Opening Day of EPCOT's Food & Wine Festival

When we found out that Brett would be able to join us in Florida this week, we decided to see if anything was going on at Disney during that time period.  We were a little surprised to see that July 14th would be the opening day for Epcot's Food & Wine Festival.  It seemed early to us, but we weren't complaining.  Even though we thought that it might be crowded, we decided to get tickets and try it.  We all agreed that even if we didn't get to do everything that we wanted to, we still wanted to be there on opening day.

We were all up at 6 a.m. this morning so that we could be at Epcot when the park opened.  On the way over, I was able to get Brett a reservation on the virtual queue for the new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster.  We were both happy about that.  We arrived at the park just before rope drop and soon were fast walking to Remy's Ratatouille Adventure.  It was only a 30 minute wait and soon we were off to our next adventure with Doug proclaiming Remy's ride to be a new one of his favorites.  

The three of us walked through the countries reading all of the menus for the food festival on our way to Norway for "Frozen."  The booths wouldn't open until 11 a.m., but we wanted to be prepared.  Unfortunately, Frozen was closed indefinitely.  The good news was that we weren't far from Test Track.  We were surprised to see that it was closed as well.  While we debated about what to do next, Brett headed to Mission Space.  We called him as soon as he reached the entrance to let him know that Test Track was looking as though it would be opening.  He hurried back and the three of us got in line.  Within five minutes we were pleased to be seated on a car together.

It was close to 11 a.m. when we finished on Test Track, so we headed to the Mexican pavilion.  We had just enough time to ride Gran Fiesta Tour before the Margarita bar opened.  They guys each tried one and really enjoyed their drinks.  We then walked through the countries trying various food from the different booths.  Many were the same from past years and some were new.  Everything was delicious.  My favorite dish was the cake/pudding from Ireland.  

Today was one of the hottest that I could ever remember.  Doug said that we had spent warmer ones in St. Louis over the 4th of July.  I know that he was right, but today was definitely blistering.  Thankfully, we had five indoor rides to cool off at while it was the hottest part of the afternoon.  I believe that it was the first time that I could remember Doug willing to ride both Figment and Nemo on the same day.  Thankfully, Sorain' was one of those available as well and it was a fun way to spend several hours before returning to the countries for dinner.

We had planned on leaving Epcot between 6:30 to 7:00 to get Brett to the airport for his 9:55 flight.  Brett had a few last minute purchases to make and we found ourselves in Germany around 6 p.m.  Doug and I noticed that the clouds were turning black and the wind was moving faster and faster.  We decided to head to the store at the front of the park just in case it did start to rain.  Brett met us there just as the skies opened up.  It was the biggest storm that I had been caught in at Disney World complete with high winds, hail and sideways rain.  Fortunately, it only lasted for about 35 minutes and was just drizzling when we headed to the car.  We had had a wonderful day at Epcot, did everything that we wanted to do and got Brett to the airport in plenty of time for his evening flight.  It was the perfect way to end Brett's time in Florida.  

The Sights of Ocala

Our first stop of the day was one of Brett's favorite stores - Barnes & Noble.  He has really missed shopping there since the book store closed in Bloomington several years ago.  We definitely made the most of our time there.  Brett found two books that he was looking for and I even made a purchase.  I couldn't resist "The Myths and Mysteries of Florida" including a story about the infamous Florida Skunk Apeman.  We finished our shopping tour of Ocala at the Paddock Mall.  While I was buying Doug shorts at Belk's and candles at Yankee Candle, Brett did a lot of exploring.  He said that it was nice to be in a mall that actually had all of it stores open.  

Lunch was at Tijuana Flats with Doug.  It was the perfect break to Doug's work day and Brett enjoyed his quesadilla.  After we dropped Doug off at Winco, Brett and I headed to Silver Springs State Park.  We were fortunate to get seats on the 2 p.m. glass bottom boar tour which was loading just as we arrived.  Brett loved the boat tour as much as I did.  Besides all of the fish and springs, we even caught a glimpse of a female alligator.  I told him that it was my third time and I had a different captain on each trip.  They all had different stories to tell which I really enjoyed.  We walked along a few of the paths afterward before deciding that we had had enough of the heat.

Tonight, Doug and I took Brett to downtown Ocala for dinner.  We knew that he would really like the Brick City Southern Kitchen, and he did.  He tried the smoked turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy.  He said that he enjoyed it even more than last night's Jock Lindsey Hangar Bar.  We then made a stop at Grandpa Joe's candy store for a few goodies before we left the square.  The rest of the night was spent playing Ticket to Ride.  It was a wonderful day in Ocala.

Brett and Florida

When we found out that Cameron was having overnight tennis camp this week in Angola, Doug and I decided that I would travel with him to Ocala.  I hadn't been to Florida since April and was looking forward to it.  In addition we offered to fly Brett and Cal down to join us.  Unfortunately, Cal had to work, but Brett was able to rearrange his schedule and join us for three days.  We picked him up at the Orlando airport late last night and started his mini-vacation today.

Today, I first showed Brett where Doug worked.  That wasn't overly exciting, but he did appreciate seeing it and loved all of the cypress tree with the Spanish moss.  Our next stop was the World Equestrian Center.  Brett was just as impressed with it as we were.  As an added bonus we got to see the horses and riders practice in the arena.  That was the first time that I had visited and there was equine activity.  Brett picked Zaxby's for lunch as his friend Patrick had highly recommended it.  We both enjoyed our chicken sandwiches.  We headed to Sholom park next and thoroughly enjoyed our walk in the shade.  It has definitely become my favorite place in Ocala.  Brett liked the area very much as well.

We rested and cooled off before picking Doug up from work.  He drove all of us to Disney Springs.  We were surprised to find out that we could walk right into the queue for Gideon's bakehouse.  Normally, we've had a three to four hour virtual wait before we could get into the bakery.  Tonight, Doug and Brett tried the new orange pecan chocolate chip which was their cookie of the month.  I picked out the banana bread chocolate chip.  We headed to Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar next.  I had heard a lot of wonderful things about it on a podcast that Meg recommended.  It was the perfect restaurant for Doug and Brett as it was based on the movie Indiana Jones movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark."  The atmosphere was awesome and the food was delicious.  After dinner we walked to several stores including Disney Trends, The Star Wars Store, The M&M store and the Coke Store.  Brett bought a few items and we tried a couple of drinks at the Coke Store.  It was a wonderful way to spend an evening.  

Tennis Camp

There are a lot of wonderful reasons to be a part of Bethany's tennis team.  A supportive tennis coaching staff, lots of fun teammates, skill building and even the pure exercise of the sport are just a few of those.  The best part in my mind, however, occurs this week when the team heads to Angola for a weeklong tennis camp.  There's time not only for tennis, but fellowship and worship as well.  The boys play tennis in the morning and afternoon, have fun activities planned for the evening including swimming, spike ball and more, got out to dinner, and spend the night in Matt's childhood church.  It has to be one of the best team building activities that any of our children have had in all of their high school activities and we appreciate the dedication Matt has to the program.

Today Cameron left bright and early for his week away.  We had packed his bags earlier in the week and he had a full suitcase with him, a tennis bag, sleeping bag and pillow with him when he walked out the door.  I thought about texting him tonight to see how it was going, but Doug said to give him some space as we knew that he would be enjoying his time with the tennis team.  At the end of the day I found a short video and a picture of the sunset on our camera roll.  I was glad that I had texted him as I could tell from his smiling fact that he was having a great time. 

An Instagram Kind of Weekend

This weekend was filled with Instagram posts by the Heinisch children.  Meg's weekend was packed with activities from her concert with Angelica to her night out with Gabby to her lunch at Old Crowe with Nick.  Not every one on of her pictures made Instagram, but I did get to see all of them on our shared iCloud photo roll.  I was not only glad to see the pictures of all that she was doing in Chicago with her friends, but that she was having a lot of fun too.

Cameron had a full weekend of activity as well.  Besides going to Cedar Point with Nick, he also hung out with the tennis team at Ethan's 16th birthday party Saturday afternoon, spent the night at Samuel's on Saturday night, got up at 3:30 a.m. to drive to Samuel's triathlon in Forth Wayne watching him finish in first place, and played golf as well.  He was absolutely exhausted tonight, but still made time to lose to Grandpa at Buck Euchre before crashing for the night.

Cal doesn't post a lot on Instagram, so I know that he must have been extremely impressed with Taste of Chicago.  He not only texted us about how much he was enjoying the food, but also posted a picture of a "large slice" of Chicago pizza.  Doug really enjoyed that as he absolutely loved Taste of Chicago when we lived in the area.  

Brett doesn't follow Instagram as he seems to be more of a Facebook/Twitter social media user.  Thus, he didn't have any pictures on Instagram today.  Even so, he still had an action packed weekend highlighted by a get together with his Bible study Saturday night at a multi-family event.  He has really enjoyed hanging out with his friends from that group.  It's always interesting to hear what they debated or where they ate or what interesting antic happened when they get together.  

Social media gets a lot of press on being negative for young adults.  I understand the concerns, but overall I have really appreciated it.  Instagram definitely gives me a chance to get a glimpse into the Heinisch children life and what's important to them.  From pictures to music posts to group activities, it has been a welcomed platform in our lives.  Now if we could just get Brett to use it.

Cedar Point

After Meg and Nick went to Cedar Point in May, he decided that he wanted to get an annual pass.  They were having a special.  If he bought it by Memorial Day, he would only have to go twice to make it worth the money.  Once Meg heard that he was buying one, she asked Cameron if he would be interested in going with Nick.  He definitely was and they made plans to go today.

Cedar Point was a further drive from our house than Holiday World was from Brett's, but Cameron said that it was worth it.  There were bigger roller coasters and more to chose from at the park.  It was also more modern according to Cameron.  They rode everything that was available to them and both were thankful that the rain held off.  Cameron decided to stay away from "fair food" today and had Panda Express for lunch.  He said that was a better choice than the funnel cake and fried Reese's that he had at Holiday World.  The shopping wasn't as good, however, as he didn't find anything as fun as his bucket hat from the park in Santa Claus, Indiana.

It was after 11 p.m. when Cameron and Nick arrived home.  They were tired, but had a great day.  Nick plans to take Brett on his next trip in August.  I'm interested in hearing what Brett has to say about the park.  He hasn't been there since middle school.  I am sure that he will like it just as much as Nick and Cameron did today.

Visiting with Cal

Cal arrived home Wednesday night.  He had taken the week off from work and was looking forward to some time in Syracuse.  He had planned on coming on Tuesday, but he was invited to play in a golf outing with the banking group on Wednesday afternoon.  He didn't play his best, but still had a lot of fun and enjoyed the meal afterward.  Cal had another golf outing planned yesterday.  This one was a little less formal, but still a lot of fun.  He, Cameron and Grandpa Cutes had a grudge match to play.  Cameron had won in June and both Grandpa and Cal were looking for revenge.  Cameron tried to intimidate them by stating that he was a "golfing machine."  The pressure from the previous win, however, must have gone to his head as Cameron shot a 49 on the front and lost to both of them.  Grandpa ended up the big winner on the day shooting a 76 from the white tees.

Last night Cal taught us all how to play Spades.  Cameron wasn't home as he had plans with Austin to play at Maple Crest.  Nick took his spot as he was spending the night with us so that he and Cameron could leave early tomorrow for Cedar Point.  I hadn't played Spades in thirty years.  It was a lot more fun than I remembered it being.  We called Grandma and Grandpa up after dinner to play some more.  Nick and Cal were winners once again.  Afterward, we started the movie "Dr. Sleep."  It was the sequel to The Shining and was a lot better than I thought it would be.  

Cal worked out this morning, took a walk and then went to Tippy Country Club to catch up with the assistant pros there.  While he was gone, I went to Grandma Jane's.  LaMarr, Sharon, Anderson and Marr had driven up for a birthday party and stopped by to see everyone.  Aunt Jan, Jackie, Jeannette and boys, and Jennifer and her family were all there as well.  It was nice to see everyone.  We hadn't all been together in years.  My mom put out a nice lunch for everyone and I was glad that she offered to host.  

The rest of the day was a quiet one at home with just Doug, Cal and I.  Cal and I had started the movie, D'Jango Unchained, earlier in the afternoon.  Doug finished it with us.  I was surprised with how much I liked the Quentin Tarantino movie.  Afterward Doug ordered pizza and we really enjoyed catching up with Cal out on the back deck.  He has had a lot of success in Chicago and it was wonderful to hear him talk about it.  We ended the evening finishing Dr. Sleep.  It was intense, but we all enjoyed it.  Extremely glad that Cal spent a few days at home on his summer vacation.  Looking forward to the next time that we get together.