A Weekend in Syracuse

Several months ago, Cal asked us if it would be alright if he brought a few of his IU/Chicago friends home for a weekend of fun in Syracuse.  We got together with him and came up with a few dates that worked in our schedule and his.  We all agreed on this weekend as the perfect one for him to host a gathering at our home.

Cal arrived Friday night with close to ten of his friends in tow.  Some had ridden from Chicago with him, others had showed up on their own a little later.  He even had a few that were flying in tomorrow morning.  Doug and I had fun catching up with Jayce, Cameron, Mark and David.  We also enjoyed reconnecting with several of his IU friends and meeting his new roommate, Nolan.  Doug had built a bonfire for the guys and they spent the majority of the evening in the backyard.  Doug said that it was still going strong at 2 a.m. when he got up to check on it.

Reconnecting with their high school roots, the boys spent Saturday morning playing basketball at the Lakeland Youth Center.  Cal said that it was a lot of fun, even if he was out of shape.  Doug made a crockpot of brats for them before we left for Portage which made for a nice lunch break.  The afternoon was spent on Lake Wawasee.  Cal had rented the Nauty Mule for their group.  They toured the lake, drank some beer and swam at the sand bar for several hours.  I was so thankful that the weather cooperated with their plans.  I wasn't sure how a September day on the lake would turn out, but it was sunny and in the mid-80s all afternoon.  The only negative part of the day was when Jayce lost his temporary tooth in the lake during a game of catch.

After showering and catching up with Grandma and Grandpa at their house, the guys then walked down to the Frog for their evening activities.  They spent the rest of the evening dancing, playing games and enjoying all that the popular local hangout had to offer.  Grandma and Grandpa doubled as Uber drivers this weekend and dropped them off at our house a little after midnight last night.

Cal was up early this morning and we got to visit with him before the boys packed up to leave.  Several of Cal's friends thanked us for hosting them.  I looked at Jayce and Cal and said, "Hey, this is just a throwback to every weekend in the fall of 2015.  The only thing missing was some 1 a.m. knee basketball."  I was definitely sad to see them go, but thankful that they had enjoyed all that Syracuse had to offer and that we got to be a small part of that.