Christmas Eve

This was the quietest Christmas Eve that I could ever remember.  In the morning, I took Brett to the Ocala airport so that he could pick up his rental car to drive to Karen's.  He planned to spend this evening, Christmas day and Thursday with her family.  Cameron and Meg slept in, and we hung out at home while Doug was at work.  Cameron had finished most of his Christmas shopping yesterday, but still had a few items left to buy, so he spent some time online ordering the rest.  Meg had a few gifts to wrap and got those done before lunch.

The four of us picked the 5 p.m. mass tonight for our Christmas service.  Meg and Cameron had decided several years ago to forgo the children's service on Christmas Eve.  It was never the same after Father Hire died.  No one told camel stories the way that he did.  This evening's mass was very nice and perfect for the four of us as it was all about getting along with your family and putting aside differences.  Meg and Cameron had argued all the way to church about whether it or not it was ironic that George Michael died on Christmas Day since he had a big hit called "Last Christmas."  When I said something to them about Father's homily, they jokingly pointed out that it wasn't relevant if their sibling was wrong.  

After mass we drove through the neighborhood enjoying the Christmas lights.  Once we got home, Doug made minestrone for everyone and we spent the evening watching Christmas movies, playing games and enjoying the wonderful evening.  It was quieter than our normal Christmas Eve, but still a very nice one for all.  

Barbara Manatee

Today was supposed to be the coldest day of the week, so I suggested to Brett, Cameron and Meg that we visit the manatees at Three Sisters Spring.  I realized that Cameron really wanted to sleep in after an exhausting weekend, but I also knew that the cold weather brought in a lot more manatees from the gulf. After checking their website and seeing that there were over 250 manatees in the Crystal River Spring, we decided to make the trip.

We left our home before 10 a.m. this morning with Cameron positive that there wouldn't be any manatees to see.  I tried to convince him that he was wrong as I had seen hundreds of them when Grandma, Grandpa and I visited the spring last January, but he wouldn't believe me until he saw it for himself.  There were very few people in the ticket office when we arrived.  I was happy to see that we would receive a nice discount from my national park membership.  I was also glad that there were areas by the springs to park, so we didn't have to take the shuttle bus.

Thankfully, Cameron was not disappointed as there were a lot of manatees in the springs today and we saw them swimming in the lagoon as soon as we stepped on to the boardwalk.  Brett, Cameron and Meg were surprised by how big they were.  Cameron saw several surface to breathe and realized why he thought that they were alligators when he and Nick went kayaking at Silver Springs last year.  We watched them for a while and then headed down the path toward the river.  There, we saw many more manatees huddling together.  After taking a few pictures, we walked over to the area that I called the parking lot as it looked to me like all of the manatees were parked in spots next to each other.  There were hundreds of them in the "parking lot."  It was a lot of fun watching them move around together.  We also saw dozens of kayakers trying to get a good view of them as well.  I was glad that we were on the boardwalk as I felt it was a lot easier to see them all from there.  We finished our time at Three Sister Springs walking on the dirt path looking at the manatees swimming in the channel by the docks.  Everyone agreed that it was a great reason to get up early this morning. On the way back to Ocala no one sang Barbara Manatee, but we definitely talked about the beloved Veggie Tales song and all of the manatees that we saw today. 

After stopping at home, Cameron and Meg decided that Panda Express sounded good for lunch. Brett said that he really wanted to go to Jaws.  Thankfully, they were close to each other, and we all enjoyed our food.  We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at Paddock Mall and went to dinner at Hiatus tonight once Doug got back from work.  Afterward, we played a few games at home with Uncle Phil.  It was a busy first full day in Ocala, but a fun one at that.  

Christmas Vacation Begins

We made it to the airport today in plenty of time as the flight was delayed by a half hour.  Brett, Cameron, Doug and I were happy to be able to sit down, eat lunch and relax before we took off.  The flight was absolutely packed, but Brett and Doug were able to sit together as were Cameron and I.  Doug even had an empty seat beside him, which seemed unbelievable with the holiday crowds.  I watched more Chicago Fire episodes while Cameron logged onto the football game.  Brett read and Doug slept.

Once we landed, the guys took off for Ocala.  Meg was about an hour behind us flying in from Midway.  I enjoyed catching up with her in person on our drive back home.  Doug made dinner for all of us tonight and we enjoyed hanging out together looking through our family's Christmas decorations, watching Christmas specials and playing games.  It was a relaxing way to begin Christmas vacation, and I was very thankful to have a house full of people to get the holidays started.  

IU Basketball

When we decided to go to Bloomington for the weekend but not attend the football game, I started to look for other things to do while we were there.  Brett had to work Friday and was signed up to volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul Society on Saturday morning but would be free Saturday afternoon.  Cameron at first thought he'd be around for lunch on Friday but decided to leave early for the game in South Bend.  Thus, we wouldn't see him until Saturday night when he returned to Bloomington.  

With Saturday morning free, Doug and I decided that we would both enjoy attending the IU men's basketball game against Chattanooga.  We had no idea how good the game would be, but didn't really care.  We were both just excited to see a game at Assembly Hall again. Doug had last been to a game in 2020, but I hadn't been there since Cameron was in preschool.  

The outside of the basketball arena had changed quite a bit in the last fifteen years.  The statues lining the hall were impressive as were the tributes to past coaches and players.  The seating area looked the same and the court was painted just as it was when Doug and I were in college.  The scoreboard was bigger than I remembered, and I enjoyed watching all of the pregame videos on it.  Our seats were about eighteen rows from courtside which gave us a perfect view of the game.  It was fun watching all of the players that we had known for years warm up and to learn the names of all of the new ones.  The game was a lot closer than it probably should have been, but we didn't mind.  My favorite moments revolved around Malik Reneau throwing up his hands to argue about a foul that wasn't even called on him and seeing Trey Galloway make a floater in the paint in person.  IU did win by nine in the end, and we left extremely happy with the game.   

Brett picked us up once we were done, and the three of us headed to Oliver Winery so the guys could do some wine tasting.  It was cold on the patio, but the heaters running, so we were able to sit outside without any issue.  It was fun to catch up with Brett and hear what he had been up to at work, with Karen and in politics.  I drove us to mass at St. Paul's afterward and then to Brett's apartment for a game of Ticket to Ride.  Dinner was at one of Brett's new favorites - Hoosier Hanks.  It was fun to try.  We made it back to Brett's just as Cameron arrived from Northern Indiana.  He was tired, but excited about his trip.  We turned on the Ohio State game and played some more Ticket to Ride while it was on.  It was a great day in Bloomington, and I was extremely happy that we had made the most of our time in our favorite town.  

IU vs. Notre Dame

Doug and I had so much fun in Bloomington today.  It was cold, but we were still able to get out and walk along Kirkwood and downtown.  We stopped at several shops so that I could finish my Christmas shopping.  We bought College Football Championship gear as well including a new shirt for Doug and a sweatshirt for me.  We also made it to the newly discovered record store where I found a Little Drummer Boy Christmas vinyl that I had when I was a child.  Afterward, we stopped at Nick's for lunch before we headed to the Union to see the gingerbread houses and then Kroger to pick up snacks and drinks for tonight's football game.

Back at Brett's apartment, we turned on Game Day at 3 p.m. this afternoon ready for the hype of the Notre Dame game.  Cal had arrived in South Bend this morning.  He and his friends were staying at one of their grandparents' cabins in Michigan that was only an hour away.  The six of them were able to hire a shuttle to take them to and from the game.  They spent most of their pregame time at the bars listening to all of the Notre Dame fans.  Jayce and Cal were excited that they got interviewed by WTHR out of Indianapolis before they went into the game.

Cameron and Cora arrived a little bit later in the day, but more than early enough to walk around the Notre Dame campus.  Earlier in the week, we had heard that parking would be several hundred dollars.  Thankfully, they found a free space at the Century Center and walked to the game.  They had a lot of fun watching Game Day and bought souvenirs before finding their seats.

Brett and Meg had no interest in going to the game, but did pay attention to it tonight.  Brett picked up breadsticks for he, Doug and I after the Monroe County Republican Christmas party and watched the game with us.  Meg and Maddy went to the bars tonight and watched the game while out on the town.

Unfortunately, for our Hoosier family, the game was not what we had expected.  IU got down early and never really recovered.  The Irish had scored a 92-yard touchdown within a few minutes of the game starting and it looked like it had knocked the wind out of the Hoosiers.  I was sad with the 17-27 loss, especially since it was against Notre Dame, but it didn't change the fact that it had been a fantastic season.  Hopefully, the momentum from this year carries over to next and we enjoy another championship run soon.  

Rock N Brews

Since Doug and I had a few hours to kill before we had to catch our flight to Indianapolis, we decided to meet for dinner at Rock N Brews.  We had discovered this restaurant almost four years ago when Doug first started traveling to Ocala.  It is the perfect place to eat before or after a flight as it is within two miles of the Orlando airport.  The food is also delicious, and the restaurant always has a good selection of beers for those who like to drink.  The best part, however, is the atmosphere.  There is an outside covered patio that has multiple televisions on it with constant music videos playing.  We especially like that feature as most of the videos are from our MTV college days.  The decorations are consistent with a music themed restaurant as well with Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury and many more hanging on the walls.

Tonight's meal was delicious as always.  Doug and I split a pretzel appetizer and a salmon dinner.  Both were fantastic.  While we were there, we talked not only about the music playing, but also about the other Rock N Brews that we had discovered recently including one in the Tampa area.  It had a wall dedicated to Tom Petty which of course, I absolutely loved.  The food, the music and the conversation were a perfect way to start our three-day weekend trip, and I appreciate our dinner together very much.

Inboden's

 Meg decided that she wanted to show Nick around DeKalb this past week. They visited Jeanette's grave and drove by Doug's boyhood home.  Meg recalled a lot of great memories that she shared with Nick and really enjoyed giving him the tour.  She told me that there was only one thing made her tear up while she was in DeKalb.  It wasn't the cemetery or the walk down memory lane.  It was the stop they made at Inboden's.  She had so many found memories of the niche grocery store that we had visited so often during our trips to see Jeanette during her battle with cancer.  

Meg didn't let her sadness stop her from making a few purchases while she was there.  Although there wasn't any bottled orange Crush to buy, she did pick up a few family favorites including Southwest chicken.  Last night, Meg invited Cal over to share the famed dish with her and Nick.  He had been talking about Inboden's a lot this past month and was happy to have one of his childhood favorites again. 

I realize that visiting Inboden's and talking about Grandma Henisch can sometimes trigger some tough emotions for my children. Because of this, I am ever proud that they all chose to honor her in their day-to-day life.  Jeanette was such a wonderful person, and I know that she would have been extremely proud of our family today.