Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden:
Happy 13th Birthday, Samantha
Norton!
This update is coming to you from our tent;
it is late; and we are only still in the same tent because the fun is still
going on and we can get away with it.
There will not be a co-ed sleepover for us, but by the time we get to
sleep; there will only be time for a nap anyway. As for our adventures so far since the last
report; let’s begin with the rest of the news from last night.
Dinner with Mom and Dad for the four of us
was great; and I’ll only add that Naomi and I got teased about having too much
fun during the clean-up. At least two of
us in this tent do not want to comment on those jokes – especially when
comparisons were made to some of our favorite adult couples. For the record, though, I will suggest that
if kitchen clean-ups are so much fun for parents to do on their own; then I don’t
understand why they’d ever want their kids or teens to do that work for
them! Moving along, it was still hot
when we went to the park, so some swim time went along with the fun we had with
the younger kids that we helped out with while the adults were busy on or near
the ball diamond. You already know that
Naomi and Aiden came home with us for the night, and the rest of our evening
included a Magi lesson with Mom, shower or Jacuzzi time, a music practice, and
a wind-down movie to go along with our co-ed sofa sleepover. The music practice was for the band because
we wanted to be ready for the campfire tonight.
We weren’t hired or anything – or even asked ahead of time, but we were
right about our guess last night; and we played and sang for our friends and
the other guests for more than an hour.
As for the rest of last night, we cuddled and talked until later than we
should have; got a handful of hours of sleep; and then we were on the go again
by sunrise.
Tai Chi and breakfast with Mom and Dad made
for a good start to our day – especially when that meal included a vid-chat
with Cassie and Michael. We spent the
morning doing chores and getting ready for Samantha’s party; and then Mom gave
us a lift to the Nortons’ farm after we had a quick and easy lunch. We don’t know Samantha’s father as well as we
know her mother because we see her every day at school, but we like her parents
a lot; and her younger brother, Casey, is definitely in the ‘good’ group of
younger boys – despite the fact that he’s a friend of Zack and Eli! We were early for the party, but that was
mostly so that we could help out – including setting up tents and other work
that was mostly about getting ready for the barbeque dinner. The farm work doesn’t end, so the regular
work went on around us too; and we loved the opportunity to observe – and even
help out a bit now and then.
We weren’t the only friends that Samantha
had come over early to help out, but it still took a couple of hours to get our
campsite set up – not including some tents that would arrive with the campers
using them. The campfire was set and
ready for use too; and we took care of setting up the tables and chairs and
picnic tables. There was about two hours
of play time before dinner, and we had fun with that as Samantha’s friends and
guests arrived, but the four of us helped out now and then when Samantha’s Mom
needed the extra hands. Naomi is one of
Samantha’s best friends, so she and I were at the same table with her at
dinner; and it only felt a bit weird not to have Ehlana and Aiden with us
too. They were at the table next to us,
so we could still talk while we ate, but we were also busier with the
conversation going on at our table – including the roasting for Samantha that
her parents were happy to lead. The
usual birthday fun happened around dessert; Samantha liked her gifts; and then
we helped with the clean-up. The adults
had some social time after that; the evening games included a football
scrimmage, Frisbee tricks and throwing; and volleyball. Swimming in the pond was an option too, but
we didn’t choose to do that today – mostly because Naomi and Ehlana did not
want to deal with we hair for the rest of the night.
The campfire began at dusk, but we didn’t
have many adults with us; and we weren’t surprised that most of the adults
wanted to go home and get some sleep.
Farm work starts early – especially as the various harvest times start
to kick in and the workdays get even longer.
We’ve already mentioned that Naomi and the Haunted Harmonies was
recruited to provide most of the musical entertainment, and that was a
highlight of our day that our friends must have agreed with too – if all of the
dancing and compliments were an indication.
The fireside fun rolled along until midnight by the time we had the fire
out and moved on to hanging out around the tents. We’ve mentioned that the action around here
is still happening, but we’re mostly just hanging out in little groups; and
there haven’t been any major drama issues or practical jokes. We are all winding down now, but we need to
wrap this up and get back to a last round of fun before we’ll split up for the
rest of the night. Naomi hates that
idea, but we’re not at home; and Samantha’s parents have made it clear that
co-ed camping is not approved – especially for their own teen! ;^)
Before we move on, though, let’s include
another update for Cassie and Michael.
It is Friday afternoon there as we write this; so they’re about half-way
through their last work day in Beijing.
Their main job today is a visit to an inner-city outreach center, and
while that is very different from other community projects that they’ll work
with around China; it is a necessary and challenging project too. They have new plans for supporting those
operations too, but in this case; there are limits to what we can help with;
since there are problems that can’t simply be fixed with more money. Their Saturday is going to be a travel day,
but we can write more about that tomorrow night – along with any news we’ll get
about their adventures today that we won’t get any details on until sometime
tomorrow – or Friday in our time zone!
Make that later today, since it is Friday now; and let’s wrap this up
because even junior Magi Masters can get messed up when thinking about time
changes that are half a world away!
Okay, that’s enough for tonight. We’ve had an awesome day; we’re glad that
Samantha has had a happy birthday; and now we’ll get a last round of bedtime
fun out of the way with the rest of the campers and then maybe manage to get a
bit of sleep too. It could happen –
maybe! ;^)
Until next time, live with love, fellow
Magi of the Light!
