Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 27, 2018

Ethan:

The campfire last night was really awesome!  We had music, scary stories, and lots of snacks to toast and devour; we stayed up late having fun with that; and then later-still with some camping fun before eventually crashing and napping for a while.

Tai Chi by the river was too-early, but amazing too with the extra exercise buddies; and then some of the kids and teens were surprised to find out that we were all going to the Inn for a breakfast buffet.  Michael had to work to help out with that; and there ended up being around two hundred diners getting in on the special deal – including most of the parents of the campers.  That was a great way to wrap up the camping adventure, but then we had a lot of work to do after that to get the campground packed up and the four back yards cleaned up too.

That kept us busy for the rest of the morning; we had ten at our house for a light lunch – since we had stuffed ourselves at breakfast; and then Mom and Cassie had help from the teacher-fathers in the collective family for our second trail ride and corral adventure trip to the Ridge River Ranch.  The five-and-under kids had the corral adventure experience while the older kids and teens went on a ninety-minute trail ride with Cassie and two of our favorite trail ride leaders – Cody and Christie Carter.  We had a lot of fun on that ride; and I won’t comment on why some of my cousins had more fun than others while hanging out with Cody and Christie – even though the girls had fun with talking about crushes later on once we got home again.

We had a post-ride snack and drinks at home; played in the back yard until dinnertime; and then we had eleven for dinner because Kara was added to our group of cousins so that she could hang out with Kaitlyn for the second-to-last night of our cousins’ hometown holiday.  That meal was lasagna and sides because Mom wanted us to eat something other than hot dogs and hamburgers for a change; and then we headed over to the park to watch the Wasps play the Exterminators – and support our cousins and their friends.  Aunt Leanne and Cassie led the cheerleaders, but Jayden, Aiden, and I spent as much time at the playground with Zack and some of the younger kids than we did watching that match.

We had a near-perfect summer night for baseball with game-time temperature in the mid-eighties.  In addition to the baseball and playground fun; some of us went for a dip in the river to cool down; and ice cream treats were bought and brought from the Emporium too.  That all added up to a fun evening, and as a bonus; the Wasps won that game fourteen-to-eight to put our cheerleaders at three-for-three four the games our cousins have been here to watch with us.  The fourth will be in the morning with the Pixies; and I’m sure that Ehlana and Naomi hope that our family will end up with a perfect vacation record!

Mom and Dad only had their kids and sleepover guests with them when we came home – though Grandma and Grandpa stopped in for visit too so that they could spend a few minutes with us before they head for China in the morning.  They’ll be on the road well-before-dawn; and then they’ll be gone for most of August.  I don’t want to go there, since Cassie’s running out of time before she’ll be heading to college – and she’ll be going to take possession of her townhomes next week!

The girls are on the third floor tonight; so it’s quiet here in my room by comparison.  We’ve been doing some video gaming since coming up to bed, but we’re ready to get some sleep now after being up too late last night; so it’s time to wrap this up so I can get to the napping part of our day too.  We only have one day left before the cousins will have their travel day on Sunday after church; so we’ll do our best to have one more amazing day with them before we’ll all get back to our normal lives again after that.  I’m not on fun overload, but I will be ready to have things get a bit quieter for a while – and I don’t mean that as a joke because Cassie will be gone for two days next week too! ;^)

Okay, I really didn’t want to go there, so it must be past-time to get some sleep.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

Ethan’s covered the highlights; I’m just taking a break in the girl chat; and that’ll be more fun than spending much time doing this report on my computer, so let’s go with what Ethan has already reported and call it a night!

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

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 26, 2018

Ethan:

This update is coming to you while I’m taking a quick break ahead of the campfire tonight; so I’ll need to keep it short.

We had an amazing play day at Quarry Lake; the major barbeque dinner at Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house was a blast; and now we’re having a massive backyards camping night with all of the cousins, a lot of friends, and dozens of other teens and kids from around town in a total of four back yards.  The campfire is next, and that’s going to be amazing with all of the kids, teens, and adults; so I don’t want to miss a minute of the fun!

This really has been an awesome day, and now and then; that’s really all that matters – having a great time with the people we love most.  I’m going to get back to doing that now; so that’s all the news for today.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

Our day began, as usual, with Tai Chi by the river, but then we needed to kick things up to a higher gear to get ready for our play day at Quarry Lake.  That plan, by the way, came about because today was booked for an outing for the KidZone kids, and since our youngest cousins were going to be there anyway; the parents decided that we’d spend the day out there too.  Mom recruited help from Jake, Stephanie, Violet, and Dillon to help her out with the cousins while we were out there; and Violet and Dillon made the tough sacrifice to take the day off from work to play with us – and their best friends.

The swimming, slides, play time, rock wall climbing, and zip line rides were the ‘what’ part of the fun for us today; but it was doing all of that with some of the people we love most that made everything so special.  We also had a lot of friends and neighbors to play with, since the KidZone trip included volunteers, their siblings, and then even more teens and kids that joined in and came out to the campground for the day too.

That’s basically what’s happened for our camping night too.  Our plans for that caught on; and now it seems as though we have half the kids in town here tonight!  It isn’t quite that many, but we do have tents in four back yards; and this very well could be the biggest campfire of the summer with all of the teens, kids, and adults that are here for that last blast of fun for the day.  Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne also hosted a major barbeque that included everyone that was with us at Quarry Lake, all of the neighbors, and all of the KidZone staff and volunteers that helped out with that for Brianna, Faith, and the other younger kids.

We’re just about to start the campfire, but Naomi and I don’t get a tent to ourselves tonight; I was taking this break anyway; and it seemed like a good time to get my usual bedtime computing out of the way.  The countdown is on to the last couple of days of hometown vacation for our cousins, but we will be keeping the fun going through the weekend, so even though this is the biggest camping and campfire adventure of the week; it’s also just part of what’s been an amazing week so far!

I’ll hope that trend continues all night – even with a gang of boys around, but I have to get back to the fun now; so you’ll have to wait for the next update to find out how that goes for us.  That’s all I have for now, though; so I’m out of here and heading back to the real world – and the campfire fun waiting for me there!

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

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 25, 2018

Ethan:

Note to me – when camping in a tent for the night; don’t let your tent mates eat too many authentic camping baked beans!

There were hot dogs and hamburgers to go along with the baked beans for dinner; we – the guys – went biking at the park with Michael and Tim after that; and biked with some of the girls too while Ehlana and Naomi were busy with their ball practice.  We played until it was near-dark; started the campfire then; and were ‘raided’ by the girls.  They stayed for a while; Cassie told us a scary story; and they ‘stole’ some of our best Olde Bakery snacks.  We ran them off eventually; went back to our campfire; headed for our tents by a bit after eleven; and then did our own raid on the girls’ camp before actually, eventually, getting into our sleeping bags – and playing video games until we passed out.

Tai Chi by the river was too-early after a late night; we did that with Mom, Dad, and the girls; and then it was boys and girls at separate breakfasts – which for the guys included more bakery treats, cereal, or other easy-food options.  We took it easy this morning before packing up our tents and hauling our gear back to our homes; the highlight of the day was the lunch at the Inn that the grandparents hosted for all of the cousins and anyone else that could take the break from work to join us for; and then we had a lazy afternoon just hanging out and swimming in the river because we were all tired after a long day in the canoes yesterday.

Our cousins were at their sleepover homes for dinner by late afternoon, but we all got together at the park again for the co-ed ball practice.  Most of us did other things – like more trail riding or playground fun; and then Mom and Dad brought Ehlana and me home for the last quiet night we’re likely to have until after our cousins head home on Sunday.

Mom did a Magi lesson with us while Dad worked in the office; Ehlana and I needed some tub time after that; and now I’m ready to crash and nap; so that’s all I have for tonight.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

I am so glad that I was at the girls’ campout last night!

We got to have a real dinner that didn’t include baked beans – a bad idea when camping in tents; and we didn’t have all of the usual games that guys play when in gangs at meals.  I don’t even want to mention the contest that we heard some of the guys having later last night – and I don’t mean through gossip; since we could hear them having that contest all the way from their campground downriver!

Dinner was great; Naomi and I had our ball practice after that; and Cassie and Rowen ended up going biking at the park with some of the girls while a few of the younger ones ended up at the playground with teen or adult supervision while the Moms got to have a little break.  We had a good practice; got to play for a while after that; and then headed home in time for starting our campfire at dusk.

Our top entertainment of the evening ended up being a raid that Cassie and Rowen led us on; we temporarily took over the guys’ campfire; Cassie told them a scary story; and we ate some of their campfire treats before letting them chase us off.  Zack and Eli led the way for that; since Michael and Tim were too happy getting to cuddle with their girlfriends, but most of the girls were ready to be on our own again anyway.  We were back at our campfire for another hour or so; put out the fire at a bit after eleven; took turns in the house for washroom breaks before heading out to our tents; and then we would have gone off to sleep fairly-quickly – if the guys hadn’t felt the need to raid our campground to pay us back for our raid.  Only some of the boys were scared off by the threat of hugs and kisses; but I’ll let you guess at which boys were in that group with Michael and Tim.  Naomi had a bit too much fun with that; but then that was an added bit of fun for me too; since she was very happy to talk about that with me once we were back in our tents.

We were on our own in our tent – even though we’d expected to have Hailey with us as a last-minute addition so that she wasn’t left out of the camping, but she ended up in Leah’s tent instead – though they were a bit crowded.

We did eventually get to sleep; Cassie, Naomi, and I were up early for Tai Chi by the river with Mom, Dad, and the boys; and then Dad was allowed to have breakfast with us because he helped cook the pancakes and bacon.  After breakfast; we had a lazy morning around here; cleaned up our campground in time to get that done before we headed to the Inn for the lunch that the grandparents hosted for the cousins and most of the aunts and uncles too; and then we had a lazy afternoon in the back yard too – though we had the guys with us for the swimming and goofing around in the back yard.

The cousins split up to the sleepover houses in time for dinner; we all got back together at the park while the co-ed ball practice was going on; and then Ethan and I came home with Mom and Dad.  Mom did a Magi lesson with us before joining Dad to do some work in the office; I borrowed Cassie’s Jacuzzi after that because I needed the tub time; and now I’m going to get some rest because we are going to be very busy from now until our cousins head home – starting with an all-day adventure at Quarry Lake tomorrow!  That’s going to be great, and I want to be rested and ready for all of the fun; so that’s all for tonight and I’ll tell you all about that trip with the next update.

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

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 24, 2018

Ethan:

This update is early because we’re going to be too busy tonight for any computing.

We were up early; had a busy morning getting ready for our canoe trip; and then we had a total of seventeen teens and kids in six canoes – including Cassie and Michael.  They had a canoe to themselves – along with the heaviest picnic supplies; Jayden, Aiden, and I were together; Ehlana went with Eddie and Nicole; Naomi was with Kaitlyn and Kara; and Jaimie and her five hometown friends were in girls’ and guys’  canoes to round out our little flotilla.  It took two hours to get to the whirlpool – it’s always a bit longer when paddling upstream; and then it was time to play in the whirlpool and river.

The water play time was great; Ehlana and I mostly hung out with Jayden, Aiden, and Naomi; and tried to stay out of the way of the teen drama with Jaimie and her friends.  That was all about those three guys trying to impress the girls.  Jaimie wasn’t impressed; which was why Cassie and Michael intervened and Michael got all of the guys playing Frisbee while Cassie ‘saved’ Jaimie for a while.  We eventually had our picnic by the river; played and swam some more until around one-thirty; and then we headed for home.

The camping tonight is for the guys at Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah’s house while the girls are at our house.  When we got back, the canoes and supplies needed to be dealt with; Cassie helped the girls get started on setting up their campground by the river; and Jayden and I had Michael with us while we packed our bags before heading over to the Ayres’ back yard so that we could get started on setting up our tents there.  I’m writing this while getting my things set up in the tent I’ll be sharing with Jayden and Aiden; and I’ll need to get back to the camping fun soon before the guys come looking for me.  Most of them have jumped in the river; and I’d like to get in on that swim before dinner too; so I guess that’s all I have for now.  We still have a lot of fun ahead of us – a camping-worthy dinner; a campfire; and what’s sure to be a late night that may include a raid or two on the girls’ camp.

I’ll let you know how that goes for us with the next update, but I have to go now; so it’s back to the real world for me.

Ethan – out!

***

Ehlana:

I feel the need to get my update for today out of the way now.  I wonder why – not!

We’ve had a really good day so far, and I’ll start by thanking Mother Nature for the great weather for our holidays so far.  Today was perfect for a canoe trip to the whirlpool.  Hot, but not too-hot; so we could have fun without worrying about getting dehydrated or sunstroke.

The paddle upriver was fun, and while Naomi and I were in separate canoes; we paddled side-by-side for a lot of the trip and could still talk together.  Cassie and Michael made sure that we all had fun at the whirlpool – even Jaimie; which was a challenge when she really didn’t want to hang out with the boy that her friends hope she’ll hook up with for the rest of the week.  Michael successfully diverted the guys with water games; we had a great picnic for a break between morning and afternoon water and whirlpool fun; and then we paddled home again.

It was time to get to work for a while.  We – the girls – set up our tents by the river while the guys put the extra canoes away and then moved on to their campout in the Ayres’ back yard.  Jaimie was very happy about that – especially since we will be having a girls-only dinner too.  We only had girls in the yard by the time our tents were set up; we went for a cool-down swim; and had a bit of play time before some of us needed to split up and get our bags packed for our camping night.  I’m doing that now while Naomi’s doing the same at her house; so Ethan’s need to do his update now works for me too – and I didn’t plan on having my computer with me in the tent tonight anyway.

I need to hurry up because we’ll be eating soon an then Naomi and I have our ball practice to get to before we can come back here for the camping adventure with the rest of the girls.  I’ll include the news from the rest of our day with the next update, but with Cassie and Rowen chaperoning us tonight; we’re sure to have a blast!  That is all I have for now, though; so it’s back to playing with my friends again; and I am so glad that I’m a kid right now.  The grown-ups aren’t getting to have nearly as much fun as we’re having this week!

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