CSB/SJU Visit

This weekend Susan and Erin took Mari, Cameron, Elliot and Hope up to St. Bens/St. Johns for a college visit.

Riding in the minivan.
Lucia, Rose and I went to the Valley football game.
Susan and Erin were glad to be back.

Thursday – Jacksonville University

Candy Cane Lake at the University of Northern Florida. I was disappointed not to see an alligator during our trip.
Golf cart tour at Jacksonville University. I guess there was a lot of ground to cover.
Pool Time
Susan got in the freezing pool.
We made a sandcastle, just before the tide came in.
Shopping at a cool outdoor mall.

Wednesday – Flagler College

Today we drove from Tampa to St. Augustine (to Jacksonville, eventually).

Flagler College – Lovely, but not our favorite
The Flager Cafeteria
Downtown St. Augustine. Lucia likes to get a Dole Whip.
The old city gate.

Monday in Florida – Tampa

Today is our first official day in Florida. Most of our days will have the same format – college tour in the morning, beach or pool in the afternoon.

Sunrise
University of Tampa
Pool Time
Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay

Taking Andrew to College

Today we (just Susan and I!) took Andrew to college! He will be attending Regis University in Denver. We left Des Moines yesterday around lunch time. It was a rough, emotional departure because the Reagen kids and our kids were all present to say goodbye. There were many tears and rumor has it that after we left everyone just sat in the living room for a while. We have had a great run here in Des Moines, raising our kids with the Reagens, and with Andrew and Ian headed to college it feels like a seismic shift.

Yesterday we drove to Denver and today we were up early for a hike and then took Andrew to get moved in. We got him settled into his room, met his roommate, and then said our goodbyes. He was really excited to start getting settled in on his own. That is about right.

Before move-in we went for a hike at Red Rocks Amphitheater
On a hike
Getting moved in!
When Andrew was little if Susan and I were ever sitting next to each other Andrew would always come in between us.

Susan and Reggie
Andrew and his roommate

Creighton Visit

While Susan had the girls at First Reconciliation, the older kids and I headed to Omaha. We attended the Xavier vs. Creighton basketball game, grabbed some ice cream, and then went for a walk around Creighton’s campus. The highlight of the trip was that Xavier was losing 36-19 at halftime and then scored 19 straight points to start the second half and ended up winning by 10.

Ski Trip with Andrew

This past weekend Andrew and I went to visit Regis University in Denver and then went skiing at Keystone. Andrew did a wonderful job snowboarding. I managed to make it down the hill a few times on my skis.

Lunch Parking Lot
Tunnel in the training zone. This was Andrew’s first time officially snowboarding and my first time on skis since college.
Ready to get started.