Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 26, 2023

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

This wasn’t an ‘official’ rest day, but it has ended up that way for us because our canoeing plans were changed when we decided that we didn’t want to spend another hot day paddling all the way to the whirlpool when staying closer to home allowed for more comfort – even when we were outdoors and enjoying the swim time and the rest of our adventures at home and around town.  Our picnic lunch still happened because it had been made up this morning and needed to be eaten anyway, but we also had Emporium frozen treats for our morning break and pizza slices at the Pizzeria during a mid-afternoon stop around some minor shopping at the Galleria.

We were split up for dinner – and I mean that to include Ehlana having Aiden stay with her for that meal with Mom and Dad while I was with Naomi and her family.  We were back together for the co-ed ball practice; and the four of us were on-duty for kid control while the parents and some of our favorite ball players were busy and having fun with the kids their own ages!  That kept us busy until it was time to head for our homes, and we don’t have any guests with us tonight because our visiting cousins are elsewhere again tonight as our hometown family continues to share them as we wind down toward the end of their visit.

There isn’t any news to add since we got home.  Mom didn’t want us to do any work tonight; we skipped the Magi lesson opportunity too; and bath or Jacuzzi time was the only item on our to-do list after a hot play day – two of them if you include the biking and camping from yesterday.  We have done some bedtime computing that included a bit of family business work, but that wasn’t anything serious or interesting; and now we’re pretty much ready to call it a night and get some sleep.  We want to rest up and be ready for tomorrow – and the last few days we’ll have with our visiting cousins; so that’s it for tonight.  Stay tuned, since our next adventures will include a last day with Cassie and Michael before they leave for China; and then we will not be taking over their house for a month-long party while they’re away – even though they are getting teased about that a lot this week!  We will be helping out with taking care of their house, yard, and Mandy while they’re away, but that’ll mostly be work and probably won’t be newsworthy.  We are still going to be very busy while they’re away, though, and we’ll try to have a blast – even if we won’t get to take that to a world-travel adventure level of fun!

We won’t be having any fun tomorrow if we don’t get some sleep; so we’re out of here starting right now!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 25, 2023

 

Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden:

Happy 5^th Birthday, Tamara Carter!

Happy 23^rd Birthday, Vanessa Sparks!

We’ve had another awesome day, but let’s get started with the rest of the story from last night!

Our tween sleepover adventures were amazing, and included video gaming; two movies; and a lot of co-ed cuddling and tween chat fun!  There was a difference between cuddling levels for each pair with Naomi and I at one end of the scale and Jayden and Susan at the other, but we all enjoyed ourselves; and it wasn’t even weird to have the extra couples compared to normal.  Sophia and Aaron are definitely moving their relationship along; and we love seeing them so happy!  We stayed up way too late; there was co-ed nap time for four of us in the lounge after our cousin and friends headed for their rooms; and we still managed to wake up on-time for sunrise Tai Chi with Mom and Dad this morning.

Our bike ride to Quarry Lake plans were only for the teens and tweens in the family along with our friends, but while we didn’t have any added riders with us when we hit the trail for our favorite campground; we weren’t on our way for long before discovering that we had a small gang of kids led by Zack and Eli following us on an unauthorized ride that just happened to have them end up at Quarry Lake too.  Parents were texted and advised, but we weren’t personally involved in that; and there wasn’t any parental intervention.  There were parents that came out to the campground with some of our younger cousins and their friends too, but we only had cameo moments with them while being left to do our own thing while there.  For the four of us, our play time included biking the trails; a half-hour on Aqua Bikes; and lots of swimming and playing on the water slides through until we packed up and headed home again.

By the time we got home, a major family-and-friends’ Pizzeria pizza picnic dinner at the park was being put together.  We weren’t drafted for that work, but we did set up tents and round up our camping gear for a major teen-tween-kid camping night before we needed to be at the park for our ball practices.  The kids were added because we couldn’t resist Brianna, Faith, and some of the other kids; and that’s also why we’re putting up with Zack, Eli, and some of the guys that have been annoying us for most of the evening – including at the picnic dinner with their usual food and drinks games.  That can be even worse than usual when pizza is involved, but let’s not go there; since even writing about the details might gross out our future journal readers!

The baseball and dinner adventures were fun, but that wasn’t as-exciting as our play time at Quarry Lake; and then the campfire that started at dusk was better too.

Yes, our musical contributions had a lot to do with why we loved the campfire more than the baseball, but that was true despite the not-so-fun pranks and goofiness from Zack, Eli, and their little gang.  We should mention that Miles and Joshua are with us tonight too and they haven’t gotten in on that kind of fun, but they’ve been playing nice since their trouble with the girls at the park; and we’ll be happy if they keep on with that change in attitude indefinitely!  There were adults around for parts of the campfire, but we only had teens and tweens around it when it was time to put it out at midnight.  The core group of pranksters was still hard at work then, and not all of the kids were allowed to sleep because of their antics, but the teens began to get them under control after that; and we’ve been winding down toward nap time since then.  We’ve gone for a moonlit swim; took turns indoors getting ready for bed; and co-ed cuddling and chat time by the river has kept some of us entertained too.

This update is late, but we’ve been delaying going into our tents because we won’t be doing co-ed camping thanks to the junior tent buddies that are already sleeping in our tents.  We do need to get at least a bit of sleep, though, and there isn’t really anything to add to this report; so let’s just wrap it up; we’ll move on to the goodnight hugs and kisses with our respective, favorite partners; and go have our naps!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 24, 2023

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

Happy 19^th Anniversary, Uncle Terry and Aunt Angela!

Happy 16^th Birthday, Ryan Bassett!

Happy 23^rd Birthday, Serena Kendall!

We spent some time with Ryan and our teen cousins today, but his birthday celebration is going on without us; and our involvement for that is with the sleepover we’re doing with the tweens at our house tonight that includes Sophia so that she gets to miss out on the teen parts of his party – though she is attending the birthday dinner and has Aaron there with her for another date.  Aaron will be here for the night too; so they’re happy about that part of our plan for tonight too! ;^)

Our day began with Tai Chi by the river with Mom and Dad; the breakfast entertainment included a vid-chat with Uncle Terry, Aunt Angela, and their kids; and we took care of some chores before meeting up with our friends and cousins for another ‘free’ play day.  The weather has been great; we’ve happily played and biked around town and at the park; and we’ve done some minor canoeing along with lots of swim breaks.  Mom hosted our group lunch; some of us checked in on Brianna and Faith’s ball practice at four o’clock; and then Mom and Dad only hosted Naomi, Aiden, Jayden, and Susan with us for dinner while most of the teens were at the Bassetts and the younger kids were either with the Ayres or Carringtons.

We’re doing this update now because we just finished up the dinner clean-up while our guests for the night are either out picking up overnight bags or still at Ryan’s birthday dinner.  With a bit of luck, we’ll be too-busy having fun for the rest of the night; so we don’t want to be doing any computing later.  The rest of the news can wait for tomorrow night too, and our cousin and friends will be back soon; so that’s all we have for this report – or not!

We are not trying to think about it too much right now, but we’re down to four sleeps before Cassie and Michael will be leaving for China.  Wishing that we could go along won’t make it happen, but we are going to miss them; we’re sure that they are going to have an amazing adventure; and we’ll try not to think about the danger that is going to be such a critical part of their journey.  They are ready for everything, though, and this is just the start of what they are meant to do from now on; so we need to get used to this new reality too – and trust in what we all know is meant to be for them – and for all of us.

Okay, that really is enough for now; so we’re out of here and back to the real world fun with our family and friends!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 23, 2023

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

Happy 25^th Birthday, Erica Palmer!

We were around for some cameo moments with Erica, but didn’t really get involved in celebrating her special day.  Cassie and Michael did do that because she is one of his Bassett cousins; so we didn’t see them as much today beyond a handful of moments when we crossed paths while playing and at the Inn for the late buffet dinner.

Our day began with a quiet Tai Chi by the river with just Mom and Dad; breakfast was a light meal; and then we had a good rest of the morning at church and Sunday school.  Another awesome weather day allowed for a family-and-friends’ picnic lunch that Mom and Dad hosted followed by an outdoor play afternoon that included biking, canoeing, swimming, and park and back yard adventures that kept us busy until we split up to get ready for that dinner at the Inn.

That meal was a highlight of our day, and while we weren’t in on the Bassett clan birthday fun too; we enjoyed the meal and the chat time we had with a small gang of tweens.  We came home with Mom and Dad after that – and after saying goodnight to some of our favorite people along the way to our house; and we’ve kept busy with some chores, a bit of family business work, a Magi lesson, and bath or Jacuzzi time.  Now we’re ready to get some sleep, and that’s all we have for tonight; so we are going to do that right now! ;^)

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - July 22, 2023

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

Happy 16^th Birthday, Jeremy!

We’ve had another awesome day, but let’s cover our news from yesterday afternoon.

The anniversary dinner was a blast, and while we were not in the loop for the roasting fun for our aunt and uncle; we had a lot of fun with our cousins and friends.  We had some play time that kept us busy through until the campfire started; and then we had a blast with the music, dancing, scary stories, and more.  Most of the adults did not stay up late, but we were among the teens and tweens that did stay up really late – including a late-night swim and riverside cuddling and chat time.  We didn’t have co-ed camping last night because we had junior tent mates, but we barely had time for a nap anyway.

We were still up early for Tai Chi by the river; we went to the Inn for a special buffet breakfast.  That was a highlight of the day, but the fun kept rolling along - though we had some work mixed in for a while too as we got ready to head for Quarry Lake.  We packed up most of the tents and dealt with our camping gear; the adults took care of getting everything ready for our day trip; and then we headed out to the campground and spent the rest of the day through to dinnertime playing and swimming.  There was a picnic lunch too, but in my case; I didn’t actually eat very much because I took advantage of that breakfast buffet and wasn’t really hungry.  I know, that is shocking for a tween guy, but it does happen now and then! ;^)

We did not do a major family dinner today, but Mom and Dad had some extra guests at our house – including the Seagers and Drapers; and then we went to the park for the co-ed ball game.  Our team – the Warriors – earned a big and early win over the Rawhide Rangers; and the game ended after the fifth inning thanks to the mercy rule.  We didn’t watch much of that game because we helped to keep the younger kids entertained, but by the end of the game; we were ready to head home and wind down toward a comparatively-early bedtime.

That wasn’t true for everyone, since Kaitlyn, Kara, and Ryan are with Jeremy tonight while continuing to help him celebrate his birthday; and some of the cousins are doing sleepovers too.  We don’t have any guests tonight; our best friends are with their own families tonight; and that works for us again because we’re tired and need to break from all of the non-stop fun!  That’s also all we have for tonight; so we’re going to wrap this up and get started on that quality down time!

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!