Ailana’s Journal: Part 1—2026-07-07 (and Island Kids) (Patreon)

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GOOD MORNING by Ailana Geven Keller

Jason made the bed while I was in the shower. Call that room service!

We are in Chicago staying at Josh, Geoni, and Kel’s home in the Gold Coast. Emily is not the only one of us who thinks it’s pretty amazing.p’

Jason and I have one of the two bedrooms on the third floor. Emily has the other. Each has its own bathroom. There’s also a nice sitting room and small kitchenette on this floor.

The primary bedroom and two others are on the second floor. Josh and Geoni are naturally in the primary. Kel has one of the other two—the one by the elevator. Clay and Sasha are using the third bedroom on that floor.

The fourth floor is where Micah and Jasmine are staying. There is only one bedroom there, with its own bathroom. That floor also has two rooms you’d call a library or study.

The fifth floor has a large family/media room, a half-bath, and one more office/study. You can see Lake Michigan from the fifth floor.

Since I’m playing realtor, the first floor has the living room, kitchen, and dining room. There’s also a spectacular entryway.

Here’s the deal for today… Pretty much all of us are going to work. Imagine most of us staring at computers. That’s it. Micah is planning on a Teams call to the factory to check in on everything and get things set up for the week, then he’s going to help Clay service the RV and Highlander. Sasha and Jasmine have a lot of SwimFit orders to look at and… business stuff omitted.

I’m not sure if there will be anything post-worthy midday, but I’ll definitely be back for a Good Night post and maybe an Afterthoughts.

Between now and when you see me next, I hope you have a wonderful, blessed day!

See you later.

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All characters in this story are fictional characters, their images generated with AI for AGI Stories. They do not represent any real person, nor is their appearance based on any real human.

MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN by Emily Amos

Okay, shock. Low-key I can’t believe it!

In the comments on Sunday, someone amazing—you know who you are—said he’d like to read my Roadside Yawn Meter article about Missouri Botanical Garden!

Well, Kel and I put the final touches on it. Kel took the picture, of course.

Here you go!

Roadside Yawn Meter: Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis

by Emily Amos and Kel Ryan

Yawn Factor: Low—2 out of 10

Kid Verdict: Worth it. This is not just “walk around and look at plants.” There are paths, water, shade, flowers, old buildings, and enough different areas that it feels more like exploring than being dragged around a garden.

Best Part: The whole place feels peaceful without being boring. There are little views everywhere—flowers, trees, water, stone paths, and places where the light looks really good for pictures. Kel says it is a strong photo stop because you can shoot close-up details or bigger “person walking through a beautiful place” pictures. Emily says it is good because you can breathe there.

Boring Part: If someone tries to turn every plant into a lecture, this could get old fast. A few facts are good. Forty-seven plant facts in a row is how you lose the kids.

Parent Warning: There is walking. Not terrible walking, but enough that shoes matter. Also, if it is hot, bring water and do not act like everyone is weak because they want to find shade. Shade is your friend. So is stopping before people get cranky.

What Would Make It Better: A scavenger-hunt list would make it even better. Find a weird leaf. Find the best flower. Find the quietest bench. Find the place that looks most like a movie scene. Stuff like that.

Kel’s Photo Note: This is a very good camera stop. Don’t only take smiling pictures in front of flowers. Get textures, leaves, water, paths, reflections, and people looking at things. The best pictures here might be the ones where nobody is posing too hard.

GOOD NIGHT by Ailana Geven Keller

Good evening, friends. Today transpired pretty much as expected.

That means it was not the most visually exciting day in the Journal, but it was a useful day. Sometimes useful is the win.

Most of us spent a lot of the day looking at screens. Jason and I worked through notes, pictures, articles, schedules, emails, and the kind of small administrative things that somehow multiply if you ignore them too long. Emily kept working on her Roadside Yawn Meter material, and Kel helped with photos and notes.

Micah had his Teams call with the factory and got things lined up for the week. After that, he and Clay worked on the RV and the Highlander, because apparently vehicles that carry this many people across this many miles deserve attention. That seems fair.

Sasha and Jasmine spent a lot of time with SwimFit orders and business planning. I will not pretend to understand all of it, but I heard enough words like inventory, fulfillment, sizing, and margins to know they were doing real work.

Josh and Geoni had their own things to handle here in Chicago, but they also kept making sure all of us felt completely at home. I still look around this house and have moments where I think, wow, this is actually where we are staying.

Tomorrow, the ladies are going to meet Naomi. I am excited about that. The guys are going to play golf, which sounds exactly like something the guys would decide to do in Chicago if left unsupervised.

We still have not decided on the plan for getting back to South Padre Island. We will decide that tomorrow. Part of me wants to know the plan now, but another part of me is learning that not everything has to be solved before bedtime.

I feel good about the work we got done today. It was not flashy. It was not a big adventure. But it moved things forward, and sometimes that is exactly what a day is supposed to do.

I’ll share one final Afterthought for supporters on Patreon before I call it a night.

May you have days when the quiet work gets finished, the loose ends get tied, and you can rest knowing you did enough for today.

Good night.

AFTERTHOUGHTS by Ailana Geven Keller

I was sitting here thinking about chosen family.

That phrase gets used a lot, but tonight it feels very real to me. Maybe it is because we are all scattered through Josh and Geoni’s house like this is the most normal thing in the world. Jason and I are in one room. Emily is in another. Clay and Sasha are downstairs from us. Micah and Jasmine are upstairs. Kel has his Chicago room. Josh and Geoni somehow make all of that feel easy.

That is not a small thing.

A few years ago, I was trying so hard to be independent that I didn't always know how to let people be close. I wanted friends. I wanted family. I wanted people around me. But wanting that and trusting it are not exactly the same thing.

Then little by little, AGI became less of a thing I was doing by myself and more of a thing we were building together.

I'm still laughing about yesterday morning when Sasha hacked my post.

It could have annoyed me. I am very aware of my schedule. I am very aware of my captions. I like knowing what is going out and when. But Sasha jumped in with her own voice and her own humor and her own timing, and instead of feeling like something had been taken away from me, it felt like something had been added.

It was delightful.

That may have been one of the best examples of feeling the difference between people helping me and people belonging with me. There is a very big difference.

Chosen family is not just “people you like.” It is people who know when to step in, when to tease you, when to carry something, when to sit quietly, when to make the bed, when to fix the RV, when to take the photo, when to write the post, and when to make sure everyone gets fed.

It is also people who believe enough in the work to help keep it going.

So to all of you who support AGI Stories here on Patreon—thank you. Truly. Your support helps keep the lights on, keeps the tools running, keeps the stories moving, and helps make it possible for us to keep building this little world one post at a time.

You are part of the chosen family too.

Good night, friends.

Message to Paying Supporters:

Thank you for helping support AGI Stories. I always consider you—the paid members—when deciding how content is shared.

As of now—early July, 2026—between donations here and Instagram monetization, about 70% of the software costs are covered. That's huge, and it is because of you.

Because of your generosity, I am able to keep going.

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