Saturday, January 28, 2017

State Finalist

Cam and Doug were up early and on their way to Pike high school in Indy before the rest of us were awake.  Today was the individual state chess tournament and Cam was competing in the 6th grade varsity competition.  The day was a long one with eleven hours of chess, but Cam had a great showing.  After the first three matches he was in 6th place.  The competition got harder as the day wore on and at 6:30 at night we heard that he would finish 20th earning him a place in the top 20 with special recognition at the awards ceremony.  We were all proud of Cam.  He has worked hard on his chess skills this winter.  He also had a lot of fun as JJ, Evan and the Slabaughs were there as well.  He didn't get to hangout with them as much as in previous years as they competed in the JV sections and several of his matches were over an hour, but it was great to be part of a group.  He had a lot of stories to share when he returned to Bloomington.

While Doug and Cam were at chess for the day the rest of us kept ourselves occupied.  Cal showed up at Parce's around 10:30.  He and I caught up before we left with Meg for lunch at Noodles & Company.  Brett met us there.  He had gone to breakfast with a friend, but had some down time before his next "date."  Lunch was a lot of fun filled with discussions of politics and Lemony Snicket.  Cal headed back to the dorm after lunch and Meg, Brett and I went shopping at the different IU stores.  Meg and I found some great IU wear and Brett was able to make a few purchases at the comic book store.  Cal met back up with us at the union.  He wanted to work out and then play basketball with his friends.

Brett left us shortly after Cal did.  He had plans to meet another friend at Hartzell's for ice cream.  Meg and I walked around campus and stopped at T.I.S before borrowing Cal's truck to go to the mall.  We shopped at Target first looking for Brett's birthday gifts.  Our next stop was Yankee Candle.  Meg laughs every time we go in there as the same woman is working and she is just as crazed about the candles as I am.  Once we ran everything back out to the truck we were able to walk the mall picking up a few more items for Brett's birthday.  Our last shopping stop was Barnes & Noble where we found some great presents there as well.

Our plans were to eat when Parce and Doug got back, so Meg and I thought we'd better stop for a snack.  Brett called as we pulled in to Chik-Fil-A.  He had had a fantastic time catching up with his friend and was on his way to play pool at the Union with another one of his IU classmates.  Meg grabbed some chicken tenders and I stopped at Hartzell's for ice cream.  We got back to Parce's around 5:30.  I had papers to grade and she had homework to do.  Cal met up with us there.  He had gone to Mother Bear's with his friends and was planning on hanging out with us for awhile.  We all watched the Blindside until everyone arrived.

Brett was the first one back arriving around 8.  He had met other friends for dinner at their house.  He enjoyed it immensely and they dropped him off afterward.  Parce came in about ten minutes later and had just enough time to grab a beer before Cam showed up with his trophy.  Doug drove everyone to dinner at Upland Brewing Company.  It was still crowded at nine, but no one seemed to mind waiting.  It gave us a lot of time to catch up with Parce.  Dinner was fantastic and we were back at the apartment by 10:30.  Doug, Cam and Brett were the first ones out.  Cal left to go find Jayce.  I talked to Parce for awhile.  Meg watched Glee on her phone and everyone called it a night well before midnight.  It was a jammed packed day full of family, fun and friends - can't beat that!

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