Happy New Year

Our New Year’s Eve started at Silver Springs State Park where Cameron and Nick went kayaking while Meg and I walked the park.  Nick had never been on the clear water river before and enjoyed it very much.  Cameron said that they saw Manatee nostrils snorting, several alligators, turtle and birds.  The river was a lot more crowded than the last time Cameron went, but the enjoyed it just the same.  While they were kayaking, Meg and I walked the park.  She loved looking in the water as well.  We planned on taking the glass bottom boat tour the next time she came down.

Doug stayed home to work and exercise this morning.  We picked him up for lunch at Las Margaritas.  It was Nick and Cameron’s first time at the restaurant and they liked it as well as Doug and I.  We stopped at Barnes & Noble before heading back to the house.

Doug and I spent the rest of the day cleaning and putting away the Christmas tubs.  The house looked so much better by the time he started cooking dinner.  Nick and Meg used the afternoon to pack for their return flight tomorrow.  While everyone was busy, Cameron took a nap.  The Lions game kept him up late last night, but he felt a lot better about it today since he found out that the refs from the game had been demoted.  

After a jam packed holiday season, everyone was ready for a quiet evening at home tonight.  Thus, we rang in the New Year with Doug’s appetizers, a big cookie, several rounds of Wavelength and Chameleon with Phil, the Twilight Zone, more football and watching our neighbor’s fireworks.  It was the perfect way for us to celebrate the busiest year of our life. 

Christmas Golf

One of my favorite things to do when I visited my grandparents in Florida for Christmas was to play golf during break.  The courses weren’t always in the best shape and the weather was a little bit cool, but it was definitely fun to get in a round during the holidays when I knew that the courses were closed in Indiana.  

Cameron was able to experience that today when he and Doug played nine holes at Ocala Palms.  They were impressed with the course and as an added bonus Cameron got to use the clubs he inherited from Bob for the first time today.  It took a little bit of time for him to adjust to the irons, but Cameron said that he had never hit his drives better.  The best part was that he and Doug had a great time together.  They were paired with another group of two and enjoyed the round immensely.

While Doug and Cameron were playing golf, I worked non-stop on taking all of the Christmas down and catching up on laundry.  It’s funny to me how much I love having the decorations up during the season, but as soon as the holiday ends, I’m ready for it to be gone. A positive for me was that I also got to listen to my new Jason Mraz vinyl which I enjoyed very much.  Nick and Meg offered to take me to lunch, but I told them that I was ok by myself.  I appreciated their gesture, but hadn’t been alone since I picked up Cal and Meg at the airport ten days ago.  

Cameron requested Brick City Kitchen for dinner which we all enjoyed very much.  It also gave us a chance to see the Christmas lights downtown one last time and buy a few treats from Grandpa Joe’s.  The rest of the night was spent playing games and watching the Lions game on television.  Game night was a lot of fun with multiple rounds of Donner Party.  Phil joined us for that and the first half of the football game.  Unfortunately, the Lions game did not end as well.  A missed player check-in by the refs cost Detroit the game against the Cowboys.  It was a bummer end to a wonderful day in Ocala.

Brett Heads Home

Today we said goodbye to Brett, but not before we enjoyed shopping and lunch at Disney Springs.  Our fist stop was Splitsville for lunch.  It had been awhile since we had eaten upstairs and really enjoyed the atmosphere.  It was also colder than normal today, so we appreciated being inside.  Doug and I ran into Jim Hoover when we walked out of the restaurant.  He was in Orlando with his daughter's family.  It was fun to see a familiar face.  

Before we left our house this morning, we knew that it would be crowded at the popular shopping spot, but nothing prepared us for the crowds.  We couldn't even walk in the World of Disney Store without running into other shoppers.  Thankfully, the M & M store was a lot better and Meg, Nick and I each found something to purchase.  Meg was excited that she finally had the brown M & M shot glass that she had been looking for these past two years.  Brett scored a new pajama shirt at the Coke store, and he and Cameron each picked out a donut from Everglazed before we left.  

We got to the airport without issue and Brett made it through security and to his gate well ahead of his boarding time.  He made plans with Sean to pick him up once he landed in Indianapolis and finished reading his fourth book while on this trip.  Our drive home wasn't too bad for a Friday afternoon.  We were all thankful that Doug didn't have anymore work calls to make.  After the one this morning, everyone could sympathize with me on how boring they really were.  

Tonight, we watched IU beat Kennesaw State.  Doug, Cameron and I were extremely impressed with how good the team looked, especially since one of their starters were out with Covid.  The rest of the evening was spent watching the OSU vs. Missouri bowl game while playing games of our own.  I missed Brett, but was glad to still have so much company here with us.

Wonka

When we asked everyone to come down to Florida to spend Christmas together, we weren't sure who would be available and on what days.  Doug and I were both thrilled that everyone agreed to be here for the entire Christmas weekend plus a few extra days.  Nick's schedule was the only one that was up in the air, but thankfully, he was able to spend the holiday with us as well.  He flew out on the 26th for a chartered flight to Mexico and came back late last night.  We missed having him here, but it did give us a chance to spend a few days, just the six of us.  That had not happened since our trip to Disney in January 2020, a few months before Covid shut down the world.  Doug and I felt incredibly blessed that all of our adult children still enjoyed hanging out together and got along incredibly well.

Doug had to work today, but the rest of us spent a quiet day enjoying Ocala.  We slept in and got lunch together at McAlister's, Brett, Cameron and I went to see the new Wonka movie.  We were surprised to see the theater was full by the time we bought our tickets, but did find three seats together in the front row.  With the reclining seats, it was actually a fun place to sit.  Cal and Alina had already seen the movie and highly recommended it.  The film was a musical and told the story of how Willy Wonka got his start in the candy business.  The three of us absolutely loved it and were glad that we had decided to see it today.

While we were at the theaters, Meg and Nick spent the afternoon at home working on marriage prep.  They picked us up even though Doug was already home from work.  He hadn't had a chance to exercise this week and was jogging when the film ended.  Tonight, we took everyone to Crazy Cucumber, Meg's favorite place in Ocala.  The food and drinks were very good and the weather was nice enough to eat outside.  We ended the night with a fun game of Wavelength before everyone headed to bed.  

Saying Goodbye to Cal

Today was Cal's last day in Florida, so we let him pick what we did.  He decided that he wanted to see John Travolta's home in Ocala and then visit the University of Florida as he had never been to Gainesville.  We were excited about the idea as we loved Gainesville and thought it would be fun to see Jumbolair Aviation Estates since we had never been by the famed Hollywood actor's home.  We also suggested driving by Tom Petty's childhood home and eating lunch at our favorite burger place in Florida - Relish.

Everyone was able to sleep in this morning as we didn't need to leave our house until 10:30 a.m.  That also gave Doug time to work before we left.  We first stopped by the Florida Citrus Center as Brett and Cal had never been there.  They both thought that it was just as over the top as the rest of us, but were glad to see it for themselves.  From there we drove by Jumbolair Estates.  It was amazing to us to have this millionaire air park in the middle of rural Ocala.  We didn't see John Travolta's home, but could see from the entrance that it was a beautiful area.

The next stop on our trip was the childhood home of Tom Petty.  Cameron and I were a little disappointed that the large cardboard cut out of Tom Petty playing the guitar was no longer in the front yard.  Everyone else was a little surprised by its location, but happy to know where my favorite musician grew up.  Next, we drove to the University of Florida for a walk around campus.  Only Cameron and I had toured it before and were able to explain for the most part where everything was.  Everyone thought it was as beautiful as we did.  The brick buildings reminded them of Purdue, but they all agreed that the palm trees and green space were a lot prettier.  

Relish was right across the street from the dorms, so we stopped in for lunch.  Unfortunately, Cal and Doug were told that it was closed during Christmas break since the students were gone.  They were told to try the one downtown, so after walking by "The Swamp" and back to our car, we drove there next.  The owner was there and had seen Doug and Cal at the campus location.  He bought each of them a beer for remaining loyal to the restaurant.  We thought that was nice and followed their drink orders by picking out our favorite sandwiches for lunch.  Cal tried salmon and I got ground turkey, while everyone else chose a hamburger.  The food was perfect and everyone enjoyed it very much.

We could tell on Apple Maps that traffic to the airport was thick, so we decided to leave right after lunch.  We had parked the van at Cracker Barrel in Ocala so Doug could drop us before going to Orlando.  Unfortunately, the worst of the traffic was on I-75 from Gainesville to Ocala.  It looked like Cal would be cutting it close to his flight time, but thankfully, his plane was delayed forty minutes.  Thus, he got through security and still had an hour to get to his gate before his flight left.  I was very sad to see Cal leave, but incredibly thankful to have all of us together for the holidays.

While Cal and Doug were driving to Orlando, Brett, Cameron, Meg and I all went shopping.  We stopped at the vinyl store, Old Navy, Dick's, Kohls and Barnes & Noble before heading home.  Doug arrived a little bit after six and we all went to Cody's Roadhouse.  Brett enjoyed the steak place as much as we thought he would and everyone had a really nice meal.  It was definitely a fun way to end a busy day.

Tampa & Clearwater Beach

When we found out that all of our children would be here for Christmas, we decided that we wanted to find a day trip for the 26th.  We knew that everyone would be ready to get out of the house after a weekend of celebrating the holiday and we really thought they would want to explore more of Central Florida.  Originally, we planned on spending the day in St. Augustine as we had been told by multiple people that it was the #1 spot to visit in the area.  We were all excited about the trip, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate.  After doing a little bit of research, I suggested The Florida Aquarium in Tampa Bay.  Everyone was excited to give it a try.  

The six of us left this morning after the fog lifted and were surprised at how little traffic there was on       I-75.  The trip to downtown Tampa was an easy one and soon Meg and I were buying tickets to the aquarium.  It was actually cheaper to purchase a membership than one day tickets.  Meg and I were both happy about that and made plans to come back this year and try the dolphin cruise as well.  The guys met us at the entrance and we started our day upstairs in the Florida wetlands area.  We loved seeing all of the fish and birds native to our new home state.  

After watching the sting rays being fed, we headed to the reef viewing area where we saw large turtles, sharks and rays.  Next we visited the jellyfish, eels and clown fish.  We also saw some rare animals from the ocean and found out that only 20% of ocean waters had ever been explored.  We then headed to the outside to see the African penguins.  They were adorable and we all liked their family area very much.  We then stopped by the gift shop on our way out so that Meg could get a bracelet.  Everyone was very impressed with the aquarium and glad that we made that a part of the day.

We walked to a local brewery for lunch.  The food was delicious.  Cal had never been to Tampa before and loved the city.  It was very nice and there was definitely a lot to do and see.  Once we finished lunch, we drove to Congo River Mini Golf.  Doug, Cameron and I had played there two years and wanted everyone to try it.  Although the free fall that we witnessed then didn't quite impressed everyone else there today, we did have a great time.  Cal was the big winner besting Cameron by two.

Our last stop of the day was Clearwater Beach.  Even though it was only eight miles away, it was ten degrees cooler and a lot windier than miniature golf.  We didn't mind, however, and enjoyed a long walk on the beach and some shopping along the shore.  We had wanted to take Brett and Cameron to Jimmy Hula's while we were there, but the restaurant was closed permanently.  No one was very hungry anyway, and decided to wait and order Marco's once we got back to Ocala.  Today was definitely a favorite of everyone and we were glad that we could spend the entire day together as a family.  

A Very Merry Christmas in Florida

Everyone agreed to open gifts at 10 a.m. this morning so no one had to wake up early.  Cameron got up in time to show us all his Heat Miser hairdo before our Christmas morning started.  Just as in years past, we started with our stockings where all received a fun graphic tee, candy and a mixed cocktail to try later.  We then moved on to presents with Cameron and Meg playing Santa as always.  There were a lot of gifts for everyone to open and definitely no complaints about the contents.  There were some surprises and a few gifts that were requested.  Doug had a new Portillo's shirt to match his love of the Chicago chain.  Brett's new leather coat was a big hit as was Cal's winter jacket for the cold Chicago weather.  Meg had several new books to read including Jane Austin's Emma.  Nick was just as happy about his new glass chicken hot sauce jar as Doug was giving it to him.  Cameron was adorned with several new beloved Lions items and I was thrilled to have a DVD set of all of the Peanuts specials.  Everything went very well, and overall, I had a lot of fun watching our family enjoy Christmas morning.  

Doug made a wonderful ham dinner for all of us this afternoon.  Phil joined us for that and an afternoon of playing Nick's new game, Wavelength.  There was also time for several rounds of ping pong and Cataan.  Meg took a break to set up her new iPad while the guys were busy.  Cameron and I got out Mastermind and Cal watched football.  Everyone made time to call or text Grandma and Grandpa "Merry Christmas" as well.  

This evening, some of us watched It's A Wonderful Life while others read their new books or watched Home Alone.  It was a relaxing night compared to how busy we had been the past few days.  I know that everyone was very happy for that.  I wasn't sure how Christmas would be in Florida, but I do have to say that it was absolutely wonderful and I was so very happy that all of our family could join us here.  

Christmas Eve Traditions

Even though our address had changed, the majority of the Christmas Eve traditions that we all held dear in the Heinisch home continued.  The morning started with Christmas cookies with dad.  In the afternoon, everyone finished wrapping their Christmas gifts and opening the advent calendar.  We then watched multiple Christmas specials including "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" which Cal decided was a dream as he never remembered watching it.  In the evening, we attended Christmas Eve mass, drove around looking at Christmas lights, had Doug's lasagna for dinner, opened Christmas Eve gifts and played games for the rest of the night.

Although the majority of the day was the same as Christmas Eve pasts, there were some differences.  We spent a good part of the day in t-shirts and shorts.  Pickle ball was played in our driveway.  Phil joined us for our nightly traditions.  We also opened Grandma and Grandpa's gifts instead of Godparent gifts.  Even with the changes, we had a wonderful day together and enjoyed not having to worry about the weather even once.