Ethan and Ehlana:
Super Bowl Sunday started out with the need for some outdoor chores – a minor round of shoveling and salting thanks to another little blast of snow and ice that had moved on by the time we got up for the day. That workout replaced our usual Tai Chi exercises; we had a hot breakfast; and then we moved on to church and Sunday school for the rest of the morning. Mom went with a snack lunch after we got home; there were some pre-party chores to do after that; and then our guests began to arrive by around one-thirty. The big game start time was still hours away, but our pre-game entertainment included video games in the lounge for the teens and kids; chick flicks for the girls in the sunroom; and football-related shows and games in the living room for the guys. There were also board games in the dining room; music play time in Ehlana’s room; and toys to play with in the workout room for the youngest kids and their chaperones. There were other Super Bowl parties going on around town, but while we could have gone to the party at the Inn and the special buffet dinner; Mom and Dad decided not to take up any of the limited number of tickets and leave that fun for others while Cassie and Michael were away anyway.
We had fun all afternoon; the pot-luck, buffet dinner was early so that the football fanatics could eat before kick-off; and then we mostly just got back to playing with our cousins and friends with short breaks to check in on the football game or take a cuddle break to catch parts of the movie-watching in the sunroom. Ehlana got recruited for a round of play calling that Cassie would have been proud of; and that talent might come in handy for our high school football games starting next August!
I’m going to take a moment here to admit that I am not a serious football fan compared to most of the guys our age. Aiden is with me on this, but that doesn’t keep us from doing what is needed to fit in with our buddies; and we will play football in high school because it is expected and we are good-enough to play well even in Grade Nine. That stated, while we kept up with the game score and checked in at least once per quarter; we didn’t cheer for either team; and had more fun spending time with our favorite girls when we could do that.
For the record, the Eagles took the early lead with the first touchdown – and then all of the twenty-four points that were scored in the first half while the Chiefs were kept scoreless. Since we’re really into music, the halftime show is supposed to be a highlight for us, but we’re not really into rap music at all, so while we caught the highlights; we didn’t like it. Don’t take that the wrong way, since rap music is very popular – it just isn’t for us.
Ehlana is now having fun joking about rap songs and new names for our humble little band, but if she actually gets serious about it; I won’t be joining that new group! ;^)
Moving along, the second-half of the game started better for the Chiefs – if only giving up a field goal for the first score counts. Ehlana’s attempts at humor distracted me from mentioning that our own highlight of that halftime show was the Pizzeria pizza snacks that the guys in the house were mostly responsible for demolishing – though we did find out later that one pizza was kept aside in the sunroom to make sure that the girls got to have some too. Mom and Dad were helping Rebecca and Jen out with that part of the food plan; since they were very busy with dinnertime orders and expected a post-game rush too – even on a school and work night.
Getting back to the game and the fun we had during the second half, a Chiefs comeback wasn’t looking good during the third quarter, so while we kept up with the score that included another touchdown for the Eagles; Aiden, Aaron, and I hosted the video gaming competition in the lounge; our favorite girls kept the younger girls entertained or spent time in the sunroom hanging out with the Moms and other teens and young adults; and we all had a happy and exciting evening. The Chiefs tried to tease their fans with the start of a big comeback right at the end of the third quarter with a touchdown, but that was muted a bit when the two-point conversion failed. That was a dumb choice anyway, since they’d needed five touchdowns anyway and would still need four more to tie the game, but maybe basic math skills got lost in the stress and heat of the moment when time was running out for their team! The Eagles started the fourth quarter with another field goal, so while Chiefs fans still likely hoped for the best; we knew that the odds of coming back from being down by thirty-one points with less than ten minutes to play were low to none. The odds didn’t get better when the Eagles added another field goal while obviously playing defensively to cement the win; and the odds got worse with the Chiefs now needing five touchdowns in eight minutes. For the historic value, the previous biggest comeback was twenty-five points; and we didn’t expect that ‘record’ to fall tonight.
By that point in the game, even the biggest football fans in the house didn’t expect the rest of the game action to make any difference for the winners, so we got to have a bit of extra fun when some of the fathers joined in on the video gaming in the lounge. Our Dad wasn’t one of them, since he was hosting the action in the living room, but it did give me the chance to spend some time with Naomi in the sunroom while cuddling and chatting with the gang in there while not really watching the end of the last movie on their schedule for the day. Most of the teens in the house were soon drafted to help with the clean-up as the game ended, and while the Chiefs had added eight points by then; there were less than three minutes left on the game clock; and they were still down by twenty-six points.
That’s why some of the next-gen parents started gathering their kids and taking them home instead of hanging around for any of the post-game festivities. We weren’t interested in the awards ceremonies, speeches, or post-game analyses either, but once the clean-up was done; our best friends went home – either with their parents or without them in Aaron’s case; since he’d split his time between our house and the game-watching party that the Landrys hosted and his parents attended. While we got busy with that clean-up, the Chiefs scored the final eight points of the game, but that just seemed silly; since they’d had their helmets handed to them for most of the rest of the game; and the Eagles were already celebrating the big win. Sure, forty-to-twenty-two looks better than forty-to-six, but anyone watching the game or looking at the detailed stats knows the truth; and that those final sixteen points were all about game theatre instead of game theory!
The fun at our house wound down from there, but it was still more than another hour before the last of our guests headed for their homes. Bath or Jacuzzi time was needed for some of us once Ehlana and I had the lounge and her room back in some semblance of order and clean; and we’ve been doing our bedtime computing and twin chat since then. We’ve spent too much time writing about a football game that means nothing in the grand scheme of world history, but we also don’t really want to get into any world news or politics commentary or rants. We can report that Cassie and Michael didn’t care about football today while enjoying their vacation adventures, and while we know that Michael made sure that Cassie’s birthday was among her best-ever; visiting ancient wonders of the world today must have been amazing too; and Ehlana and I still wish that we could be there – even after having a happy day here at home with our family and friends. We’d pick either option compared to dealing with the mess that is Washington D.C. or any other political hub around the world, but then we do have our school trip coming up in May; and we might be fed up enough by then to take matters into our own hands!
That is a fun thought that Mom won’t let us take into reality; so let’s wrap this up and stay happy for the rest of the night – even though thoughts of making all of those politicians tell the truth for a few days while there would be happy for us too. The world probably couldn’t handle that much truth, so it is likely for the best that we won’t go there; and will be going to sleep now instead. Our school week leading up to Valentine’s Day should be fun, so stay tuned for that; and we’re out of here and off to dreamland soon.
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
