their special day; and we helped out with most of the next-gen kids for parts of the afternoon. We can’t cover every detail from this afternoon; so let’s just note that we had a blast with our family and friends; and all of the fun we had happens because of the people we love and get to share those adventures with!
Thanks to the awesome weather, the party in the park went on late into the afternoon; and we didn’t head out until an hour or two later than normal; since our weekend guests weren’t in any hurry to head for their homes. That did eventually need to happen, though, and we helped with the non-stop work after that as we helped to get our gear to various homes; help our guests to pack and load vehicles; and then we had a long round of goodbyes that also happened at a handful of homes. It was actually heading toward seven o’clock by the time we had a late, leftovers dinner with Mom and Dad – and without any guests. Mom opted for a time phase and other Magi power use when we helped her out with the clean-up while Dad was busy in the office; and that’s how we managed to get all of the work and laundry done by nine-thirty. Bath or Jacuzzi time followed; and now we are quickly winding down toward nap time because we’re exhausted and really need to catch up on our sleep. We’ll need that down time as we will need to start in on prepping for final exams starting tomorrow, but we’ll be busy with more than our studies as we wind down to the end of May. Let’s not get into what is coming up on our near-future schedule tonight or anything else; since we really do need to get some quality rest after such a busy weekend. Stay tuned; since we really do expect that the fun level is going to stay high as we start counting down to the end of our school year and start of our first ‘teen’ summer!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
