Cassie's Journal - May 3, 2015

We’ve had an awesome day!

The weather was beautiful; and Mom and Dad were all for a play afternoon with Ethan, Ehlana, and me.  We had a great morning too, though four out of five members of my family would suggest that my morning was a bit better than theirs because I got to have breakfast with Michael and his family; and what they were having this morning was way better than the meal at our house.  Church and Sunday school was fun, and while getting to spend some time with our friends was part of that; it was the final work we did to get ready for the Mother’s Day service next weekend that kept us entertained during most of our Sunday school time.

I didn’t feel guilty when it came time to part ways with Michael at the Inn on my way home; though I would have loved it if he could have come out to play with us this afternoon instead of staying at the Inn.  Once we were home, we got changed; made up lunch for eight; and had that ready by the time that Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Zack came over to join us out on the back porch.  Canoeing wasn’t an option for Aunt Leanne, but Uncle Adam and Zack were happy to sign up for the trip; and Aunt Leanne decided to do a bit of visiting and have a nap while we were gone.  Lunch was quick and easy, and so was the clean-up.  Mom and I took care of that while Dad and Uncle Adam got the canoes and gear out; and it wasn’t long before we were saying goodbye to Aunt Leanne and heading upriver.

Although I’d expected to be paddling with Uncle Adam, we ended up having boys and girls canoes; with Mom, Ehlana, and I leading the way while the guys followed – and occasionally paddled next to us when they could.  There was a bit of traffic on the river, since we weren’t the only family to decide that some time out of the river would be a fun way to spend the day.  Paddling all the way to the whirlpool would have been great, but we had Zack with us; and the adults in our group weren’t all that interested in doing that on our first longer trip of the year.  We did paddle upriver for nearly an hour and a half before turning back; and the round-trip took nearly exactly two and a half hours.

By then, one of us was ready to cool off, and though the water was quite cold; that just helped me to cool off very fast.  I can’t say that was my first swim of the year, since we did get to have some pool time while we were in Florida; but it was definitely my shortest swim of the year so far!  Ethan and Ehlana thought about joining me right up until they each tested the water first; and then came to their senses.  Mom, Dad, and Uncle Adam flat-out refused; though the two men did tell us about a couple of their early season swim attempts from when they were kids and teens.  They mentioned how nice it was not to have to deal with peer pressure for things like that anymore, and though I didn’t mention it; I did think about the fact that I wasn’t under any peer pressure to go for that swim today – and I actually liked the cold-shock; even if staying in the water for long wouldn’t have been fun.

Michael couldn’t go for the canoe ride with us, but he did delay his afternoon break, and we met up for an hour after I got changed into dry clothes and called to let him know that we were back.  I took Ethan and Ehlana with me; we picked up ice cream treats and drinks at the Emporium; and then went to hang out at the falls and give Michael a chance to relax after a busy lunch rush.  The twins ran around between the upper and lower platforms while Michael and I mostly sat and talked; though they sat with us while having their ice cream so that they could help out with the canoe trip recap.  For some reason, Michael seemed most disappointed to have missed out on seeing me in wet shorts and shirt after my micro-swim; but he didn’t seem at all interested in going for a swim too.

When he needed to get back to the Inn, we walked there with Michael; sent him back into battle with hugs and kisses; and then Ethan, Ehlana, and I went home.  The parents were hanging out in the back yard; Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace had joined the party; and Zack and Caleb were both having naps under the shade of the sunroom.  We had a little visit first, but then Ethan and Ehlana wanted to play some games; so we grabbed some toys out of the storage barn and played soccer, Frisbee, and t-ball.  There were some adult players coming ‘off the bench’ now and then; and I tossed a ball around with Mom, Dad, Uncle Adam, and Uncle Mark for a while when the twins were ready for another snack break.  Playing catch was suggested after the t-ball game reminded the parents that baseball practices are starting this week.

We’re all looking forward to that, but that’s also one more activity on my schedule; and this first full week of May is going to be very, very busy.  That’s going to start tomorrow when the Malloys get here for their work-visit; so I should really move this along so that I can get started on my nap time soon.

Dinner was another easy-meal barbeque, and while I helped with the clean-up; my pre-dinner job was kid control.  Zack and Caleb were both awake by then, and though Caleb isn’t exactly ready to run around and play with his cousins; he did have fun running around with me and playing on a blanket that I set up under a tree so we’d have some shade for him.  Everything else about our play afternoon was amazing too, but spending that time with my cousins was special for me; and something that I just don’t get to do enough.  Yes, I say that about too many things; but life seems to be non-stop lately and there aren’t enough hours to do everything I want to do.

Mom and Dad had work to do after dinner, so my aunts, uncles, and cousins went home shortly after we’d finished the clean-up so that they could get to that.  The twins and I were tempted to stay outdoors and play longer, but we decided to instead get an early start on my studies and work while they spent that time working on their college classes and assignments.  That wasn’t as much fun, but we used a time phase; and finished up all of our work by ten-thirty.  It was bath time for all of us after that, and while Mom and Dad took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana cleaned up and off to bed; I came up to my room for some quality time with my Jacuzzi.

We won’t discuss bath time for the parents after the kids were in bed, and if you’re imagining that while reading this, cut it out – that’s my Mom and Dad you’re picturing in that scene!

Moving along, I had my bath; did my hair; got ready for bed; and was snuggled with Mandy and my computer by eleven-thirty.  Since I’d done all of my studying and work for tonight; that just left the usual nightly computer checks and this journal update to do.  There was nothing newsworthy to report from the Hathornes; I’m not going to get into global politics or news tonight; and there weren’t any email to deal with since my last check while working on the family business.

That politics comment does remind me that I didn’t even mention in my journal that the Grade Eight trip to Washington was last week; but that’s mostly because it had absolutely no impact on my week at all – other than that it was slightly quieter around the school and playground while we were missing a class full of kids and a couple of teachers.  The Senior class trip will have the Grade Twelve students heading for New York a week from Monday, but that won’t be a big deal for me either.  This is getting off-track, but thinking about that dies lead me to musing about my hoped-for band trip to Disney; and maybe even possibilities for other school trips too.  I won’t bore you with that right now, though; and it really is time for me to crash for the night anyway; so let’s just wrap this up so that I can do that.

For the week ahead, as I already mentioned; first up is the Malloys’ visit.  They’ll be here until Wednesday while Terry starts his work on the new bridge.  That’ll mostly be surveying and taking ground samples and whatever else he’ll be doing to get what he needs to design the bridge.  We’ll also have three baseball practices on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday to go along with all of our regular activities; and Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s 4^th anniversary is on Thursday.  Stephanie and Sophia have their 20^th and 4^th birthdays on Tuesday, Nora has her 15^th on Sunday; and just in case all of that isn’t enough extra fun; don’t forget that Mother’s Day is next Sunday too!

I should’ve gone to bed hours ago to rest up for all of that!

Going there right now is an option, though; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - May 2, 2015

Happy 2^nd Birthday, Leah!

Can you believe that it’s already been two years since our first ‘hometown’ cousin was born?  Okay, Leah isn’t technically our cousin, but we did adopt Aunt Deborah shortly after she moved here; so it totally counts.

The birthday party part of our day didn’t get started until shortly after lunchtime, and other than our Tai Chi workout, which was indoors thanks to some untimely rain showers; we were busy all morning with yard and house chores except for our short stops for breakfast and lunch.  While we had spurts of rain blow through town a few times today; that didn’t really get in the way of the chores this weekend.  Dad and I did all of the usual yard chores and also made sure that three canoes were cleaned up and ready to use this afternoon in case Leah and her little friends wanted to go for canoe rides.  Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana took care of most of the indoor chores, and they had more fun than Dad and I did thanks to using a bit of Magi power here and there to get their work done.

After cleaning up from lunch, it was time for some of us to hit the showers and get ready for Leah’s party.  Her Grandma and Grandpa Ayres were hosting the big event at their house – mostly because they have more space; and they’re on the river too.  Both features came in handy today, with the extra space being needed during the afternoon rain; and after dinner when we took kids for short canoe rides as part of the evening entertainment.

Leah may only be two now, but she’s already collecting quite a group of friends; and they were all at the party today – along with most of their parents and some siblings.  Add in other friends and all of the members of Leah’s extended family that could make it to her party; and Grandma Ayres had a full house for the afternoon and evening.  Grandpa Ayres was working at the store until closing for the weekend; but he was home in time for the birthday cake, gifts, and the post-dinner play time.  Grandma and Grandpa Johnson came here for the weekend too; though they were making a quick trip – driving here this morning; and planning to head back tomorrow afternoon.

Mom, Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, and I walked over to the Ayres’ house at about one-thirty, and we had time to help out with the final stages of the party set-up before the first guests arrived.  Ethan and Ehlana were happy campers because they got to hang out with Naomi and Aiden for the rest of the day; and that was another fun example of how closely-knit our families and friends are here.  Naomi was at the party because Leah is her cousin; and Aiden came along with Hailey because his little sister is already Leah’s best friend.  They’d needed to be dropped off for the afternoon; but their parents did join the party after closing the bakery for the day.  Liz had to work at the salon too; so she was another of the ‘business owner’ guests joining the fun late – and getting to have dessert before dinner.

By the way, I don’t know for sure that birthday cakes that are made for the best friends of Hannah’s kids are extra-special, as claimed tonight; but the examples I’ve had so far for Leah, Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi have been awesome so maybe it’s true.  I’ll continue to investigate and compare over the next few years and let you know the results when I have them! ;^)

I was on kid control for most of the day.  That meant helping out with the games; keeping the kids as happy as possible; and not losing any of them.  Part three of that was probably harder than it sounds; and it’s amazing how many different directions a small gang of one to three-year old kids can go at the same time.  We should have called around and borrowed a couple of herd dogs to take care of that for us.  Don’t get me wrong – I had a blast all day too; but it was also very busy and tiring fun.

It took about an hour and a half to get through the organized games and award all of the prizes.  After that, it was ‘free’ play time.  That included some running around in the rain, and for some strange reason; there weren’t very many adults interested in doing that with us.  They did have fun laughing at the kids from the house or back porch – and at me as I tried to keep up with all of the happy little rain dancers.  Holding off on dinner until after all of the stores closed for the day wasn’t an option with so many young kids, so we started feeding them by shortly after five; and managed to keep most of them busy through until all of the guests had arrived.  The cake and ice cream dessert was served then, accompanied by the birthday song for Leah, and after that messy blast of fun; Leah opened all of her gifts.  That took a while, and some of the kids were already getting bored before she was finished; so I joined the small team of paddlers and we started the mini canoe trips.  For that we had two teens or adults in each canoe with two little kids.  We did loops down toward the falls and back again; and I did six trips with twelve kids and three different paddle partners doing two trips each.  The canoeing was one of the best parts of the day for me; and I especially loved getting to spend some time doing that with Hannah and Liz while they were helping me out with trips for their own kids.

There were more games in the back yard and the adults had time for a long visit and chat while the kids played; but the party started breaking up by dusk as kids finally tired out and were taken home to bed.  Ethan and Ehlana weren’t tired out by then, but we did go home shortly after Michael caught up with me after he was finished helping out at the Inn for the night.  We helped out with the post-party clean-up; got our canoes and gear home and put away; and did the full bath and bedtime routine with Ethan and Ehlana while Mom and Dad went into the office to do a bit of work before their own bedtime.

Once we had Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night and happily playing with their iPads while waiting to be ready to sleep; Michael and I came up to the lounge to watch a movie.  We actually watched most of it, but also took advantage of the alone time for a minor make-out session.  Getting to do that two nights in a row has been great, but while we considered shooting for another ‘accidental’ sofa sleepover; we decided not to push our luck and save them up for better occasions.

Michael went home at midnight, since we do have church in the morning; and he’s going to have a long day after that at the Inn.  I don’t have any plans for tomorrow, though if the weather cooperates; a cone trip with Mom, Dad, and the twins might be fun.  I’m ready for some down time now, though; so let’s get this wrapped up so I can do that.  After I finished up with the goodnight hugs and kisses on the front porch with Michael; I came up to my room, got ready for bed, and snuggled in with Mandy and my computer.  I was only going to do the basic checks tonight, but there was a little job waiting for me in my inbox; so I took care of that too.  I had a couple of college student email tonight too, and though I haven’t done any college updates in a while; the only news from those email was that they’re busy getting ready for final exams this weekend – and they’ll be doing that from now through to when those exams begin.  That’s a week from Monday for most of them; which also means we’re only a couple of weeks away from them getting home for the summer!

I can hardly wait to see Violet, Dillon, Stephanie, Jake, and everyone else!

Okay, I guess that’s it for the news today, and though I’ve skipped a lot of the fun little details; I’m sure you’ll find all of that and more in the journal Aunt Deborah is doing for Leah until she’s old enough to do it herself; so you can always jump over to that archive if you’re interested in hearing more about that part of my day from a different perspective.  For me, it’s really time to crash for a handful of hours; so, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - May 1, 2015

We’ve really had a beautiful spring day, and while our teachers didn’t let that get in the way of piling more work on us; the weather did help out with making the rest of my day really great.

Tai Chi by the river was awesome; being outdoors for lunch had all of the kids and teens at school in a great mood; and the best parts of my day started once we were set free for the weekend.

We had no plans for the night, so Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I went out for a bike ride until dinnertime.  That was mostly because Ethan and Ehlana were already hanging out with Naomi and Aiden; and didn’t need us to help out with keeping them entertained.  While hanging out with Rowen and Tim was an option for after dinner too; we decided that we were all more interested in some couples’ alone time than in having a movie or game night at one of our houses.  Since their parents were working at the store anyway, that non-plan worked for Rowen and Tim; and they probably got to the play time for two part of their evening long before Michael and I did.

Dinner was a barbeque with cold salad sides; and we had that meal out on the back porch.  Dad had done the grilling; Mom had made the salads up earlier in the day; and the clean-up was easy – even with just a two-teen crew with twin supervisors.  That left lots of play time; so we all went out for a walk that included the usual front porch visits and some playground time at the school.  After getting home again, Mom and Dad opted for a bit of work in the office to hopefully get ahead on the weekend homework; so Michael and I took Ethan and Ehlana in tow to the lounge and we watched a movie together.

That was fun, but the Michael and me time after we took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night was both fun and quite a bit hotter!  We both have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, so we didn’t have hours available to us; but we took full advantage of the time we did have before we went downstairs to have a micro visit with Mom and Dad when it was time for Michael to go home.  By the time I finished saying goodnight to Michael out on the front porch in a mostly non-verbal sort of way; Mom and Dad were ready to head for bed too; so we all came up to our rooms.

They’re not sleeping, but I plan to be soon; and we don’t need to ponder what Mom and Dad are doing instead.

I’ve done my basic nightly computer and email checks, and since we really do have a lot to do starting first thing in the morning; that’s all I have for tonight.

Until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!

Cassie's Journal - April 30, 2015

Tai Chi by the river this morning was good, if a bit cool; Michael stayed for breakfast before hurrying on to his morning weight training with the guys; and Ehlana and I wrapped up our early morning with a bit of hair and dress-up play time until Rowen stopped in to pick me up on her way to school.

The last day of the month hasn’t been particularly special, but I have had quite a bit of fun to go along with the studying and work that has filled most of my day.  Nice, warm spring weather continued today, and that was nice for the walks between home, school, and the Inn, but other than our outdoor play time at school; I didn’t get to enjoy the sun and warm much.  We had a fairly busy school day on the class work side of things; mostly because we’re wrapping up modules in quite a few of our classes before doing a round of testing next week and then moving on to the last subject modules of the year.  That sounds great; though most of my classmates aren’t thinking about that in terms of being weeks away from final exams.

While we were kept busy in our classes, Michael and I were busier after school.  We did our homework at the Inn with Rebecca and Jenny doing their work then too.  The staffing for the night turned out to be a bit light for the dinner rush; so the four of us pitched in early and kept busy straight through until the game night action started – except for short dinner breaks that we did in pairs so that we didn’t fall behind with the dishwashing or prep line.  Michael and I were able to take our food outside and eat by the river; but that really was just a short break that didn’t really give us a chance to wind down at all from the busy.

Game night was a fun few hours of play time with our families and friends.  The Stone and Proctor families did not bring home any championships this week; but we managed to have an entertaining evening together despite that small disappointment.  Once the Inn was cleaned up and ready for the morning, Michael and I walked home with both of our families; didn’t get to have much of a goodnight hug and kiss thanks to having Miranda and Aunt Leanne teasing us about it; and then it was time for me to get home and started on my studies and work.

Mom did my Magi lesson with me first; we put Ethan and Ehlana to bed after that; and I’ve been doing my language studies, archive assignment, and family business work since climbing into my own bed with Mandy about three and a half hours ago.  I won’t say that much of that study and work was much fun, but I did get everything done on my to-do list; so I’m a happy camper – if a very tired one.

We don’t have any major plans for this weekend – other than Leah’s 2^nd birthday on Saturday, and I’m good with that; since that should give Michael and I at least one or two opportunities for some quality alone time.  There will be some work on Saturday too; but I’m not going to help out at the Inn on Sunday.  I’m ready for a weekend off from that; though I’ll still miss spending that time with Michael and his family.  I’m hoping that Ethan, Ehlana and I can have some fun with Mom and Dad instead; but we’ll see how that goes.

Anyway, I’m ready to get started on my nap, so that’s all for tonight, folks; and, until next time...

...May the Magi Force be with you!