Activities: drove to Chicago Midway Holiday Inn. Parked the car and shuttled over to the airport. Midway airport is nice and efficient. Southwest Airlines runs a little different than most. Standing in line and entering by number was ok. We were 18, 19 and 20! Flight uneventful, was glad to have my own iPod now. Drive to Grandma Heumann's our first destination.
Meals: Papa John's Pizza for a late night dinner. Watched March Madness. It was madness all right...poor game.
TUESDAY
Activities: Waited for a severe thunderstorm to pass by. When it arrived, it wasn't too severe. Spoke with reservation specialist, Elroy, about seeing Cirque du Soleil. Wanted to ask about Astro too, but wasn't sure Elroy would appreciate that joke. Headed to Kennedy Space Center for the afternoon. It was very nice and the weather turned out to be very nice. Took the bus tour and saw lots of history. I always love seeing the Vehicle Assembly Building. Just behind it is a new launch for the Ares project. Dave has been working on and supervising the building of this launchpad. Now the Ares project is scrapped. Thanks to our commander in chief. Really enjoyed seeing the Apollo stuff. That is what I remember as a kid. Boy that rocket was huge! The movie presentations were pretty good too. Matthew and Jeff experienced the Shuttle Simulator while Mom and I walked through the Space Shuttle Explorer. Soon it was time to head to Downtown Disney to see Cirque du Soleil's "La Nouba". What a wonderful show! It was something we have never experienced. So many things going on at once and with live music! Didn't want it to end, so I bought some souvenirs to remember it buy.Meals: Quick Burger King lunch. It was actually a good experience!
Dinner was at one of Matthew's favorites: Chik-Fil-A! Yummy and quick.
WEDNESDAY
Activities: After a fun-filled Tuesday, we packed up our bags to head to Jeff's parents in the afternoon. Jeff was able to get some jogging in the morning. Before leaving Lutheran Haven, I always stop by to "see" dad. The grass had been mowed and was covering the grave marker, so I knelt down and started sweeping off the dry grass. Then, OUCH! I was being attacked by fire ants! I got back shook and brushed them off. Ended up with a line of painful red blistering bites on my left hand, wrist and arm. I iced it and left them alone all week. Glad to report they are going away, redness is gone just a few little blisters left. It sure could have been worse. Before heading to Leesburg, we stopped at Kohl's to get Matthew a new bathing suit. Both guys ended up with shorts too. Attended Lenten service at Woodlands Lutheran Church and enjoyed a nice visit with the Kneser's. How fun to catch up on our family's lives. Spending the rest of our nights with Grandma and Grandpa Wilhelm.
Meals: Lunch at one of my favorites, Sonny's Bar B Q. I love their pork, fries, garlic bread and sweet sauce.
Marlene made a delicious pot roast dinner. Mashed potatoes, beans and warm rolls.
THURSDAY
Activities: We were off to Tampa Thursday to visit with our niece, Lori, who attends U of Tampa and fulfills her ROTC duties at USF. So we met her at the ROTC building and got a tour of the facility and caught up with her college and military plans. Took her to lunch and saw a crime scene on the way. Found out later that there was a shooting outside at a gas station. The rest of the afternoon we spent at Busch Gardens. Matthew and Jeff went on the rides. Matthew did all of the roller coasters, Jeff did the ones that wouldn't aggravate his neck issues. I saw the shows and the animals. My favorite was the critter show. My biggest regret, missing the wallabies and the tiger exhibit to see a stupid 4D pirate movie. The weather was very hot and humid. Was so glad to meet up with our Word of Life friends for dinner. We had so much fun!
Meals: Lunch at Cici's Pizza. Sure wish we had one in MI. There are commercials, just no locations.
Dinner: TGIFriday's. Love those pot stickers! Matt gets the chicken fingers.
FRIDAY
Activities: Spent the afternoon with Tom. We had a nice lunch and a good visit. Then we had a quick swim in the community pool, before heading to dinner and bowling. Grandma had her last night of league and Grandpa and the rest of us bowled for three hours. Got in five games! Grandma even finished league in time to play one game with us. Grandpa had an over average night, Matthew did pretty well, and Jeff and I did pretty good with the house ball and rented shoes. We had lots of fun!
Meals: Lunch with Tom at San Juan Mexican. It was delicious. We shared a fried ice cream for dessert.
Dinner with Grandma and Grandpa at Stavros' Pizza. It was so tasty!
SATURDAY
Activities: Went to the billiard room and played pool with Grandpa for an hour or so. I haven't played in so long. I did ok, glad to have Ernie on my team. Jeff and Matthew were a good challenge. We stayed after playing pool, to swimming in the pool. It was so nice being in the water, swimming, splashing and floating. After an hour we were back "home" packing our suit cases and getting ready to head to Orlando. We were meeting Grandma Heumann, Dave and Leslie for a late lunch/early dinner before going to the airport. The waitress was very nice and helpful and all of us had a nice visit. I am glad I could see my brother Dave and wish we would have had time to see Dan and his family too. Once at the airport, we learned that our plane needed to go to the garage and have maintenance. A delay of 45 minutes was predicted. Glad I had that iPod and that there was wireless in the terminal. Nothing like the internet to keep you busy. Time went pretty quickly, and we were on a "new" plane and in the air. Getting a shuttle to the hotel in Chicago was another story. Only one shuttle bus was running and there were 50+ people waiting to get to their hotel. We waited over 30 minutes for our ride, with standing room only. Glad I didn't fall on anyone.
Meals: TGIFriday's (again). Potstickers and a burger. My favorite chicken is off the menu. :(
SUNDAY
Activities: Up early and drive back to Greenville. We lose an hour, and we had to be back before 3 pm, so there was no time for dilly dallying. We made it home just after 2:30pm, so Matthew made it to church softball practice and Jeff led services at the Long Term Care facilities. I always the piano, and the residents are always grateful. It was position night at bowling, and I managed to stay around average. Jeff had a great last game of 191. We won only 1 game, but that was enough to keep us in 5th place instead of moving to the right column in 6th place.
Spring Break is over. We had a wonderful week! So glad we could spend time with our family and friends!
Gracie
PS: Over 100 pictures in the Family Photo Album!
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