A Relaxing Day

Today was all about getting caught up on the laundry, starting Driver's Ed, watching The Masters and hanging out with Flower.  Meg introduced me to a new show, Glee.  She loved the series and has been wanting me to start it as well.  I had a lot of time today as I folded laundry, so we tried it.  I absolutely loved it.  The adult characters in it were exaggerated and comical.  I made it through four episodes before we had to take a break.  She was able to start her Driver's Ed online class.  She wants to finish that before she gets her permit.  My parents came down to play Hearts.  Even Cal joined in.  I put away the Easter and dusted while they played.  Cal talked everyone into playing Yahtzee afterward.  That has always been one of my favorites.

The Heinisch children had fun with Flower today.  Mom had a leash which made it easier for Cam to take her out.  They all spent the night at Mom's last night and took Flower along with them.  She rides in the car well and really doesn't bark much.  She doesn't particularly like our hardwood floors, so she prefers to be in our room or on the purple carpet.  She also likes to beg for food, but other than that she has been pretty easy to watch.  Our lifestyle doesn't really make having a dog easy, but Flower fits in very well.

Home

It was still cold when we got up in the morning, but Doug had called Goshen Plumbing and Heating.  They promised to be here by noon.  None of us really minded.  We were all happy just to be home.  Doug made it to work for his meetings today and Cal and my Dad made it to the veterinarian's this morning.  Cal agreed to watch Hannah-Marie's dog, Flower, once we got back.  By lunch we had a dog and the heat back on, so everyone was happy.

Tonight Doug and I went to dinner at Huntington's Street.  Although we were together for five straight days we had never been alone.  Even the night we had two rooms, I stayed with Meg and he stayed with the boys.  Definitely not complaining as we had such an awesome time.  It was nice tonight, however, to catch up with just Doug.

Over dinner Doug thanked me.  When I asked him for what he said for choosing a vacation where we didn't just sit at a beach.  He knows a lot of families enjoy that style of vacation and he has no criticism of that, but he really likes to stay busy and our current Spring Break was perfect for him.  It took a lot of planning, and I appreciate Doug realizing that.  I did tell him that Meg and I had already talked about Heinisch family vacations.  We realize that our style of family vacations are not for the faint of heart.  Just in this trip alone we traveled 3000 miles in five days.  I am thrilled that the Heinisch children have taken on their Dad's philosophy of vacations.  Even our trips to Disney World are packed with activity from morning to night.  We have visited a lot of interesting places over the years and have loved every minute of it.  Glad that Doug is able to keep us going.

End of a Great Vacation!

We left Houston last night right after the game.  Originally, Doug thought we would be able to leave early as he really believed that North Carolina would open a lead like they did against Syracuse.  We were glad that he was wrong, however.  It was worth getting a later start to witness what ESPN was calling by morning the Game of the Century.  In the end leaving the game was a lot easier than we ever dreamed.  The ramps were packed on the walk down, but everyone was calm and the lines were orderly.  We reached the van in relatively no time and the trip out of the parking lot was very easy.  In fact Doug pointed out that we were only in the van nine minutes before we were on the interstate.

We drove for about two and a half hours and stopped for the night at Nacogdoches, Texas.  Everyone slept about six hours before we were on the road again.  We listened to the hype surrounding last night's game on ESPN for most of the morning.  We were all still amazed at the ending.  Only two final games have been won on a buzzer beater and this was the only one by jump shot.  I would put the NC State win over this one by a little bit as the hype surrounding the game going into the finals was a lot larger.  Either way we were all still happy to be a part of it.

We did enjoy more than just the game yesterday.  Beforehand we all went to College Station to visit the George Bush Presidential Library.  It was almost two hours away, but worth the drive.  They had quite a bit on his life, especially before and during his presidency.  The part regarding the death of his daughter was very sad.  With all of the hype concerning the current presidential race and the primaries the library brought back to mind that there have been good, moral characters leading our country.  I hope there will be again one day.

Once we left the Bush Library we took a walking tour of Texas A & M.  It was a gorgeous campus with a large student body population.   We left the bookstore and drove to Kemah Boardwalk on the gulf coast.  It was definitely a beautiful area.  We ate dinner on the water at Bubba Gump Shrimp.  We then walked along the boardwalk before we left for the game.

The drive home was long, but easy.  Traffic was light and we only had to stop a couple of times.  Besides listening to ESPN we watched several movies and also tuned in to the primary results from Wisconsin.  We were happy to hear that Cruz defeated Trump.  The most eventful part of the trip occurred when we got home.  The heat in our house was off and the fan was blowing cold air throughout each of the rooms.  The thermostat read 59, but it felt colder than that.  It was after midnight, and we couldn't fix it.  Thus, we grabbed a lot of extra blankets and headed to bed.

An Incredible Finish!

A year ago this week I started talking to Cal about Spring Break 2016.  Doug and I had decided many years ago that we'd let each of the Heinisch children pick the destination of our Spring Break trip their senior year.  I was a little hesitant to ask Cal.  In general he is not much for traveling, especially if we're driving.  I wasn't sure he'd have much interest.  We  had just returned from a successful visit to Purdue and IU, so it seemed like a good time to start thinking about it.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he did have a destination in mind - Memphis and a return trip to Graceland.  All of us were definitely on board for that. It was one of our favorite trips of long ago.  We started looking at places in Tennessee that we would also like to visit when I mentioned that Memphis was exactly halfway to Houston the site of the 2016 Final Four.  Cal said he'd be interested and I entered the lottery for tickets.  With all of the hype of the Wisconsin win over an undefeated Kentucky team in 2015 neither Doug nor I  thought we'd get tickets and were thrilled to find out in September that we were wrong.

Fast forward a year and the start of our trip.  I was incredibly nervous.  Cal loves basketball, but I wasn't sure how excited anyone was to see Oklahoma vs. Villanova and Syracuse vs. North Carolina.  The Saturday games proved to be lackluster especially during the second part of the second half of each game.  We did enjoy the experience more than I ever thought we would, however.  Cam was the one most disappointed that we did not see a close game.  Cal assured him that Monday would be different.  Doug was skeptical that Villanova had a chance, but Cal never waivered.  

As much fun as Saturday was Monday was in a league of its own.  There were fireworks to start the game and celebrity sightings all around with Michael Jordan drawing the biggest crowd.  I didn't ask Cal, but I assume he more enjoyed seeing his favorite player being introduced - Shaquille O'Neal.  

The game was a close one from the beginning.  No one left early and when Marcus Paige threw up an off balanced  three to tie the game with 4.7 seconds to go the Capital One seat cushions went flying throughout the stadium.  Overtime was on the mind of most in attendance.  Instead we watched Villanova perfectly execute a play that Cal called the Christian Watford.  The stadium erupted and we were witnesses to an incredible  finish.  Couldn't ask for a better way to spend our last Spring Break with Cal. I teared up when I took the picture below.  Watching Villanova's unbelievable run through some of basketballs toughest opponents reminded me of raising Cal.  He is the epitome of perseverance.  It has been a blessing to watch this child turn into a wonderful young man full of life and promise.  Thankful for the memories we made this week.  I will miss Cal next year, but he's ready to soar and I will not stand in his way. Unlike the game, this is just the beginning of something incredible

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Remember the Alamo

Yesterday we went to the Lyndon Johnson Space Center in Houston before the games.  We were able to visit the original mission control that was involved in all of the Apollo missions.  There were the seals from all of the Apollo trips and a US flag that flew on the moon in 1972.  We were able to see several rockets and walked through a space shuttle.  The reality hit home for all of the Heinisch children that not every astronaut made it home from their space mission and others like Gus Grissom never even started.

Today we traveled to San Antonio.  It was  two hours one way, but everyone was glad that Doug suggested it.  Our first stop was The Alamo and we all learned a lot about early Texas history.  Cal realized yesterday that there was a Ripley's Believe It or Not across the street from The Alamo and really wanted to visit it.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but we all really liked it.  From the bizarre to the items of torture there was a lot to see.  The three legged man really creeped Meg out, but overall it was very interesting.

We walked down to The Riverwalk from The Alamo area.  The river was small, but the area was very nice.  There were a lot of restaurants and shops.  We stopped at an Irish pub and ate outside along the river.  It was beautiful.

We left for Katy, Texas after The Riverwalk.  Everyone wanted to play mini golf and we found one close to our hotel.  Cal was the big winner of the evening.  I had a chance but choked.  Cam finished third by one stroke over Doug, so he was thrilled.  Meg accepted her last place finish without disappointment.  We ended the evening at dinner exhausted but happy.

Bucket List ✅

The Final Four - never thought we'd go, but so glad we made the trip!  The atmosphere outside the NRG stadium was electric filled with music, basketball games, the TNT guys, one high Ferris wheel, 3 pounds of crawfish and the longest beer line we have ever seen.  We had a lot of fun walking through the crowd soaking it all in.

Cal wanted to head in as soon as the gates opened.  The line was long, but we had no problems getting in.  The NCAA switched to digital tickets.  I was a little nervous about that, but it worked very well.  Our first stop was the merchandise tent for Cal and Cam to get shirts.  Cal's had all of the teams in the tournament on the back which included both Cal and IU.    Mg picked hers out later when she and I made a lap around the inside of the stadium.  Also came back with pretzels and popcorn for everyone.

Our seats were toward the top, but right at center court.  There were large screen TVs so we could catch all of the action.  Tried to get Meg and Cam's pictures on the big screen via Twitter, but no luck.  There were a lot of highlights of the tournament played before the first game. My favorite was IU beating Kentucky. 

Both games started out close, but by midway through the second half the winning teams exploded.  Villanova set a record beating Oklahoma by the biggest margin ever in a Final Four game.  North Carolina also set a record with most points scored in the paint as they defeated Syracuse. Looking forward to Monday night.  I know Doug, Cal and I will be cheering for Nova.  Meg and Cam both picked UNC in our family bracket, so they aren't sure yet who they'll be pulling for.

Walking in Memphis

Our first stop in Memphis this morning was Graceland.  It was our second visit and the first place Cal mentioned when I asked him about a Spring Break senior trip last April.  

As a child of the 1970s, stepping into the Graceland mansion is like stepping into the past.  The shag carpet on the ceiling, the glass peacocks on the doors, the stairway of mirrors and the bright yellow and blue TCB room are just a few of the highlights.  Meg said to me several times, "Mom, this is the perfect house for you.  Everything is gaudy just like you like it!"  As much as I love this historic site walking through it does tug at my heart.  The first person that I can remember dying was Elvis.  Little did I know that just two weeks later my brother would leave us as well.  

After our tour of Graceland we stopped at a few other Elvis exhibits as well.  The trophy room and memorial gardens were  definite highlights.  Everyone found something in the gift shop and a couple of items for friends and family back home.

We then went to Beale Street for lunch.  We found an Irish pub that served Po' Boys and BBQ.  Everyone got a kick out of the Irish Diving Goats.  The Lorraine Motel was only a couple of blocks away, so we stopped there before leaving.  It was the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated.  It is now an NAACP educational center.  It was filled with visitors and was a somber sight to behold. 

Our last stop of the day was The Memphis Zoo. Cam had mentioned last week that he really want to see Pandas at some time in his life.  He doesn't remember them from our trip to DC many years ago.  I couldn't believe when I Googled zoos with Pandas that there were ones at the Memphis Zoo.

The zoo was nice and reminded us of the one in Toledo.  The panda exhibit was as awesome as Cam hoped it would be.  One of the pandas was even enjoying bamboo.  We took a lot of pictures and picked up some souvenirs at the gift shop.  Our next two stops were the polar bears and the grizzlies.  As an avid fan of We Bare Bears Cam was happy we visited Griz, Ice Bear and his favorite Pan Pan!