Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - June 22, 2019

Happy Birthday to Us! ;^)

Ethan:

Tai Chi by the river, a special birthday breakfast, and starting the day with opening some gifts from Mom, Dad, Cassie, Michael, and each other was an awesome way to start our day!  Losing my ball game after that wasn’t so great, but ice cream treats from the Emporium and the birthday party trip to Quarry Lake helped me to get over the disappointment fairly quickly.  We played in the lake, lazy river, and at the playgrounds and on the rock wall and zip line all afternoon; had a break for the picnic lunch; and eventually headed home again in time for our birthday dinner barbeque.

The family and friends time was the best part for everything so far; and the fun will continue, but I won’t be using my computer for the rest of the night while we have that dinner, more birthday fun, play time, campfire, and major backyard camping night.

I’ll have to cover all of that news tomorrow, but it’s time for me to get back to the fun in progress in our back yard.

Stay tuned – it’s been an awesome day; and I’m sure that our evening and night will be just as great!

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

I’m not going to play with my computer today; and will go with a double update tomorrow night instead of adding anything to what Ethan’s provided so far.

Oh wait – we’re eight now; free of our booster seats; and I am not going to miss mine at all – especially after having to use it yesterday for the trip to Crystal Springs and back!  That may be a very small step in growing up, but it is something that, to be blunt, my butt is going to appreciate a lot! ;^)

Okay, it’s back to playing with our family and friends again; so I’m out of here and back to the real world.

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - June 21, 2019

Ethan:

It’s late; we need to get to sleep while we can to be ready for the birthday fun tomorrow; and I’m going to keep my side of this update short.

Aiden and I had breakfast at the Inn with Mom, Ehlana, Naomi, and others instead of waiting for the breakfast buffet to continue after the shoppers headed for the city.  We checked in with Aiden’s parents after that; and then Aiden and I spent most of the rest of the day biking the trails, hanging out at the park with our friends, and swimming a lot.  We had a picnic lunch at the park; and were at the bakery for dinner.  We did that in the back room with Aiden’s Dad while his Mom stayed in the store; and then we did more biking on the trails until Mom, Ehlana, and Naomi got home again.

We met up with them while they caught the end of the annual sales here at home; helped out with unloading the minivan and Dad’s truck after that; and hung out around the house until Cassie and Mandy got home.  There was more work to do then; had a break while Cassie and Michael did a visit to the pizzeria; and then more chat time with them – and with Rowen and Tim – before Mom sent all of us to bed.  Okay, she didn’t send Rowen and Tim to bed, but they have to work in the morning and were ready to go home by then anyway.  Add in a last bedtime chat in Ehlana’s room with Cassie and Michael; and that’s my news for today.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

The breakfast buffet was a great way to start our day; the trip to the city was quieter; and then our shopping adventure was amazing – and I’m not saying that because we didn’t have a gang of boys with us today! ;^)

Naomi and I would have made exceptions for Ethan and Aiden, but there’s no doubt that our shopping was easier without the guys around; and lunchtime and dinner were much better without the guys and their kind of food fun.  The shopping details aren’t that important, but we successfully picked up our summer wardrobes; a few extra treats; and the usual gifts and cards that we’ll need for summer birthdays, anniversaries, and other events.  Dad met up with us at Wal-Mart to help out with the space in his truck for supplies; we picked up fast food to go for the trip home; and then Dad did some running around to deliver supplies once we got home while Mom let us do the bonus shopping before we headed home too.

Ethan’s covered the news since then, though Naomi and Aiden went home tonight instead of staying with us; so they weren’t with us for the Cassie and Michael chat time.  I’m ready to get some sleep now too, so I’ll do that; and we’ll have a lot more to write about tomorrow – if we get time for that around all of the birthday adventures we have on the schedule!

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - June 20, 2019

Ethan:

We’ve had another play morning at the lab; outdoor adventures all afternoon with our friends; and a quiet, early evening here at home because Mom and Ehlana want to rest up for their big shopping trip tomorrow.  I’ll be spending the day with Aiden and our buddies while the girls are away; so I might need the sleep more – especially if Miles and Joshua are in a mood for extreme biking while the girls aren’t around to ‘slow them down’ at all.

Stay tuned – the next few days are going to be very busy and fun!

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

I love my Jacuzzi! ;^)

I also love shopping trips to the city; really do need to be ready for all of that walking and best sales hunting; so that’s all I have for tonight.

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - June 19, 2019

Ethan:

Depending on how you want to do the count, Day Three – or Five – of our summer holidays was probably close to what Ehlana and I hope we’ll have for ‘normal’ summer days.  We played at the lab or archives all morning; had lunch with Mom; and then played with our friends all afternoon.  Naomi and Aiden were with us for an easy dinner; we had more play time at the park while Mom was busy with her ball practice that included helping out with our younger cousins and some of their friends; and then Mom did a Magi lesson with us before we headed upstairs for a bath for me and quality Jacuzzi time for Mom and Ehlana.  There were video chats with Dad and Cassie; no news to report from either city; and now I’m ready to get some sleep so that I’ll be ready for a near-repeat kind of day tomorrow.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

I love my Jacuzzi! ;^)

We didn’t cure anything today at the lab, but had fun with some experiments.  The play time with our friends included the usual biking, swims in the river, picnic snacks, and some girl chat time for some of us when we needed a break from the most-annoying boys our age.  Ethan, Naomi, Aiden, and I do lead the way when it comes to junior cousin kid control at the co-ed practices, but I should mention that we do have adult help nearby if needed; and there are usually grandparents keeping an eye on us too – even if they aren’t running around after their frenetic grandchildren on a hot summer evening.  They’re also very helpful to have around for cuddling, comforting, and moral support when dealing with everything from hurt feelings to the inevitable playground bumps and bruises.

Okay, that’s enough for tonight – though I’ll just get back to enjoying my Jacuzzi time.  We’ve had a good day, and while the daily adventures aren’t as exciting as trips to the city or elsewhere; I’ll be very happy if we get to have a lot of days like this with mornings at the lab and afternoon fun with our friends.

Ending the day with long soaks in my Jacuzzi will be great too! ;^)

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - June 18, 2019

Happy 24^th Birthday, Violet!

Ethan:

Naomi agreed to go with me to Cassie and Michael’s wedding; I can’t top that; so I’ll leave the rest of the news of the day to Ehlana! ;^)

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

That’s funny, Ethan, but while Aiden agreed to go to the wedding with me too; I’ll still do the rest of this update.

For Ethan and me, our day began with Tai Chi for four by the hotel pool and breakfast at the usual diner before we saw Dad off to work at the courthouse.  We moved on to a play morning at SportsFusion with Aunt Angela, Valerie, and Marcus; we had lunch at the mall; and a bit more shopping before we split up; Mom picked up Anna-Marie; and we headed for home after getting a fast food fix order for Aunt Leanne.  We got home in time to have a birthday visit with Violet before my baseball practice; Mom and Ethan were in on the birthday dinner at the Inn that Jake and Stephanie semi-hosted for their best friends; and then Ethan and I got the chances to get our dates for the wedding before we eventually headed home for the night.

There was work or studying to do after that; I’ve had a soak in my Jacuzzi; and now I’m going to catch up on my lab reading list before we’ll go to play there again tomorrow.  While Ethan really does believe that his date with Naomi is the personal highlight of the day – a fact that Naomi will love to hear about tomorrow; we really have had an awesome day both in the city and back here at home.  Our next two days won’t likely be quite that exciting, but the fun will continue; and then we’ll be in for three days of extreme fun with shopping on Friday; our birthday adventures on Saturday; and bonus fun with Cassie on Sunday while she’s home for the weekend.

I’d better get to that reading and then move on to the sleeping part of my day so that I’ll be ready for all of the fun.

This is Ehlana Proctor; coming to you live from what is now my past!