Exploring Ocala

This afternoon Doug and I toured the sites of Ocala with Cameron.  Several of them were new to Doug as well.  Our first stop was the World Equestrian Center with its impressive outdoor arena.  This time we were able to walk through the inside shops and practice area as well.  Doug had only seen it from afar and he and Cameron were both in awe of the size of it as was I the first time I saw it.  I kept hoping that there would be an equestrian event at the WEC while we were there, so we could have seen it in action.  

Next, we drove south to Sholom Park where we enjoyed a leisurely walk through both the wooded area of the park as well as the path by the fountain.  We found turtles, lizards and koi fish on our adventure.  We also met several friendly people along the trails.  The park was beautiful.  It was the perfect day for our walk as it was sunny and in the 60s.  After our walk, we introduced Cameron to Doug's favorite "Big Pop" stop in Ocala, The Wawa.  He definitely enjoyed it.

We drove across Ocala to our next adventure, Silver Springs State Park.  I had checked it out months ago and couldn't wait to take a trip on the glass bottom boats.  Thankfully, we arrived well before the last ride of the day and even had time to walk along the boardwalk and learn about the history of the park before boarding our boat.  The trip along the river was absolutely wonderful.  The water was completely clear due to the moving springs.  We were able to see fish, turtles, shale rock blowing, reeds, a Seminole canoe, a Spanish row boat, several statues and the area where the Creature of the Black Lagoon was filmed.  Our tour guide was fantastic.  He had been a captain since 1969 and knew the best areas to stop.  My parents had taken me on to the state park when I was younger.  I kept wondering if Charlie was our captain then as well now.

Dinner was next on our agenda.  Everyone in Ocala has been telling us to go to Harry's Seafood Bar & Grill on the downtown square.  We thought since we were going early that we'd be able to get in this time, but stuck out instead.  Just like the past three times that we tried, we decided to pass on the 45 minute wait and eat at Brick City Southern Kitchen & Whiskey Bar as they had tables open.  None of us were disappointed and Cameron enjoyed his beef brisket sandwich quite a bit.  It was a great way to end our tour of Ocala.

First Stop, Tampa

 Doug, Cameron and I flew into Tampa this afternoon.  Our original plan was to arrive in Florida for Cameron's tour of the University of Florida tomorrow.  We thought about going to the IU vs Michigan today.  In the end we were glad that we changed our minds.  It gave us some time to explore central Florida and to miss sitting through the Michigan victory this evening.

I hadn't been to Florida since I was a teenager and really didn't remember much about it.  Once our plane landed, we decided to head to Congo River mini-golf first.  We had to laugh when we arrived as the sign said that we could also "hold a gator for $9.99".  We decided against that, but did play a fun round of miniature golf.  We weren't able to find all of the hidden objects on the score card, but Cameron didn't mind since he beat us pretty easily in mini-golf.  Besides the win, the other highlight for Cameron was when a boy his age fell into the river trying to retrieve a golf ball.  Although Doug and I had a lot of fun playing miniature golf, our favorite part of going to Congo River mini-golf may have been the drive.  The route took us over on different ten mile bridges over the bay.  It was a beautiful view even though it was an overcast afternoon.   

Our next stop was downtown Tampa.  We parked close to the riverwalk, so that we could check out the town and eat dinner.  Cameron chose the Tampa Bay Pizza Company.  It was very good.  We walked by the fountains by the children's museum afterward.  The lights in the water were beautiful.  After dinner we drove through the University of South Florida.  Dan had mentioned that it was a top college in Florida.  It was on the north side of Tampa and nice, but probably not quite what Cameron was thinking of for his college years.

The last stop of the night was Springhill Suites in Ocala.  We spent the evening watching college football. The surprise of the day was Michigan State's loss to Purdue.  It was a nice relaxing way to end a busy day.

SGA Fall Pary & More

Tonight Cameron attended the Student Government Association (SGA) fall party.  Since he had been a longstanding member of the group, he was also in charge of providing games, food and more.  We only saw him for a brief time after school as he had to set up before the party started at 6:30.  Cameron brought along several of our family board games for the event including Jenga, Apples to Apples, Uno and Mastermind.  The party ended around 9:30.  Cameron had planned to stay and help clean up, but there wasn't as much to do as he expected.  Therefore, he was home by 10 p.m.  He said that he had a lot of fun and told us about the games that he played.  He also demonstrated his new magic trick to several of his friends.  

Cameron was busy last night with extracurricular activities as well.  He has joined Austin as the statistician of the girls' basketball team this season.  Before the game, the boys were invited to the team dinner and then joined in on a few rounds of BINGO.  He had texted me earlier in the day that he needed his Dad's poncho for western night.  I dropped off that as well as Doug's cowboy boots and a cowboy hat that we had used for a Halloween costume years ago.  Cameron was happy that KP allowed him to wear his outfit even while sitting on the bench.  Overall, it has been a fun few days for him at Bethany and we are glad that he has been able to join in the high school activities.

More Reasons To Not Like Aaron Rodgers

 It came out yesterday that Aaron Rodgers had lied about his vaccination status.  He claimed to be immunized, but did not disclose that his definition of immunization was different than the NFL's.  Taking herb supplements did not mean the same thing as being vaccinated.  Rodgers knew that and spent the past few months misleading everyone.  Most importantly, however, was the fact that he was attending press conferences and interacting with others without being masked.  That was a violation of NFL protocol for unvaccinated players and in my opinion completely disrespectful to everyone around him.  He didn't care that he was exposing others to the possibility of catching the coronavirus from him.  It was one more example of his arrogance and gave me one more reason to dislike the NFL player.  

After the news broke yesterday, I knew that today's sports talk shows would be filled with segments on Rodgers and his vaccination status.  The bigger story in the NFL this week, however, was that a Raiders player killed a woman in a horrific drunk driving accident.  He not only tested twice the legal limit for alcohol, but was clocked at driving at 154 miles per hour.  The story did not receive near the amount of press coverage as Rodgers' news did, but it was definitely a lot more disturbing.  Hopefully, tomorrow's topics will be more lighthearted.  By the end of the evening the Bears fans in our family were already hoping that Rodgers will be suspended.  Cameron even shared a tweet that lobbied for all of his wins with the Packers this season to be vacated.  That would be some good news.  

Enjoying Our Visitor

Cal called last weekend to let us know that he would be home this week.  He really needed to replace his torn comforter with the one on his bed downstairs.  Since he would be working virtually for most of the week, it was the perfect time to visit.  

Doug and I were glad to hear his plans and enjoyed having him here very much.  We caught up on all that he had been up to this past month as well as the important sports news that he had to share.  We watched several movies together including Halloween and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  Cal also introduced us to a new Bill Simmons podcast called "Rewatchables".  Doug and I both enjoyed listening to the Halloween one and were glad to see that there were several more on movies that we would like including Jaws and Shawshank Redemption.  

Grandma and Grandpa also enjoyed having Cal at home.  They stopped by several times to see him and had steak dinner ready for him Tuesday night while we were at Cameron's awards program.  Overall, Doug and I both appreciate that our adult children feel free to come home whenever they have the chance.  We love hanging out with them and being a part of their life outside of the Heinisch Home as well.  

Coach's Award

Tonight was the fall sports awards at Bethany.  Last year the teams had held them virtually due to the pandemic, so we were thankful to be able to attend in person.  The opening slide show had pictures from the various sports season this fall, which we enjoyed while waiting for the program to begin.  As in years past, Cameron sat with his team.  Watching him interact with them reminded me of just what a wonderful season it had been.  The program begin with a few words from the athletic direction and then the sportsmanships were handed out from the various head coaches.  We were happy to see that Jacob Leininger was chosen as the tennis recipient this year.  

After the all sports presentations, we were directed to Matt's room for the individual awards.  Matt first  highlighted the season for the players and parents in attendance.  He then spoke about the individual players, giving each one an award.  Some awards were in name only and invented by Matt.  Others were voted on by the team and included a plaque from Bethany.  Matt's speeches were very well done and we were impressed with his effort in making everyone on the team feel appreciated.  His comments on Cameron moving up to #1 singles varsity after playing #1 singles JV the previous two years captured exactly how challenging that was, especially in the first part of the season.  We were also pleased to hear that he had received a plaque for earning the Coach's Award for his hard work and dedication to the sport this year.  Overall, it was a wonderful night and were glad to have been able to a part of it.

What a Great Costume!

Due to the annual fish fry being held last Friday and Halloween falling on a weekend, Bethany's SGA decided to hold its annual costume contest today.  Cameron was one of those in charge of the event and talked all weekend about what costume he wanted to wear.  He had a lot of good ones to chose from all that we have saved over the years including a hotdog and hamburger hanging in his closet.  In the end we were all glad to see that he decided to represent 4th grade Cameron in this year's costume.

When Cameron first asked me if we still had his Obi Wan Kenobi costume, I was positive that it was in the extra bedroom.  I had learned long ago to never get rid of a costume as it always seemed to be needed at some time or another, even years later.  Knowing that, Cameron wasn't surprised that I still had it, but he was a little bit amazed to see that it still fit.  He hadn't worn the costume since his 4th grade year, over seven years ago, but  it still fit him perfectly today.  Cameron felt that it may have been an even better fit now.  I had to agree that he definitely looked the part of Kenobi in Attack of the Clothes with his long hair.  Whether 4th grade Cameron or 11th grade Cameron was voted best Obi Wan this year on social media, we all enjoyed seeing  on his Instagram page today.