A Jam Packed Day

Today was the first day of summer and it was jammed pack with activity.  Thankfully, we all got to sleep in before the activities started.  Once we got up, however, everyone was on the go.  Meg left before lunch for Crown Point to visit her friend Maddie.  They had plans to go to lunch and hang out at the Dunes for the afternoon.  She reported in on her way home that she had had a lot of fun and hoped to visit with Maddie again this summer.

Cameron let me know at 11 a.m. this morning that he had invited his friends over for the afternoon.  I was happy to hear that, but wasn't quite prepared for their arrival.  I hurried and picked up the basement from when Doug had painted this past weekend.  Thankfully, Grandma had plenty of snacks for them, so no one went hungry.

While the boys were hanging out, Brett and I spent time going through the sets of Legos that he wanted to keep.  We were able to find the pieces to four of the smaller sets, so he packed those in a tub to take back to Bloomington.  He still had two more, including the Millenium Falcom, to piece together, but that will wait for another trip.  While we were working we also caught up on the new Disney + series, Obi Wan.  Cal had already seen it and really wanted us to watch it.  I absolutely loved it.  

Tonight Brett and I rode over to Goshen with Grandma and Grandpa for Cameron's golf match.  It had been quite a few years since Brett had attended one of his siblings sporting events and he enjoyed it.  Cameron was extremely happy that he had a big gallery and with how he played.  He shot a 41, just one off of low medalist on the night.  The Bruin team also scored well as they picked up their third win of the season.

After the match, Brett, Doug and I stopped at Goshen Brewing Company to try a few of their beers.  It was Pad Thai Tuesday, so it was packed.  We enjoyed our drinks and stopped for pizza on the way home.  Cameron spent his evening at Josiah's open house.  Both he and Meg arrived home after dark, tired from a day of fun.  

Memorial Day

When it dawned on me Saturday night that Brett had an upcoming three day weekend, I called him at Andrew's to see if he wanted to come home on Sunday night.  He thought it was a good idea and spent the morning getting ready for the drive.  He left right after work and was home before Doug and I had come inside from our bonfire.  He last night visiting with Cameron and then relaxing with Doug and I. 

Cameron was busy all day today first hitting balls at Parmore and then attending several open houses before going to practice.  Meg was also out of the house for most of the day.  She and Nick planned to go to Saugatuck for the afternoon, but on the drive towards Michigan, they realized that their favorite restaurant was closed for the holiday.  They rerouted the GPS for Portillo's in South Bend and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Yoders where Nick helped his day bale hay and Meg hung out with Simeon.  

With everyone out of the house, Brett, Doug and I planned on going to one of the local breweries.  They too were all closed due the Memorial holiday, so instead we hung out at home playing Ticket to Ride.  It was a lot of fun and Brett ended the afternoon a winner, once we convinced Doug that the rules he was playing by were different for three people than they had been for two.  

Tonight, Doug grilled hamburgers for dinner and Meg and Nick joined us.  Cameron made it home before dark and everyone decided to play Chameleon on the back deck.  It was a lot of fun as usual with some really bad guesses and terrible clues which led to a lot of "arguing" and laughter.  We ended the evening watching the first episode of Stranger Things season four.  It was definitely different than season three and none of us could really decide on how we felt about it.  One thing that we did all agree on, the haircuts were awful.  Either way, we were glad to see one of our favorite series back on the air.  

Open House

Friday night started the open house season and it continued on through today.  Cameron had attended the most, but Meg, Doug and I visited a few as well.  Austin's was last night and we enjoyed all of the pictures and food.  Doug and I also got to spend some time with Avery's parents.  We appreciated the conversation.  It helped us to process all that had happened since last Saturday.  Meg and Nick missed Austin's, but made it to Josh's.  They were the last ones to leave and had fun with some of their high school friends.  Cameron was at both parties tonight and several others during the day. 

Today all of us made a point to attend Jacob's open house.  As a family we had known Jacob the longest and were glad to celebrate with he and his family.  There were so many fun pictures to look at and we enjoyed his writing samples over the years.  After the party we spent the evening relaxing.  Doug had finished painting the basement room yesterday and today we completely cleaned out and organized the garage.  I was impressed that we finished it in one day as it was one of the big projects on our to-do list.  Needless to say, I was extremely happy with its completion.  

A Day Off

Yesterday, while Cameron was busy with his last day of school, Doug enjoyed a rare day off from work.  He was really looking forward to a break and in true Doug fashion spent it doing projects around the home.  We had talked about going to Saugatuck to celebrate our anniversary since we were in DeKalb last weekend.  After last weekends incident, however, we decided to stay closer to home in case Cameron needed us.  Thus, Doug thought it would be the perfect time to repaint the Bears room in the basement.  We picked out a cream color instead of the navy and orange that currently adorned the walls.  I was sad to see it go, but knew that it was an important change as we got ready to sell the house next summer.  Even with the painting project, we did make time to celebrate our 29 years together.  We had lunch at Rue 152 in Nappanee and exchanged gifts as well.  I loved my flamingo pillow and wallet while Doug enjoyed his chile chocolate, trail mix and Sam Cooke vinyl.

Meg and Nick also had a wonderful day off yesterday.  They spent it in San Dusky, Ohio with Alex and Rachel.  They took full advantage of the low crowds at Cedar Point.  The guys rode multiple roller coasters while the girls tried some of the more tame rides.  Meg's motion sickness was a little too much for some of the big coasters, but she still had a lot of fun.  They arrived here after midnight, exhausted but happy.

  

Last Day of Junior Year

At 3:30 this afternoon Cameron officially became a senior in high school.  Even though this was the actual end of the school year, it really ended for his class last Friday.  This week had been one of reflecting, gathering and grief.  Assignments were cancelled and letter grades stood where they were on the 20th.  For Cameron that meant another semester of all A's.  We were proud of him for his academic achievement and for making it through one of the toughest weeks of his young life.

Thankfully, Cameron had an evening full of plans to keep him busy.  His class gathered at the home of a classmates for a year end party.  Afterward, he went to Matthew's open house.  He and his friend group then spent the rest of the evening at Signature Lanes.  Riki was scheduled to leave for Paraguay tomorrow and they wanted to celebrate.  Cameron arrived home late.  He had had a lot of fun, but was extremely sad.  Riki, Richard and Cameron had spent a lot of time together this past semester.  It was always going to be hard for him to say goodbye to Riki, but Richard's death made it even more difficult.  I felt terrible for him, but knew that nothing that I could say would make it easier.  All I could do was pray for him and hope that a summer of golf and tennis would help to fill the void.  

Walking Down Memory Lane

Meg and I spent a good portion of today sorting through her room.  I know that we were both dreading the project as she still had quite a bit of items in her room from her childhood.  In the end, however, we had a lot of fun and accomplished way more than either of us thought that we would.  When we stopped for a break we realized that we had filled two tubs for the garage sale.  We also filled a tub to keep with her memory ones in the basement and got rid of a big bag of trash.  I loved looking through her dance costumes with her.  There were so many cute ones and Meg kept almost all of them.  She read her cards and letters from graduation bringing back so many memories.  She also found all of her photo albums, scrap books and even a binder of news paper clippings in which she had appeared in over the years.  We enjoyed looking through all of them.

While Meg and I were walking down memory lane today, I did have a little pang of nostalgia.  For a minute or two I wanted all of the Heinisch children back in our home, hanging out together, playing games, going trick or treating, just having fun.  It seemed all so much simpler then.  I quickly realized that it wasn't easier years ago.  It was a lot of work raising four children.  We had had struggles then, sadness, and tough times.  The difference between then and today was that we had survived those just like we would survive this current tragedy.  All of our experiences then as a family prepared us for today.  I was thankful for that, but didn't need to relive it.  I did enjoy looking at the memories, however.  As Cal told me when I texted everyone this picture, "The L stands for Love!"  He was totally correct.

So Much Anger

 I started off the day today just feeling sad.  I spent a lot of time in quiet reflection and shed quite a few tears.  As the day progressed my feelings of sorrow turned to anger.  No matter what I did, I just couldn't stop being mad.  It didn't help that yesterday there was a school shooting in Texas where a gunman killed 19 children and 2 teachers.  There were so many posts on social media about it that I stopped looking at my phone early in the morning.  I wanted to yell at those posting to stop making a political situation about something tragic.  I didn't care which side of the fence they were on about gun laws, I just didn't want to hear it.  I wanted to show them the face of gun violence and make them understand that it didn't matter what their opinion was, people were hurting and they needed to shut up.  

I didn't say anything of those things in public, however.  I would never post my opinion on FaceBook about such a sensitive topic.  Instead I decided that I would just be angry.  Cameron had told me so many times this year that he had learned that sometimes the best way to stop feeling sad or mad was to ride it out, feel the pain, and don't try to mask it.  I did exactly what Cameron suggested and by the time Doug got home from work, I was able to express to him how I felt without crying.  

Tonight at Richard's vigil, I talked briefly with Lora Rusel.  I asked her how her day was and she said that she had spent it being angry.  I felt terrible for her, but expressed that I was glad that someone else understood exactly how I was feeling without me having to explain it to them.  I did feel a little better after the vigil and I know Cameron did too.  What an awful experience this has been for so many people.  I do not have a plan on how to stop the violence in the world except to pray that everyone suffering had as much support as the Bethany community has shown Richard's family and friends.  

An Impressive Round

Last night Jon contacted Cameron to ask him if he wanted to play in tonight's match at Heron Creek against Lakeland.  Cameron never considered not playing, but asked me what I thought.  We both agreed that it was important to participate not only for his mental health, but for the commitment that he had made to the team.  Cameron said that he fully expected to shot a 50+, but did want to be there.  Jon decided that the best way to take the pressure off of Cameron was to have him play in the 3 spot tonight.  He also paired him with Evan.  The senior's personality matched the situation that Cameron found himself in perfectly and we were incredibly happy that Jon made this switch.

This morning when Cameron got up he told me that he didn't want anyone to go to his match.  He just wasn't up for a gallery.  I asked him if maybe one or two people could go, just in case he needed someone.  Before he left for school he had changed his mind.  He instead wanted everyone to go - Grandma, Grandpa, Meg, Doug and I.  We were glad to hear that and agreed to be there in time for his 5 p.m. tee time.  

None of us had any expectations for Cameron tonight.  His coach really thought that Cameron would have a career round.  I could totally see that, but I also was prepared for him to exit the round early in tears.  I was very glad to see that he was playing with Tommy Curtis.  He had known him for years through the junior circuit.  Tommy, much like Cameron, was a good golfer, but also liked to enjoy his round socially.  That took a lot of pressure off of Cameron.  

In the end, Jon was right.  Cameron had his best nine hole round of the season, shooting a 37.  He played incredibly well and finished with an impressive approach shot over several trees on the last hole setting himself up for a birdie.  He wore his Sprite socks which matched the Fanta ones he gave Richard last October.  He also marked all of his golf balls with "Rios."  He told me that he knew if he missed his birdie putt on the last hole that Richard would never forgive him.  I think Richard would have been ok with it, but was glad that he didn't let him down.  It was definitely an impressive round.  Overall, Cameron's score never really mattered to us, but we were glad that he found a little bit of happiness in this week of sorrow.  

One Tough Day

Meg and I headed to the Goshen College Cabin this morning.  Bethany had invited the entire junior class to gather there today.  Our family had offered to bring a dessert and I was thankful that Grandma Jane agreed to make brownies.  I definitely wasn't up for much of anything yesterday.  The Cabin was set up with activities as well as quiet places for students to gather or reflect alone.  Both of their class sponsors were in attendance as well as several other teachers and mentors.  Someone had even brought a service dog to help with the grieving process.  Meg and I talked to a couple of the adults and then spent time with Cameron.  We asked him about his morning and encouraged him to leave whenever he felt that he needed a break from the group setting.  He said that he planned to take off after lunch and maybe play golf or go back to school to look at the artwork that Richard made in their shared 3-D art class.

While Cameron was busy, Meg and I headed to the grocery store and then spent time working on her room.  I had talked to Cameron about making sure that he stayed at home tonight.  We really appreciated the Rusel's hosting the boys for the past two nights, but felt that everyone needed a break.  Cameron arrived at dinner time and showed us the artwork that he had found as well as some fun items that he had made for Richard over the past school year.  He had planned to stay in all night, but Jordan called and wanted him to meet them in Goshen.  

After he left, Gabrielle came over to visit with Meg for awhile.  They talked, laughed, played Just Dance and made Tik Toks.  It was nice to have some fun fellowship in our home this evening as it had been a very sad couple of days.  Cameron did arrive home later in the evening with plans to finally shower and rest.  Heartbreak does not begin to describe my feelings for him.  

Devastating News

Last night we arrived home a little after 8 p.m. from a fun day in DeKalb.  Doug ordered pizza and after dinner we taught Phil to play Ticket to Ride.  Meg spent her evening at Nick's visiting with his Grandma.  Cameron let us know that he needed a break from people and spent most of his night upstairs on the phone avoiding his last English assignment.  He did come down to check on us a couple of time to see how Uncle Phil was doing in the game or to let us know that he and Samuel were talking about going to Fort Wayne on Sunday.  

Shortly after 11 p.m., Cameron told Doug that he needed to talk to him.  I assumed that it was about his plans for the rest of the weekend, so Phil and I continued our discussion on the nationwide formula shortage and rising gas prices.  Doug returned to the conversation and I asked him what Cameron needed.  I wasn't prepared for what he said.  Cameron had told him that there had been a shooting Saturday afternoon in Goshen and the photo on the news was the Rios' home.  He also shared that Ethan had called Cameron to tell him that there were rumors that one of those killed was Richard.   I instantly called Meg to see if she had heard anything on social media.  Everything inside of me said that it couldn't be true.  I knew from experience with Keyshawn's car accident three years ago that there was a good chance that the information Cameron was receiving was accurate, but decided to be hopeful that there was a misunderstanding.  Shortly, after talking to Cameron, my phone rang.  When I saw that it was Avery's mom, my heart sank.  She confirmed our worst fears.  I broke the news to Cameron and we just sobbed.  Samuel's mom called next to make sure that Cameron knew what had happened and to let me know that they were going to the Rusel's.  She encouraged Cameron to get there as soon as he could.

The rest of the night was a blur with a lot of tears and questions.  Thankfully, Meg and Nick arrived right after I got off of the phone with Marissa.  Meg helped pack Cameron a bag for Avery's and Nick offered to drive him to Goshen.  They listened to Juice Wrld on the way while Cameron shared stories and tears.  Needless to say, no one got much sleep last night.

Today was a day of grief and support.  While Doug was taking Phil to the airport in South Bend, Meg and I drove over to the Rusel's.  Cameron wanted his van and we wanted to check on him.  We spent a half hour or so talking with him listening to Richard stories and crying.  He decided that he wanted a break and thought nine holes of golf with Austin would be the perfect way to spend the afternoon.  Meg then headed over to Nick's to spend time with his family.  

Doug and I met Cameron again in Goshen at 4 p.m. at Bethany.  The school invited all of the junior parents and students to gather together.  We received some more information about the status of Richard's sisters who had also been injured in the shooting.  We were also given a schedule for the events planned for the students of Bethany on Monday.  It was a somber meeting and afterward Doug and I decided to stay in Goshen, just in case Cameron needed us.

We did see Cameron one more time before the end of the night.  He was headed to Reisha's for awhile and then was going to spend the night at Avery's again.  The boys wanted to play Jackbox and tell Richard stories.  After Cameron left, I texted some of our friends and family members to let them know what had happened.  They instantly offered prayers for Cameron, his friends and the Rios' family.  

I was absolutely drained by the end of the night. I spent the rest of the evening enjoying all of the pictures that we had on our camera roll of Cameron, Richard and their friend group.  I especially appreciated the fun one that Cameron and Richard had just posted on Instagram on Friday.  I thought of all of the times that I had heard from Cameron this year, "Hey Mom, Richard and I . . ."  I hoped that would never stop.

Celebrating Our 29th Anniversary

Today we celebrated our 29th anniversary back where it all started, DeKalb Illinois.  It wasn't originally on our agenda to be there.  Once we found out that Addie's graduation party would be today, however, it seemed like the perfect place to honor the day.  I was extremely happy that all of our children were able to be with us.  We even had the added pleasure of bringing Uncle Phil to the event with us too.  

Besides Addie's party, we also got to visit Grandma Heinisch's grave, shop at Inboden's, and drive by Doug's boyhood home.  We celebrated Cal's 24th birthday and had a lot of fun visiting with those who attended Addie's party.  We hadn't seen the Bridge family or Andy in quite some time and appreciated catching up.  Overall, it was a wonderful day and I enjoyed it very much.  Back in 1993, I couldn't have imagined what life would have looked like 29 years later.  Today, I couldn't be more proud of the family that we have grown to be.  

Happy 24th Birthday, Cal!

Today was Cal's 24th birthday.  Even though he had to work, he still had a wonderful day.  He received numerous texts and messages from friends.  One of his friend's Dad's called him at 5 a.m. to be the first to wish him a Happy Birthday.  Cal decided that he wasn't awake enough to answer that call.  I did get a kick out of Cal's reply to my early morning birthday message - "Thanks Mom, how late do you think it will be until I hear from Cameron!"  Cameron has notoriously waited until late in the night to wish anyone birthday greetings.  Surprisingly, he got a text to Cal a lot earlier than either he or I thought he would.  

Tonight Cal celebrated with his friends by trying out a few bars near their new apartment.  Cal said that it was a lot of fun and that Sam Clark joined them as well.  He only lives a few blocks from Cal now.  I was happy to hear that and overall thrilled with how Cal's last year has gone for him.  He has found a lot of success in his job at Plante Moran.  He has a wonderful group of friends and has been enjoying all that Chicago has to offer from sporting events to restaurants to long walks along Lake Michigan.  We are incredibly proud of him and can't wait to see what the next year has in store for him.  

Nice to Have Meg Home

Meg has only been home a few days, but I've already really enjoyed having her here.  When she hasn't been at doctor's appointments or catching up with friends, we have been busy cleaning out her possessions in the basement.  Most of the items have been memory pieces that I've kept for her over the years.  It was a daunting task and I wasn't sure how it would go.  Thankfully, sorting through everything wasn't as bad as either of us thought it would be.  In fact it was actually really fun.  While I was pulling items out of tubs for Meg to look at she was showing me some of her favorite memories.  A Lilo & Stitch bathing suit, a baby outfit and a dance shirt were all on that list.  She also chose to share some of the funnier items from her childhood - her 3rd grade writing journal which featured all of the times she was mad at Cal ("his jokes aren't even funny") or the handmade paper bag puppet where she drew the face on the wrong side of the bag.  We laughed about that one for at least a day.  

Tonight was another example of how nice it is to have Meg home.  She walked along with us at Cameron's golf match.  When things got tense (a missed putt or an out of bounds), she'd look at me and say something like "That's it, the next time Cameron hits a ball I'm yelling 'Jackass'" (a Happy Gilmore reference.)  Her best comment of the night occurred when Cameron was on the third hole, behind a tree, looking through his range finder, hoping to get on the green.  She turned to me and said,  "I really don't even think he needs that.  He could totally use the spyglass from the Peter Pan set that we just cleaned out of the toy room."  I laughed out loud on that one.  I could just imagine the reaction of all of the intense number ones that Cameron had been playing with lately if he did that.  When she suggested it later in the evening to Cameron, he even laughed at that one.

My favorite moment of having Meg home, however, wasn't cleaning out anything or listening to her one liners.  It was instead the picture that we took this evening.  While we were waiting for Cameron's group to putt on the second hole, Grandpa Cutes took a picture of Grandma Jane, Meg and I.  I couldn't remember the last time that we had a picture of just the three of us.  It turned out very well and was a great way to commemorate Meg's time at home.  

Doctors

Meg hasn't been home a lot in the past year.  Last summer she took I-Core and stayed in Bloomington.  Over Christmas break, she spent a week in Arizona and a week in Florida.  She did come home for a weekend in February for her final orthodontist appointment and a visit to the dentist, but didn't have time for a lot else.  She was only home for a couple of days at Spring Break as we spent her vacation in Florida.  Thus, there wasn't much time for her to schedule doctor's appointments.  When I found out from her that she had some free time this week, I went ahead and scheduled every appointed that she needed.  She wasn't excited about it, but realized that she needed to make time for her health check-ups as she would't be available once her internship started in June.

It wasn't just doctor's appointments that Meg took care of this week.  During her first two days home, Meg not only got into see Dr. Freeze to update her prescriptions, she also made it to Amanda's to get a haircut.  Today she had her first visit to Warsaw Women's center where she received some positive news.  She also had a check-up with Dr. Caughill, her eye doctor.  In the end that one was the most important.  Meg had been having issues with double vision when looking at items up close.  He assured her that her eyes and prescription were fine, but that she would need to return to her eye exercise routine.  She wasn't excited about that, but was relieved that it wasn't something more concerning.  She also picked out a cute pair of glasses.  The last three days may not have been the best of Meg's summer vacation, but they definitely were productive.  Now Meg can take a break from doctors until November.  

A Match Worth Walking For

Tonight Cameron had his second match of the season at Knollwood Country Club.  It was also the second time that he had played against both ECA and Trinity.  Thus, there was a lot of familiarity to tonight's match.  Meg drove me over so that I could ride home from South Bend with Doug.  She was going to stay and watch, but Sarah wanted to get together with her tonight, so she made plans to watch Cameron play on Thursday at Black Squirrel instead.  Grandma and Grandpa weren't able to attend tonight's match either as Grandpa had a town council meeting.

Cameron teed off on number 12 once again.  I was a little bit behind his group, so I walked up the hilly fairway with the number two golfers.  I got about twenty yards down the hole and I strongly thought about calling Doug and telling him that I would wait for them at the clubhouse.  The joints in my left leg were absolutely killing me.  I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to walk nine holes on uneven ground.  I decided to at least give it a try and in the end was very glad that I did.

Cameron had working on slowing down his swing this week and it paid off today.  He hit the ball very well and matched scores with both the Trinity and ECA number ones.  At the end of seven holes he was only two over par.  I was impressed.  He finished the night tied for low medalist with a 40.  The Bruins beat ECA and barely lost to Trinity.  Overall, it was a great match for Bethany and I was glad that I decided to walk along.  

Here's the Story . . .

Meg arrived home last night in time to eat dinner, unpack her car and catch up with us before heading to bed.  Today I got to spend a lot of time with her.  We took a long walk, visited with Grandma and reorganized all that she brought back from Bloomington.  After dinner tonight, I also got to open both hers and Doug's Mother's Day gifts from me.  They had purchased them in Florida.  I loved the M & M ice cream bowls and flamingo shirt that she gave me along with the new Dolly Parton book from Doug.  

Tonight Doug had to work.  Meg and I were hoping to play Swap Meet with Cameron once he got home from practice.  When he called to say that he was going to play another nine holes, both of us were a little disappointed.  That's when I suggested the watching an episode of the "new" show that Meg had started binge watching while studying for finals - The Brady Bunch.  Meg was up for it and I didn't have to talk Doug into it.  The Brady Bunch was one of his all time favorite shows.

It had been years since either Doug or I had watched the Bradys.  It was like revisiting an old friend.  I had grown up with the Bradys and Doug had watched them religiously with his roommate in college.  We knew which episodes were playing within the first minute of airing and we enjoyed watching Meg's reaction to the show.  She had decided a couple of weeks ago that Doug and I were Mike and Carol.  Since we only had four children in the Heinisch family, she had to think long and hard about who each of her brothers were on the show.  She knew instantly that she identified with Jan, but it was harder for her to place her brothers.  She easily decided that Brett was Greg and Cameron was Bobby, but she just couldn't see Cal as Peter.  She viewed he and Cindy as the weakest on the show and didn't feel that either of them would fit in the Heinisch family.  I finally suggested to her that maybe Cal was most like Marcia.  Instantly, she agreed that he fit as the most famous child on the show.  Both Doug and I got a kick out of Meg's take on the show.  It was a great way to pass time with Meg while waiting for a round of Mario Kart with Cameron.  As an added bonus, she even won tonight.

Moving On Up

Cal told us several months ago that he and Jayce were giving up their apartment in Wrigleyville.  They had grown tired of the close proximity to Wrigley Field.  The increased traffic during Cubs games had been enough for them to look for something new.  Their friend Nolan joined them in their quest for a new place and all of them were extremely happy with their choice.  They found a three bedroom, two bath in Uptown.  It was closer to Plante Moran's office and it even had a private rooftop deck.  When Cal was home last week, he took one of our outdoor tables and four chairs for them to use on it.  

Today was moving day for Cal, Jayce and Nolan.  Cal sent us a picture of the outside of the building as soon as they arrived.  It looked very nice.  Shortly afterward, he sent another text, this one with a video of the apartment.  He was very pleased with it.  He also let us know that the deck was big enough for them to play corn hole.  As happy as he was, we weren't surprised when we received a text at the end of the day "I am NEVER moving again!".  We couldn't blame him for feeling that way.  

A Week in Florida

Meg and Nick had so much fun in Florida in January that they talked about going back once school got out.  They weren't sure how they'd swing a second vacation, so Doug suggested that they go down in May when he was in Ocala for work.  They thought that was a great idea and started researching day trips from Ocala.  Once they figured out that there would be plenty to do, they made plans to visit the sunshine state this past week.  They were worried for a little while that gas prices would make it impossible for them to go, but both committed to working a couple of extra shifts this spring semester and saved up enough for the extra cost.  

This week while Doug was working, Meg and Nick visited Typhoon Lagoon, Disney Springs, Clearwater Beach, Magic Kingdom and Lido Key.  I know that they had a lot of fun as they texted pictures continually throughout the week.  They did get to spend some time with Doug as they went to dinner at Crazy Cucumber with him on Tuesday night and Brick City Kitchen on Friday night.  As an added bonus they got to visit with Uncle Phil as he had driven down from Atlanta to see Doug.  Nick also got to experience Buc-ee's for the first time even getting a picture with the "famous" beaver.  Overall, it was a wonderful trip for the two of them and an awesome way to celebrate the end of the semester.