Heinisch Family Tennis Match

Doug invited everyone to participate in a family tennis match this summer.  We had had an informal one in Bloomington last year and he wanted to keep the tradition alive.  He was pleased that Cal, Meg, Cam and Hannah-Marie were keen on the idea as well.  Today was the date agreed upon and this afternoon everyone met up at the newly renovated Wawasee Middle School courts.  As HM arrived a little later than the rest of us the match started as rotating doubles teams between Cal, Cam, Doug and Meg.  Cal had a healthy lead when Hannah-Marie arrived and continued to earn points when the teams were shuffled once again.

I could no longer play tennis, but had a lot of fun watching them.  Cal hadn't played in awhile, but looked just like he did before.  He was impressed with how well Meg and Cam could return his serves.  Of course he never said that during the match as he was too busy trashing talking everyone.  Meg, Cam and Doug held their own on the courts making Cal work for his points.  HM did not play tennis in high school, but definitely would have made a great doubles partner.  We celebrated with dinner afterward at Mad Anthony's.  Doug was happy that everyone took time out of their busy weekend to play tennis with him.  I just enjoyed listening to everyone all together.  

Piano

Mrs. Meek recovered from her surgery this winter, but it took her longer than she wanted.  She was finally well enough last month to have Cam and Meg return to piano lessons.  They enjoyed playing again and both picked song books to work out of that I have enjoyed listening to when they practice at home.  In May Cam started on the Imperial March from Star Wars and has almost mastered it as well as a few other songs from the movies.  Meg has been focused on Never Enough from The Greatest Showman.  It has been one of the more difficult pieces that she has worked on and it was really coming along today.  Mrs. Meek has enjoyed that song as well and plans to play it herself.

The piano has been in use in our home for over fifteen years with Meg spending the most time practicing.  Her play list has featured several of my favorites including Beauty and the Beast and Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  The boys have all spent their fair share of time using it as well, but for Meg it has been a wonderful way to relax at the end of a stressful day and I love listening to her play.  I know there will come a day when the piano will stand quiet, but for now I will enjoy listening to it all that I can.

A Day with Friends

While we were in DC, Avery texted Cam to see if he wanted to go to Lake Michigan today with him, Joey and Sam.  Cam was definitely all in and they left this morning at 9:30 a.m. for Warren Dunes.   I heard from Avery's mom several times today.  She said that the boys had a lot of fun especially out exploring.  It was the perfect day to be at the beach as the weather was still hot and humid.  Cam made it back home with some sun on his face and some great stories to share.  He had found a flavor to replace garlic as his favorite - pepper.  Needless to say the salt and pepper chips were a hit.

Meg spent the afternoon and evening with Preston.  They took a walk, went to dinner at Hacienda, watched movies and laughed a lot.  There were a lot of stories told from their younger school years and both remarked that they couldn't believe that they were seniors.  It hasn't dawned on me yet that they will soon start their last year of high school.  When they get together I still see them as the two sixth graders stopping by the FACS room at lunch.

Cal had to work this morning.  He was pretty tired from hanging out all night and soon fell asleep on the couch after lunch.  With everyone busy and Doug working I decided that it would be the perfect day to clean.  I started at 10:40 and spent the next seven hours scrubbing down the kitchen and bathrooms.  Between that, grocery shopping and putting the laundry away I had my 10,000 steps in just before Doug and I left for dinner.

Happy Birthday Doug!!

Today we celebrated our favorite American's birthday with a quiet day at home.  It was a little different than our previous two as we were in DC last year watching the fireworks over the Washington Monument.  In 2016 we were at the wreath laying ceremony at the home of Calvin Coolidge on the 4th.  None of us minded staying at home this year, however.  We were able to play corn hole and badminton as well as have a ping pong tournament.  Cal decided that the birthday boy would not be the winner of the day and defeated Doug in two highly competitive games.

My parents and Hannah-Marie came up for a cook out featuring something for everyone - steak, chicken and fish.  My Mom brought the desserts and even I tried a small piece of cake.  Doug appreciated all of his gifts.  I wasn't sure if he would still want the Germany World Cup jersey since they lost in the first round of the tournament.  He liked it, however, stating that now no one could call him a front runner.  Cal and HM left early to hang out with friends.  My parents stayed long enough for Cam and Grandpa Cutes to get beat on a last second toss by Doug and I in corn hole.

Brett texted us to say that he made it to the music concert at the Capitol.  He was excited as John Stamos was hosting it and musical acts included The Beach Boys, Andy Grammar and Jimmy Buffet.    He loved the patriotism displayed and the fireworks show.  We ended our evening by watching it all unfold on PBS glad that he had the opportunity to attend the program.

Hate to Leave

Brett had to work this morning, so we decided to start our journey back home.  It was hard to leave as we had had a great three days, but it was time to go.  We decided to get up early for our journey and were on the road by 7 a.m.  Traffic was light on our way out and by 8:30 we had already passed through the state of Maryland.

Since the total time driving was over nine hours we decided to stop on the way home.  We had already been to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and no one wanted to go to a zoo, so I did a search for attractions in Pittsburg.  There weren't a lot of them, but we found one of interest - The J. Heinz Historical Museum.  As we had just toured the former congressman's grandfather's home at Greenfield Village we thought we'd give it a try.

The museum was larger than expected and was filled with local history.  The sports area was large and covered not only the Pittsburg Steelers and Pirates but Oakmont and Arnold Palmer as well.  There was a Heinz exhibit that showcased the family's company and the condiments that they were known for producing.  I enjoyed the set of Mr. Rogers.  The same puppets that creeped me out on the show were still as scary looking as I remembered from my childhood.  Cam and Meg had never seen the show as it stopped airing in 2001, so they weren't as impressed with it.

The museum took us about an hour to walk through.  From there we headed up the block to a local restaurant for lunch.  Cam was excited to see that it had been featured on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives."  The sandwiches were great and the service was quick which put us back on the road before 1 p.m.  Ohio was a long state to drive through and the heavy rain seemed to make it even longer.  Thankfully, we had World Cup to watch along the way.  Overall our trip was an easy one and we were home by 6:30 p.m. thankful that the tire held up and that everyone had had a wonderful time.

A Fantastic Tour Guide

Today we started our day at the US Capitol with our favorite intern as our guide.  It was hard to believe that Brett was now just like one of those interns that we toured with twelve years ago on my first trip to DC. We started in Congressman Larry Bucshon's office meeting the other interns that Brett worked with.  We then walked through the Longworth building to a tunnel that took us to the inside of the Capitol.  Along the way we saw the student artwork that was chosen to represent each of the Congressmen's districts in the United States.  We also learned that limestone from Bedford was used to make the columns inside Brett's office building.

We were impressed by Brett's knowledge as he gave us a fabulous tour of the nation's capital building.  There was so much to see including Indiana's statues, the portrait gallery, the original Supreme Court gallery, the old Senate room, Mike Pence's office door and so much more.  It was great having Brett give the tour as it was only the four of us and we could ask all of the questions that we wanted.  We spent well over an hour walking through the Capitol and learned interesting facts such as John Quincy Adams dropped dead on the House floor.  Brett definitely had the knowledge and delivery to give us the best information possible.  We all appreciated the opportunity to see him in his work environment.

Our tour led to lunch time and Doug found a bar down the street from Brett's apartment called Bullfeathers, named after Teddy Roosevelt.  It was fun to eat there.  Next we went to the National Archives to view the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  It was very hot today with an actual temperature near 100 degrees, so we decided to next cool off at the hotel.  After taking a break we walked to our favorite souvenir shop near Ford's Theater.  We didn't buy very much, but found a few small items.

Our hotel had a free happy hour which we all took advantage of after shopping.  It was still hot out, but it had cooled off enough that everyone felt ready to walk to Jefferson's Memorial.  The view from it was just as fantastic as before.  We then made a stop at the World War II Memorial.  I appreciated walking the Pacific side and taking pictures of Brett, Cam and Meg at the Indiana pillar.  I remembered talking about it with Paw Paw after my first visit twelve years ago.  He knew that he would never make it to see it, but was appreciative of the pictures I brought back.  

Our last stop of the night was The White House.  They were setting up for the fourth of July party on the lawn.  Once we were done sightseeing we took Brett back to his house.  It was perfectly located within two blocks of his office and in a nice neighborhood.  He appreciated our visit and we were all glad to have had spent the past three days with him even though they seemed to fly by.  

Three Presidents - One Day

On each of our trips to Washington DC we had talked about visiting Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.  Doug had toured it years ago when he went with his family, but we were never sure how to fit it in as it was a five hour round trip commitment from Brett's.  When we started planing this summer's trip we realized that we had visited the majority of the sites in DC, so we thought this would be the year to try it.  While researching Monticello I found out that both James Madison and James Monroe had homes within a twenty mile radius of Jefferson's which we decided to add to our itinerary.

Today we set out early in the morning with the goal of touring Montpelier James Madison's plantation, James Monroe's Highlands, and Monticello.  All sites lived up to the expectations with Jefferson's being the most spectacular.  Madison's home was larger than we would have expected, but it had the least amount of furniture from the family.  Dolley Madison's son had squandered the majority of their money leaving her to sell the home after James died.  Six other families owned the property before it was returned to the state of Virginia in the 1980's.  Thus, it was a nice tour, but the least informative.

Monroe's home no longer stood on Highland, but their guest home was still on the property.  Inside of it were furniture and items that the Monroe's had collected during their travels as an ambassador to France and Spain.  Our guide provided a wealth of information on the Monroe family as well as his Presidency.  Brett and I were definitely intrigued by the bust that Napoleon gave Monroe after his coronation in France.  It seemed over the top as a gift and we tried to envision doing that ourselves.  

The last stop was Monticello which was adjacent to Highland.  It was by far the most fascinating of the Presidential homes that we visited this weekend.  Jefferson spent forty years renovating his home.  He lived on the property and collected many scientific inventions such as the first odometer.  His bedroom was interesting with an alcove bed much as they had in France.  His relationship with a slave that produced six children was discussed and an emphasis on the slaves that helped make Monticello operate was abundant.  We were only allowed to visit the main level of the home, but the view of the University of Virginia through a carved out hole in his trees was awe inspiring and we each appreciated our visit.  It was an exhausting day, but a rewarding one as well.