Summer Fun with Meg & Cam

Meg's summer break officially started on Wednesday, but she didn't make it home until yesterday.  She had stayed in Bloomington to work a few shifts at Bell Trace and clean her apartment before heading home.  She did have some fun on those two days as Nick came down from West Lafayette and Brett came over to take a walk with her as well.  She arrived in Syracuse yesterday afternoon and already had a list of activities planned for the week.  

Fortunately for our family Meg left the weekend open for us.  Today, we were finally able to visit the Fort Wayne Zoo after a year hiatus due to COVID.  Before 2020 Cameron, Meg and I had taken an annual trip to the children's zoo since 2013.  Normally, we chose a weekday for the activity, but with summer school and tennis we couldn't make that work.  Therefore, we picked a Saturday.  That allowed Doug to join us.  Meg let him know that he should feel privileged as we had never left anyone else go with us.  Since he was paying, it was an easy addition to our party.  

As soon as Cameron arrived home from Samuel's triathlon this morning, we headed to the zoo.  It was a little bit more crowded than in years past, but that didn't affect our plans too much.  Cameron and Meg were still able to ride the Skyfari and we were all able to take a walk through Africa as well.  Asia had a little less people and we enjoyed the orangutans and rain forest just as much as in past trips.  Meg and I chose big pretzels as our snack before we left the walkway.  

Australia was by far the most crowded.  Cameron bypassed the ice cream stand due to long lines and in the end we gave up riding the log ride.  It traditionally was our favorite one, but the queue to get on was just too long.  The train wasn't running today, so we figured that everyone headed to the wooded flume instead.  Thankfully, we were still able to walk through the outback and visit the aquarium without any issues.  On the way out we toured the farmstead and saw the pigs getting the silent treatment for behaving badly.  Meg and I thought that was really funny.  Cameron was pleased to find some Dippin' Dots on the way out for his zoo snack.

Bringing Doug along was a bonus as he added two more activities to our zoo trip today which we all appreciated.  The first was ordering Giordano's pizza for our dinner at home.  Second, was a round of miniature golf at Paige's Crossing.  The pizza was delicious and we all had fun at mini-golf especially when Cameron almost blew a five stroke lead on the last hole.  Fortunately, he held on to win by one and had a great story to tell afterward.  The rest of the night was a quiet one which we all enjoyed after a full day of fun.

The Jungle Cruise

I have been waiting almost a year for the movie, Jungle Cruise, to come out as production on it had been delayed due to the pandemic.  The best part of waiting was that Disney decided to offer it not only in theaters, but to Disney + subscribers for a premier access fee as well.  Since the movie was based on Doug's favorite ride and starred The Rock, I definitely had no problem spending the extra money on it.  With all of us planning on watching it, the cost was well worth.  We also had the added benefit of bringing out the big screen for it.  

The movie opened at midnight last night, but that was a little too late for us.  Thus, Doug and I set up the big screen outside after dinner tonight, started a bonfire and waited for dark to start the movie.  We even made popcorn so that we had the traditional movie theater feel.  From the very beginning I really liked the movie.  The Rock was fantastic.  The plot felt a lot like a Pirates of the Caribbean complete with natives, witty side characters and a dark curse. The comedic parts on the "jungle cruise" were great and we even got to see the "backside of water."  All in all it was a great way to spend a Friday night.  

 

All Cleaned Out!

 When Cameron finished his sophomore year last May, I told him that he could put his backpack in the extra bedroom and that he could unpack it when we cleaned out his room this summer.  I had good intentions of getting it all done by the middle of June, but golf tournaments, weekends in Bloomington and a trip to Florida changed my timeline.  Last weekend, it dawned on me that Cameron only had two weeks left until school started and that a lot of that time would be taken up with tennis conditioning and practices.  Therefore, I had no choice but to get started on his room this week.

I decided that the best course of action in tackling this task was to spread it out and work on Cameron 's room a little bit each day.  As soon as he left for tennis conditioning Monday morning I pulled everything out of his dresser.  After lunch, he and I went through all of his clothes so that he could decided what to get rid of and what to keep.  True to his personality, he kept most of the shirts that were filling his drawers.  I was at least able to downsize a few and reorganize the rest so that they all would fit.  Cameron also saw a few shirts that he forgot he owned and I made sure to put those on top for him to wear soon.  He finished the reorganization process by cleaning off his dresser as well.  

On Tuesday I took everything off of Cameron's nightstand and television stand.  Once again Cameron didn't part with very much, but he did put his books away on the bookshelf in the extra room and agreed to recycle the stash of water bottles that he had been "collecting" this summer.  I also had the chance to thoroughly dust those areas, which I probably appreciated the most.  Yesterday, Cameron and I finished with his closet and his backpack.  The best part of that was finding a lot of brand new school supplies that he didn't use last year and that I wouldn't have to buy this year. 

In the end cleaning out Cameron's room was relatively painless and we finished it just in time for him to spend the day with his friends today.  After tennis conditioning they went to the Elkhart County 4-H Fair, played board games at Sam's and had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.  He definitely had a lot more fun than cleaning and I was extremely happy to cross one more item off of my to-do list.

All Done with I-Core

Meg texted me late last night to let me know that they had submitted their final project for I-Core and that she was officially on summer break.  I was extremely happy for her as she had worked hard this summer to finish this challenging semester in the business school.  After her midterms she wasn't sure that she would make it this far.  Even last week she was positive that this was going to end up the worst summer of her life and that she'd never pass I-Core.

Thankfully, that was not the case.  Meg and her group finished well before today's 9:30 a.m. deadline and relied only on their own resources to finish the case.  As stressful as it was, in the end she was glad that she had taken I-Core this summer.  It had been easier for her with the online format, because it allowed her to travel home for a few weeks and visit Nick in West LaFayette.  She also liked the group that she was paired with as she had heard horror stories from other I-Core students of classmates that refused to help on the group project.  Taking I-Core this summer also assured her that she would graduate with an accounting degree in four years instead of the traditional five.  

When I called Meg today she was already talking about all of the activities that she had planned for her month long break.  Doug and I were both happy for her and proud of how hard she had work.  We are looking forward to seeing her on Friday.

Another Day, Another Visitor, But Maybe the Last?

 Yesterday, my friend Dee Ann stopped by for a visit.  She had moved away from the area nine years ago and had recently returned to Milford.  It was really nice to catch up with her.  She had four children that were close to ours in age and we saw them a lot through youth center activities as they Heinisch children were growing up.  While we were catching up, she remarked how nice it was to actually meet with people once again without masks and actually be inside their homes.  I agreed completely, especially since I had gotten to see Billy, Parce, Alexia and now Dee Ann over the course of the last two weeks.  

After Dee Ann left I started to work on my computer.  That's when I notice that the CDC came out with new COVID guidelines asking for all Americans to wear masks once again in high traffic areas even if they were vaccinated.  The CDC felt it was the only way to save those who were not vaccinated from the Delta variant of the coronavirus.  I couldn't believe it.  The articles that we have been reading recently had said that vaccinated adults had very little chance of becoming hospitalized or dying from the virus even with the new variant.  I really don't want to go back to wearing masks everywhere and worrying about COVID.  It had been a wonderful summer of meeting with people, going out to eat, traveling, attending church and basically returning to our normal lives.  Most of all I didn't want Cameron to have to return to the COVID protocols of last winter.

Doug and I talked once he got home about the situation.  His work had met and for now weren't requiring masks.  Elkhart county wasn't a high risk area yet.  Bethany had come out and said that only unvaccinated students and staff would have to wear masks this year.  The one exception was on buses where everyone will be required to do so.  The school will still maintain safety protocols and cleaning procedures, but overall students would be mask free for now.  Doug and I decided that we would stay away from indoor dining or any big group activities until more information has been released, but otherwise maintain our summer lifestyle.  Indiana did have a spike in cases and deaths today, but hopefully everything calms down soon and COVID leaves for good.  

Junior Year Decisions

On the way home from Bloomington last week I told Cameron that during his junior year he would need to start thinking seriously about life beyond high school, especially colleges that would have majors of interest for him.  I know that he had thought about it a little bit before as several weeks ago he told us that he might actually be interested in attending Butler.  He wasn't sure that a big school was right for him.  He also told us that he didn't see himself in Bloomington.  He didn't want to follow his siblings and wasn't interested in the business school.  That was surprising to Doug and to Parce when he told him while we were touring his new home, but I really wasn't that shocked.  Cameron had always been our science student and was most focused on schools that were big in STEM majors.

Last night Cameron told me that he had done some research on tuition costs, college rankings and top science programs with veterinary programs.  We knew about several - Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State - all of which were great choices.  Cameron said instantly that he had absolutely no interest in attending Purdue, but would look more closely at the others.  The next school that he talked about was extremely surprising to us, The University of Florida. 

I had realized that when I visited Gainesville that U of F was a lot nicer school than I had thought it would be.  It actually reminded me a lot of Michigan with all of the nice brick buildings, the big football stadium and emphasis on STEM majors.   The bookstore was filled with different shirts promoting the sciences including the "school of pre-veterinary."  Cameron did a lot more research on the university than I did and found out that it was ranked ninth as a school for veterinarians just one shy of Wisconsin.  I then found out that it was also listed as the 30th best college in the nation just behind Michigan at 26th.  I was surprised by that but not by the fact that IU was ranked 76th.  I had realized years ago that the rest of IU did not come close to the stature of the Kelley School of Business.  

In the end Cameron decided the next few items on his to-do list was to see if he could volunteer at the Goshen veterinarian clinic.  That way he would get an idea of what life as a veterinarian would be like and if it would be something he could see himself doing in the future.  Samuel trained with the vet at the clinic and thought that would be possible.  Cameron also wanted to make an official visit to the University of Florida as well on one of Doug's trips to Ocala.  All in all it sounded like a great plan.  As he and I were cleaning out his room this afternoon, I told him that I secretly wondered if I planted the idea of him becoming a Gator long ago when I painted his room blue and orange.  I guess we will have to wait and see.

My Poor Birds

 About a month ago I saw a message on social meeting from the Indiana DNR asking all Hoosiers to take down their bird feeders as there was a mysterious illness killing songbirds.  At first I didn't think too much about it as the report focused mainly on Monroe County.  I figured that the issue had more to do with the cicadas that Meg and Brett had been talking about.  Meg had said that a professor of hers talked about squirrels dying after eating the noxious bug, so I figured it was something to do with that.  

Unfortunately, the illness spread throughout the state and we finally had to comply with the DNR's wishes and take down all ten of our feeders.  I was incredibly bummed, but remained hopeful that the birds would still find our woods attractive enough to remain in our backyard.  We've realized over the last few days that that was not the case and that most birds have abandoned our domain.  

It makes me sad to think about.  I miss hearing the blue jays caw at me for peanuts when I walk out the front door.  The front trees seem bear without the orioles, finches and sparrows hanging out in their branches.  Even my beloved red headed woodpeckers have been nowhere to be seen.  There's still plenty of robins to be found which doesn't make the situation any better as they were my least favorite due to their aggressiveness.  I did spy a pair of cardinals hanging around the empty birdbath out back the other day and saw several grey hummingbirds among the front flowers.  Those have been enough to keep me hopeful that soon more feathered friends will join our "bird sanctuary."  Until then, I'll just keep checking the DNR website for information on when I can hang up my feeders again.