Heirs of the Magi Archives: Cassie's Journal 2012 - Part Two

By Steve Leggett

Cassie Proctor's Magi Master Archive Journals will keep fans updated on life in Witch Falls during the years between the end of Magi Master and the beginning of Magi Ascension. This book includes Cassie's journal entries for the second half of 2012; consolidated from the Heirs of the Magi Blog.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Leggett
• Release date: Feb 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9780986753756

Steve Leggett

I've been an avid reader since my early childhood, and though I've been legally blind for around twenty years now, that love of books has continued, despite the challenges. The bug to try seriously writing books hit me in 2007, and I started with writing fan fiction stories, which was a great way to learn how to develop story lines and existing characters, as well as do research and new character creation. The feedback from readers, both positive and negative, was also a very important part of the learning process. Two million or so words, and several thousand pages later, and I was ready to start Heirs of the Magi. Fantasy epics and series are my favorite books. Whether I'm visiting the worlds created by authors like Andre Norton and Frank Herbert, or exploring the magic closer to home, like with Nora Roberts and so many other classic and contemporary writers, it's the more intimate involvement with the people and places that these books create that I love most. That's the type of story I had in mind when I began developing Heirs of the Magi, and I hope that you will love the books as much as I've loved bringing them to you!

Book preview

Heirs of the Magi Archives

Cassie’s Journal 2012 – Part Two

By Steve Leggett

Published by Steve Leggett - Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 – Steve Leggett

Cover Image by Kayla Leggett - Copyright 2013 - Used by Permission

ISBN: 978-0-9867537-5-6

Books by Steve Leggett

Heirs of the Magi Trilogy

Magi Sanctuary

Magi Master

Magi Ascension (Forthcoming)

Heirs of the Magi Archives

Cassie's Journal 2011

Cassie's Journal 2012 - Part One

Cassie’s Journal 2012 – Part Two

The Catalyst Chronicles

The Catalyst is Born

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

Notes

July 2012

Sunday, July 1, 2012

It feels a bit strange to be starting July without a holiday weekend and house full of family.

While I am missing spending time with my new extended family, I’m not missing the extra work that goes with the long weekends. Today was mostly a play day. Yet another hot, hot day prompted the Pastors to keep the church service short this morning, and we were home early; even with the extra time that everyone spent congratulating Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor on their marriage. I’ve definitely avoided even thinking about them at all in relation to honeymoons or even the fact that they’re newlyweds; but I should explain that they’re waiting until next weekend – after the Fourth of July – to leave on a four-week long combination honeymoon and archive trip. I still don’t want to think about that, so let’s move along.

Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam all came over to spend most of the rest of the day at our house, and Rowen and I loved getting to have that time with them; and with Mom, Dad, Violet, and the twins. Dillon was working all day at the Inn, but he, Jake, and Stephanie all joined us while they were on an extended afternoon break. Mom and Dad fed them, and we all went for a swim before they needed to be back at the Inn to get ready for the buffet rush.

While that has me thinking about Violet and Dillon, I should mention that Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne had another little chat with Violet about the lab while we were having lunch. If her questions were any indication, it definitely sounds like she and Dillon have been thinking a lot about what their future options could be – both with careers and the potential to have more than either of them expected possible while living in Witch Falls too.

Getting back to the fun parts of the day, we had barbeques for lunch and dinner, and spent the afternoon and evening playing, swimming, or just taking it easy and enjoying being together for a mostly do-nothing day. Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and Rowen all went home after dinner, but Grandma and Grandpa stayed until Ethan and Ehlana went to bed; and our evening entertainment included a group Magi lesson and a long chat and story time that included a bit more talk about the next steps in our future plans. Since Violet was there too, we mostly just talked about what Grandma and Grandpa will be doing to help out with those plans – particularly when we need either the Magi or town councils involvement – and they have a few things to take care of with that between now and September. Government red tape can be very annoying, but in a small town like ours, it’s nowhere near the nightmare it can be in big cities.

Anyway, that’s all going along pretty much as planned right now, and Ethan, Ehlana, and I don’t see any major problems ahead – at least in the immediate future. After Ethan and Ehlana went to bed and Grandma and Grandpa went home, Mom and Dad went to work in the office for a while; Violet went to meet up with Dillon at the Inn; and I’ve been busy with a long soak in the Jacuzzi and an extended bedtime computing session. I’ve mostly been working in the archives, though I spent a half-hour or so in high-speed mode while taking care of a few family business issues. Mom and Dad went to bed a while ago, but Dillon and Violet are still in the living room now after getting home from the Inn. I’ve been busy anyway, and decided not to go downstairs and take the chance of interrupting anything just to say goodnight to them. They might not be ready to end their weekend quite yet, but it’s after one o’clock, and I’ve had enough for today; so it’s time to wrap this up and get some sleep.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, July 2, 2012

I’ve been on my computer, mostly working in the archives, for the past few hours. Yes, I did plan on taking it easy all summer, but that’s proving to be easier said than done. It’s a bit scary to find out that I miss the work and studying whenever I take a few days off. Before I get to my evening work and musings; let’s do a quick recap of the rest of the day.

Rowen and I played, swam, biked, and went to the Emporium for two ice cream snack breaks. We had a picnic lunch at the park with Ethan and Ehlana, and I had dinner at home with Mom, Dad, and the twins while Rowen was doing the same with her parents at the computer store. Mom and Dad both had work to do after dinner, so Rowen and I took Ethan and Ehlana back to the park for a while, and then went for a swim with them before Rowen needed to head home, and I moved on to help Mom with getting the twins ready for bed - including doing a little bath time fun Magi lesson. I’d add any news about what Violet’s been up to, but we haven’t seen her since after breakfast. She and Dillon have been hanging out with Jake and Stephanie; and I won’t be surprised if we find out that they’ve spent the day out at Quarry Lake. Whatever they’ve been doing, I’m sure they’re enjoying their day off.

That was about it for today, and since coming to bed, my thoughts, and most of my archive studying, has been about the effects of puberty on Magi power and abilities; and the converse of that. Getting into this tonight came around in part because Rowen and I were talking about a few things earlier today, and a little archive research on that sort of turned into a mission. Mom and I both think that our archives are often missing important information because of how few of the books were written by women, and help for dealing with puberty is definitely one of those areas. I’m working on changing that, but while Mom can help me with anything I’m going through, it would have been nice to have more in the archives to learn from too. Even Mom’s personal journals aren’t very detailed; since she didn’t really start contributing to the archives until she took over running everything when she was twenty-one.

Going back to the chat that started this train of thought rolling tonight, Rowen and I have both hit the four and a half foot tall milestone, and though I am a couple of months younger, we seem to be on nearly identical growth paths. We’re also finding out that our Magi powers are growing and changing too, and Rowen’s been a bit worried about whether we’d have problems keeping control of everything. This isn’t something she wants to talk about with her Grandmother, or even with my Mom; and she obviously can’t ask her mother about it either.

We’re also wondering about whether I can use my Magi Healing talents to help both of us through some of the less-fun parts of puberty - or even if I can control our development. I haven’t found anything in the archives about that yet, and probably won’t, but I’m almost positive that I could do both. Helping Rowen when I can is an option, but I’m also sure that I shouldn’t use my Magi power to nudge either of us into adult bodies that we weren’t naturally meant to have. Since I know what I’m going to look like in a few years, thanks to Mom, I don’t have a problem with that. Rowen may secretly be dreaming about being a tall, blonde, and blue-eyed with a custom-tailored body, but I have a very strong feeling that she’s going to blossom from cute, shy little wallflower and bookworm to fiery and gorgeous. (Okay, so I might have a bit more than a feeling to go on for that, but let’s leave it there.)

Moving along, my own Magi power is growing, though I need to study what’s happening more to figure out how much of that is because I’m growing up. Part of the growth could simply be because I can use my gifts more often now that I’m allowed to shield myself. The biggest single change over the past couple of years has been my capacity. I almost never get tired out to the same extent I did even when Mom and I first moved here - or like after the plane accident. Of course, I haven’t tried to help keep an airplane from crashing since then either, but there also haven’t been any lessons that push my limits lately either.

As to Rowen’s concern about losing control, while I didn’t find much about that in the archives either, there also wasn’t anything written about it being a problem. That suggests that it probably isn’t an issue for trained Magi children. The only cases of Magi losing control of their talents have been in the rare cases like Violet, or due to severe mental or physical injuries or illness. I did find one reference that instructed all Magi boys and girls to completely avoid any sexual relations or risk ‘losing control’, but that honestly just made me laugh; since it could have been written by just about any father in any century, with the same goal in mind - and no real basis in fact to back up the claim. (No, Aunt Leanne, that does not suggest or imply that I’ve change my mind about boys; so don’t go there.)

I definitely don’t want to think about boys or sex, but using my Magi Healing to control and moderate everything that’s going to happen to me - and Rowen - over the next few years is going to be interesting. While working in the archives tonight, and thinking about all of this, I’ve been doing some internal exploration too; and I think that I’m subconsciously controlling my physical development already. That isn’t happening through an overt use of my Magi power, but I tried a couple of little things tonight, and I can consciously control my physical development. Maybe I’ll see if Mom will let me try to do that with Rowen during a Healing lesson sometime soon. I can measure down to the cellular level what’s going on with my body, so I’m going to keep track of that for a while - mostly because I’m wondering if I’m subconsciously speeding up (or slowing down) my development to keep pace with my best friend. To be a bit blunt, that might get a bit weird if it is happening. Being the same height or weight might not be a big deal, but we probably shouldn’t be shooting for matching bra sizes or menstrual cycles.

I’m going to keep working on this, and Uncle Adam and I are including Magi puberty development as part of our Magi Project archive, but I’ve had enough for tonight, and it’s time to get some sleep.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Rowen and I were planning a work day, since this would be one of the busier days this week at the computer store, and I did get some family business work done; but ended up spending most of my work time helping Mom, Violet, and Alicia with making up our 4th of July food booth donations and taking care of Ethan and Ehlana.

That pretty much covers my news for today too. Other than a few river swims, lunch, and dinner breaks; nothing much else happened – at least around our house. Dad needed to get a bit of work done after dinner so he’d be free to play all day tomorrow. The Rovers didn’t have a practice tonight, so Rowen and I didn’t have that after dinner. There actually weren’t any ball practices tonight because nearly everyone in town was either working; getting ready for the holiday; or busy with family and friends.

I want to be charged up and ready for a long, fun day tomorrow, so I’m in bed early, and only checked my email before doing this journal entry. That will mean that the 4th of July will start without me, but I’m more interested in making sure that I’m not napping when the fireworks start, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 3rd Annual Un-Independence Day, Mom!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone else!

I’m exhausted, but still fired up too; even though it’s going on two o’clock now. Mandy and I are cuddling in bed, and I’ve been working on my computer while winding down.

We’ve had such an amazing day. Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam came over this morning for Tai Chi and breakfast. Ethan, Ehlana, and I escaped after that, and went to play with Rowen while Mom, Dad, and Violet worked to get everything ready for the Fourth of July celebrations. After going to get Rowen, we went over to the park to check out the work going on there with setting up the booths, stage, and games; and then we walked over to the school to watch the first groups gathering to get ready for the parade while hanging out at the playground.

With about a half hour left to go before the start of the parade, we went home to check in with Mom and Dad; take care of a pair of diaper changes and washroom breaks; picked up some chairs; and went to stake out a spot along Quarry Road with enough room for Mom, Dad, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, Grandma, and Grandpa. Just to make this point for posterity; we picked our spot first, and Michael and Tim set up lawn chairs for their families next to us because there weren’t any other spots left nearby that were big enough for both the Stone and Landry families. Aunt Leanne had fun teasing me about that, but there’s nothing to see there, so move along, please!

The parade really doesn’t change all that much from year-to-year, except for the participants. For me, the most notable change was seeing Rebecca and Jenny in the parade. They were clowning around with some of their friends, and at the risk of mentioning boys; I’ll suggest that there were certain members of their group that had prompted their interest in being a part of the parade instead of just watching it.

Jake, Stephanie, and Dillon were all in the parade too, and though Violet was invited to join them, they were all doing music; and Violet claims that her only talent in that area is an expertise with iPods and playlists. Since I heard her singing along to some of the songs today, I have my doubts about that, but I can see her being shy about doing something like that with two or three thousand people watching.

Rowen and I stayed close to Ethan and Ehlana during certain parts of the parade, and that helped us to avoid most of the water; plus we probably ended up with more treats because my adorable brother and sister draw a lot of attention. We had some free time once the parade wrapped up, so while Mom, Dad, and most of the adults in our family went to their homes to load up their donations and picnic supplies to haul over to the park, Rowen and I took Ethan and Ehlana with us, and went straight to the park with Violet. Our first stop was to meet up with Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie, and after leaving Violet with her best friends, we went to hang out at the playground until our parents caught up with us.

We had time for a quick lunch at the food booths, and then Mom, Dad, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam were off again to meet up with their team for pre-game warm-ups. Rowen and I had a little time to ourselves while Grandma and Grandpa took care of the twins, but we were at the ball diamond with lots of time to help fire up our team with a round of hugs and kisses that Ehlana and Naomi helped us out with. Our cheerleading squad included Violet and Stephanie, but we had lots of competition from Carolyn Landry and her crew – including Rebecca and Jenny again. My favorite holiday cheerleading competitions are with Miranda, but we still had a lot of fun today too; though I doubt that our efforts on either squad made much of a difference in the game.

Landry’s Lasers were probably the favorite today, even though the Arrows were the home team for this match, and they really didn’t want to lose their first two games against the Lasers. The Lasers had more spectators on their side of the fences, but that was at least partly because Carolyn and her friends had a large contingent of eleven to fourteen or fifteen-year old boys that were there more for the Lasers’ cheerleaders than to support the players. This will be three times in one journal entry, but again, I was not at all amused when Aunt Leanne suggested that I try my hugs and kisses with every run thing with Michael instead of Jacob this year. Yes, he and Tim were cheering for the Lasers along with the rest of the Landry family, but setting aside the ‘ew’ factor; the idea wouldn’t work anyway. Seriously, Aunt Leanne, do you really think that my Mom and Dad would purposely go out and get hits if that meant I’d be kissing a boy my own age every time? If anything, that would have just helped the Lasers. Anyway, by then, I was wishing for a three and out on anything to do with boys, but that wasn’t to be.

The good news out on the baseball field was that the Arrows managed a fifteen to thirteen win over the Lasers, and even though the extra-curricular antics were as entertaining as always; it was a really good ballgame too. Violet, Stephanie, Dillon, and Jake helped Rowen and I take our junior cheerleaders, and Ethan, out for ice cream treats while the parents mostly headed home to get cleaned up and changed after a long, hot game. The four teens played with us for a while too until Mom, Dad, Aunt Leanne, and Uncle Adam returned; and then they went to hang out with the rest of their friends.

While we didn’t have our extended family home today, most of the area campgrounds were full for the holiday week, and a lot of those campers had come to spend the day in Witch Falls. That meant that the games and activities going on around the park often had small waiting lines, but we managed to pack a lot of play time into the few hours we had between the end of the game and dinnertime. Rowen and I mostly stayed with our parents, Aunt Leanne, Uncle Adam, and the twins; though we also went for one swim on our own, and spent about a half hour hanging around with some of our friends at the playground.

Dinner was quick and easy with our comparatively little group, and then after eating, Rowen and I were free to play on our own while Grandma and Grandpa played with Ethan and Ehlana, and Mom and Dad were busy with their last volunteer assignment – helping with the post-dinner park cleanup. The main event of the evening was the dance, and the usual local pub bands were playing. Rowen and I stopped by a few times because that’s where Mom, Dad, the twins, and their friends were usually hanging out, and it was during our second visit that I was set up by Stephanie, Violet, and probably Aunt Leanne; though she attempted to profess her innocence.

I’d gone dancing with Ethan, and then with Dad; and it was while I was dancing with Dad that Jake cut in and asked me to dance. That was fine with me right up until Stephanie danced up to us with Michael, and the next thing I knew; she’d wanted her boyfriend back, and they left Michael and I paired up just in time for the start of another slow dance.

Congratulations, I told Michael with a rueful smile. We’re the latest victims of Witch Falls Matchmakers Anonymous.

Michael was blushing furiously, and was barely touching my hand and side. Someone had taught him at least the basics on dancing, so I didn’t get stepped on or tripped over. I don’t think there was anything anonymous about it, he countered; making me laugh. So this is what a no-win scenario is like – no offense. I laughed again and hugged him before moving away again quickly after catching the sudden grin on Aunt Leanne’s face.

None taken, I assured him. Sorry about the hug. At least you’ll have the rest of the summer for your buddies to forget about this before we go back to school. I smiled again as he continued blushing and looked worried about what this was going to do to his reputation with his friends. We’ll get razzed worse if we don’t dance through the rest of this song, and when Tim and the other guys start bugging you, just blame it on me. I’ve probably teased Violet and Dillon too much; and this is payback.

I could say the same thing about how often I used to bug Jake and Stephanie when they first started dating, he conceded. I doubt Stephanie had to try very hard to get him in on this. I laughed again, but managed to avoid a second hug.

Lesson learned here. How about you?

And then some, he agreed fervently.

Three minutes and twelve seconds after that, we were free to escape the dance floor, and I didn’t even see Michael again for the rest of the night. The fireworks were scheduled for ten-thirty this year because of it being a work day on Thursday. Other than that third visit to the dance at around a quarter to ten; Rowen and I spent the rest of the evening down by the river before meeting up with our families again in time to watch the fireworks. Rowen was nice enough not to bug me about being set-up for that dance with Michael, though she obviously thought it was funny. Some of the other girls did tease me, but I managed to survive.

Violet and Dillon were watching the fireworks with most of the other teens, and Patrick and Scott were off with some of their buddies, so Rowen and I had the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and Ethan and Ehlana to ourselves. I was briefly wishing that we’d gone to watch the fireworks with our friends too when Aunt Leanne suggested that she could help find cuddle buddies for Rowen and me so we wouldn’t be the only girls without someone to snuggle with. A little discussion about how cute Michael and I looked when we were dancing together followed that, and even Rowen couldn’t keep from letting out a pair of stifled laughs while my Aunt and her Mom were teasing me. Ethan and Ehlana were amused too, and for more reasons than the adults around us knew about. I really, really don’t want to think about any of that anymore, so let’s wrap this up.

The fireworks were as amazing as always, and after the big finale, it was time to pack up and haul our chairs, coolers, and picnic gear home. I helped Mom and Dad put Ethan and Ehlana to bed, and that took a while, since it was their first chance to freely talk with us both vocally and telepathically. Mandy and I came up to bed after that, and I’ve been doing email and wrote up some observations I had today for our Magi Project. This little recap has finally helped me to finish winding down, and I’m ready to get some sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

The top news today is that Rowen and I started our summer riding program at the Ridge River Ranch this morning. Violet took us out there after breakfast before going to spend the rest of the morning with Dillon. We were sorted into the intermediate riding group again this year, and while it might be cool to try some of the riding that the advanced group does; I know those kids are all the really serious riders, and almost all of them have their own horses.

Since we started out the first session of the summer with the usual tour, safety and ranch rules talk, and the rider sorting; we had a bit less than an hour for our first trail ride. I know all of the trails now, thanks in part to the photographic memory, but riding them again and again isn’t at all boring when there’s always something new going on; new kids to meet and talk with; and our trail ride leaders keeping us entertained while quietly helping us all to be better riders.

Patricia won the draw for picking us up this week, and we stopped in at the computer store for an ice cream break and story time with Rowen’s parents before going back to my house for a pre-lunch swim. By then, we had a two-night camping adventure in my back yard M0ms-approved, so after lunch, we started setting up our tent and rounding up the usual supplies. More swimming was involved to stay cool, and we took Ethan and Ehlana out for an afternoon ice cream treat at the Emporium. Once our camp was ready, we biked over to the park to play until dinnertime, and then we spent the rest of the evening at home except for a short canoe ride with Mom, Violet, and the twins.

Rowen and I have mostly been on our own since dark, and we’ve mostly been listening to music, chatting, and playing on our computers. It’s mostly been quiet by the river, though there were two canoe round-trips that passed our tent; the first shortly after dark, and the second starting shortly after eleven; though they couldn’t have gone very far before coming back again. Violet and Dillon stopped by to say goodnight when he came over after work at the Inn, but then they were off again to meet up with Jake and Stephanie.

That’s about it for today. Rowen and I are both ready for some sleep now, so we’re packing up our computers and going in for a quick washroom break before climbing into our sleeping bags.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie and Rowen, wrapping up yet another great summer vacation day and signing off!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Ethan and Ehlana are having their first camping adventure with Rowen and me tonight. I know, they’ve just turned one, but remember that they are also recent, if unofficial, Grade Eight graduates too.

It’s been a fairly quiet day. Rowen helped out at the store for a while this morning, and I did a little family business work while she was busy with that. We biked, played at the park, and went for a swim every hour or so to cool off once the work was done. Our usual Friday night dinner and a movie was just dinner this week, and the adults decided to go out to Sheldon’s instead of the movie – which is when our camping plans changed to include the twins.

Violet is technically babysitting us while Mom and Dad are out with Uncle Adam, Aunt Leanne, and some of their friends; but she and Dillon are watching a movie with Jake and Stephanie now; though they have checked in on us twice since Dillon came over after work. Ethan and Ehlana are having fun; though Ehlana and Rowen thought that Aunt Leanne’s jokes about us having boys in our tent all night was a lot funnier than I did – probably because I’m still getting over the Fourth of July dance that my photographic memory won’t let me forget.

Just as an aside, in case you’re thinking this, yes, technically, I could use my Magi power to erase or change my own memories – like I did with that woman at the Mall who had seen Gawain’s face without the illusion he’d been using, but that really isn’t a good idea for a Magi Master; and there are some bad stories in the archives of what can happen when that’s done too often.

Anyway, Ethan and Ehlana were introduced to more than sleeping bags tonight. We had an early camp raid from Patrick and Scott; though they left us alone after finding out that we had the twins with us for the night. There were two other camps by the river tonight, though the Bassett camping adventure ended by eleven when the campers decided that they really didn’t want to stay by themselves in the tent all night after all. Michael and Tim were camping too, and yes, Aunt Leanne happily teased me about that too. I’d like to be able to tell her that we didn’t even talk to them all night, but they went for a canoe ride, and stopped by at our dock when Ethan waved to them from our tent.

The way my week had been going, I was tempted to send Ethan with them for the rest of the night after that, but he didn’t give me any indication that there was an ulterior motive behind his wanting to ‘talk’ to Michael and Tim. Ethan basically crawled into their canoe, so including a little float out into the middle of the river and back, that little cameo visit took about ten minutes. Rowen helped me out by telling Ethan and Ehlana it was time to get back into the tent, and she sent the boys off with some bakery treats to thank them for entertaining Ethan.

Ethan and Ehlana have been using their iPads to talk with us, since I can’t really use my wards out here, and they can’t talk freely; and Ethan just advised me that he read that last paragraph, and wants to know if he told me he had waved Michael and Tim over just to bug me if I’d really let him go camping with the two boys for the rest of the night.

I need to wrap this up now so I can distribute some tickle-hugs, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Congratulations, Amy and Jared!

Since she was my first teacher in Witch Falls, Amy will always be one of my favorites. Rowen and I loved getting to watch her marry Jared Spencer, but before I get to that part of today’s report; let’s go over the morning news.

We’ve had another hot, beautiful day. Ethan and Ehlana gave Rowen and I our wake-up call, and we started out our morning with a pair of diaper changes. Mom and Dad met us outside for Tai Chi, and then we had breakfast before Rowen and I needed to get ready for our ballgame and head over to the park.

We were playing against the Ridge River Gypsies, and they were the home team. Mom and Dad brought Ethan and Ehlana over to the park just before the game, and Aunt Leanne and Violet joined them shortly after the Gypsies started batting in the bottom of the first. Uncle Adam and Aunt Deborah were working at the clinic all morning; so they missed the game.

It was a really great game for our team, but not so much for the Gypsies. We kept a lead all through the game, and though we played the bottom of the sixth, the Gypsies weren’t able to score any runs to close the eight-run lead we’d built up by then. The thirteen-to-five win kept our Rovers firmly in first place in our division.

Rowen was working in the computer store after we went for ice cream at the Emporium with our team, and I worked until lunchtime in the back yard with Mom and Dad. We had lunch at around one, and then I got cleaned up and changed before meeting Rowen and going over to the church in time for the Amy and Jared’s ceremony. The church was about as full as it had been for Mom and Dad’s wedding. Amy hadn’t really been teaching for very long yet, but quite a few of her students were at the church too; though the only boys from her former students that had come were either there because of girlfriend pressure or their families had been invited to the wedding and reception. There was an open invitation to the ceremony, which is why Rowen and I were there for that, but after we’d congratulated Amy and Jared, we were free to go home, get changed, and spend the rest of the day playing, biking, and swimming.

While I’m thinking weddings, Grandpa Grant and Grandma Eleanor left for their honeymoon-archive trip today. Yes, it’s probably age discrimination, and not fair to them, but I’m going to continue not to think about them as newlyweds, or about how romantic their trip will be for them. Now that I think about it that way, while quite a few of the other girls in town are all warm and fuzzy about Amy and Jared, I really don’t want to think about one of my teachers like that either. Let’s just move along, shall we?

I should have mentioned that a campground cleanup was part of my morning yard work. Rowen and I played together until dark, and she had dinner with us, but she went home for the night after we went for one last swim in the river, and I came up to bed after spending a bit of time with Mom, Dad, Ethan, and Ehlana before the twins went to bed.

That pretty much covers everything, and I’m ready to get some sleep, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

The forecast kept calling for a chance of thunder storms or showers today, so we stayed close to home; but we didn’t end up getting any rain yet. They’re still calling for rain overnight, but I don’t plan on staying up to see if that happens or not.

The only news of note around the church was about Jared and Amy’s wedding and reception. They’re already at their honeymoon destination by now, and I hope they’re having fun, but don’t need or want to know any details.

Rowen and I spent the afternoon playing until she needed to be home to get ready for a family dinner at her grandparents’ house. Though we weren’t doing a long canoe trip or bike ride, we did play at the park and in the river, and Ethan and Ehlana went with us for an ice cream run to the Emporium that Violet joined us for before going to hang out with Dillon while he was on his afternoon break at the Inn.

Mom and Dad went with a light dinner, and after helping with the clean-up, we all went over to the park for a little play time with Ethan and Ehlana. After getting home, I had a nice long soak in my Jacuzzi, and started the usual nightly bedtime computing while cuddling with Mandy. Rowen and I haven’t really made any plans for the next couple of weeks, but Mom and Aunt Leanne are both going to be helping Deborah out as she and Nick get ready for their wedding in just under two weeks. Starting with that weekend, though, I’m going to have three weeks with visiting cousins. Jaimie and Kaitlyn are spending their first week ever on their own with us; and then Chris, Martin, Dawn, and Jillian will be staying with us for two weeks.

I should get ahead on my sleep to be ready for that, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Monday, July 9, 2012

We didn’t get any rain last night, and it’s been another hot, beautiful day.

Rowen and I went for a long biking and caving picnic adventure this morning. We biked out to the caves; explored them for a couple of hours; had our lunch in the biggest cave; and then biked for another hour and a half or so before going home and jumping into the river to cool off and lose some of the dirt we’d picked up on the back roads and in the caves.

That pretty much covers the adventures for the day. We hung out in the back yard after that, and played with Ethan and Ehlana until dinnertime. Rowen went home then, and while Mom was busy helping Aunt Leanne and Aunt Deborah with the wedding; I helped out with Ethan and Ehlana until the three of us went to bed.

I needed another bath to really get clean again, and I’ve been on my computer for an hour or so since climbing into bed, but it’s time for another comparatively early night, so...

...live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Witch Falls dodged another thunder-storm forecast today, and while the Ridge River area farmers are wishing for more rain, the kids in town are happy to have perfect play weather for our summer adventures.

That wasn’t a big deal for Rowen and I this morning because she was working at the computer store, and I worked on the family business in the office while she was busy. After lunch, we decided to take a chance on the weather, and set up our tent for another couple of nights of camping action. Rowen’s Mom suggested that we should do that at their house this time, but we went with camping by the river instead about two seconds after Patrick started talking about camping with Scott too. They went camping even after finding out that we’d be at my house, but are doing that at Scott’s house instead. Let’s not even discuss what Rowen’s parents might be doing with a night or two without kids.

After setting up our little campground, Rowen and I took Ethan and Ehlana for an ice cream break at the Emporium, and then we played at the park for an hour or so before going home for a swim in the river. We had an early, easy dinner with Mom and Dad, and then it was time for our baseball practice. We still have another week to get ready for our next game, but we had a really good practice, and even our youngest players are getting much better.

When we got home from our practice, Mom wanted to do a Magi lesson with Rowen and me, but sent us outside for a dunk in the river to de-dust ourselves before doing that. We stayed for Ethan and Ehlana’s bedtime story, and then went back outside again. A moonlight swim was next on our agenda, and then we settled into our tent for the night – or that was the plan. I’d skip writing about this next part of our day, but there were witnesses, and Rowen and I are sure that it’ll be gossip network-worthy news by morning.

Our camp was raided. By boys. Aunt Leanne doesn’t need the ammunition, but I’m sure she’ll be very happy to know that it was Michael and Tim. They snuck up on us by river, and started out by trying to scare us. They might even have succeeded in doing that if one of the girls they were trying to scare didn’t have certain gifts that gave me just enough of a heads up that Rowen and I were ready before the wild animal and monster noises started while the tent shook, and something big and ominous scratched and pawed at the zipper for the tent flap. When their efforts only earned laughs from us, Michael and Tim switched to an attempt to loot our snack treasure.

That didn’t work for them either, but Rowen and I did end up sitting on the dock with them while Michael and Tim told us some scary camping stories; and we did share a snack and drinks before the two boys canoed back to their own riverside camp. Yes, Aunt Leanne, we did have fun, but don’t make something of it that isn’t there.

When we were on our own again, and back in our tent, Rowen and I watched some YouTube videos, surfed the web, and have been winding down for the last hour or so. This is my last job of the night, and Rowen’s already packed up her computer, so I should wrap this up now too. We’ve got a play day tomorrow, and I’m hoping that Violet will have a bit of time to play with us too while Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie are back to work after their two days off. We haven’t set up anything specific, but sometimes, a no-plan plan makes for best-ever kind of days.

Anyway, that’s it for tonight.

Live from Witch Falls; this is Cassie Proctor, signing off!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

No rain again so far today, and though there’s a chance of showers overnight, and thunder-storms tomorrow; Rowen and I are still camping by the river again.

We didn’t end up getting to spend much time with Violet today because she was working in the office most of the day. She went for one swim with us, but skipped the Arrows’ practice so that she could keep working instead. Rowen and I went biking out into the valley west of town this morning, and took a picnic lunch with us. We brought Emporium ice cream treats home with us for everyone when we got back, and then spent the rest of the afternoon by the river and lying around on a beach blanket. It was another easy-dinner night, and then we took care of Ethan, Ehlana, and Naomi while the parents played with their friends.

There were no raids or boys at our camp tonight, and after being teased at the park a half-dozen times tonight; that was a really good thing. Aunt Leanne thinks that I’m being very suspiciously quiet about her jokes and comments, but I’m really just mostly keeping my mouth shut to avoid giving anyone future ammunition. I love my Aunt a lot, but even though she talks about not having a photographic memory; she doesn’t seem to have a problem keeping track of certain details for a very long time –