Halloween Sleepover - Sadie and Sara

Paige planned a fun Halloween sleepover with a couple of her friends on Saturday night. The girls came over in the afternoon and they enjoyed the cool weather outside and goofed off around the house. Andrea took them out in the Jeep in the evening for dinner at Chick-Fil-A and then to Crumbl for cookies. Andrea had as much fun as the girls driving around in the Jeep and listening to music. The girls stayed up pretty late, as one does, and in the morning I took them out to First Watch for breakfast. I think they all had a great time together and the girls were fun to hang out with and we enjoyed getting to know both of Paige's friends.

Graydon's Last I9 Football Game of the Season

 

Saturday, October 29th 2022, we went to Graydon's last football game of his team's season. He played awesome, throwing two touchdown passes, and he also did well on defense. We had Millie Mae with us and since it was a little wet and muddy we couldn't put her down. As a result, I was a bit distracted and didn't get a picture with Graydon in it! We enjoyed watching him play. He is so intense and tries so hard, he's fun to root for.

Connor Volunteering with Beaches Go Green Trunk or Treat

 

Wednesday evening, Connor went to volunteer with some classmates for the Beaches Go Green Trunk or Treat group. He helped to set up and hand out candy to the kids and then went to Tijuana Flats afterwards for some tacos. 

Jeep! 2-Door Wrangler Freedom Edition

This past week I bought a Jeep from a dealership in Gainesville. I've been looking for a while and have been going back and forth between buying new vs used and it's been hard to find a vehicle that has all the options I was looking for. I'd originally intended to get a soft top, but after I came across a lift system that would allow one person to easily remove a hard top and also store it when it's not on the Jeep, I changed my mind and went with a hard top. Andrea and the kids wanted me to get white to match our other vehicles and I was looking at a couple white ones, but in the end I went with a silver Jeep since it was well priced and had all the things I was looking for. 

Putting together the lift system was a much bigger project than I expected and I was also a little disappointed that it ended up being about an inch too tall for my Jeep, but I was able to make it work and got the top off. We've been enjoying riding around with the top off in the cool weather. Andrea had fun driving Paige and her friends around this weekend and Connor loves listening to his music on the sound system.

 

Graydon and Griffin Spend the Night

Amanda and Ryan had a Halloween Adult night in their neighborhood on Saturday night (October 22nd), so we kept their boys at our house. Graydon and Paige played on their computers in Paige's room and on Saturday evening Andrea did most of the work with Griffin as I was running Connor around for Homecoming and also dealing with a broken down Tesla. Andrea got Griffin to bed without any trouble from him and he spent the night with her while Paige made up a comfy air mattress in her room for Graydon.

In the morning when Griffin woke up, I took him out to give Andrea some uninterrupted sleep. We played tea party, and went on a couple short golf cart rides around the neighborhood. We always have fun with the Goble boys.

Homecoming - Connor's Sophomore Year

On Friday, October 21st, Connor's school had a pep rally and then their homecoming football game. Connor went along with Andrea and Paige and they enjoyed the game and all the homecoming celebration. Saturday was the homecoming dance and Connor met some friends and went in together. They stayed for a while and eventually their group went back to a friend's house and I picked him up there a bit after 10:30. 

Of course we took a few pics of Connor before he left, and we're so happy he got to have a homecoming dance this year, as it's been canceled the last few years due to COVID.

FSU - Florida State University Campus Tour - Tallahassee

 

The kids didn't have school on Monday, so Andrea planned to use the day off wisely and we planned our first official college campus tour for Monday, October 17th 2022. We drove to Tallahassee on Sunday morning and ate at the McAlister's Deli for lunch and then checked in to our hotel. We walked around the campus briefly in the afternoon and went by the book store. Connor got an FSU t-shirt and Paige got a sweatshirt. 

In the evening we had a light dinner at a local restaurant before heading to bed.

In the morning we packed up our things and drove over to the FSU visitor center to begin our tour. The visitor center was in the lobby of the stadium and it was a humongous building. We listened to a short presentation by an admission's advisor and then we broke up in to a couple groups to begin the tour. We walked all over the campus, looked at a dining hall, and looked at a dorm room. Overall we were impressed with the campus's size and how pretty it was. Lots of bricks! The campus was also a little hilly which is odd for Florida, it's so flat where we are.

After the tour was complete we drove a couple of miles over to the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering which is in the Innovation Park area. There were quite a few big buildings over there with all kinds of engineering opportunities, however we weren't really super thrilled that it was so far away from the rest of the campus. Overall we liked the college and think that either kid could have an amazing college experience there. The campus itself was beautiful, however the surrounding area was a bit messy. You could definitely tell there were a lot of college kids living in the houses and apartments nearby and there were beer bottles, cans, and even a smashed toilet littering the area. We came the day after a big football game vs Clemson, so the entire town was probably hung over.

Down Syndrome Walk Jacksonville Beach - Griffin's Group

 

Saturday, October 15th 2022, we went with the Gobles to the Down Syndrome Walk at Jacksonville Beach. The Gobles have been attending the Down Syndrome Walk in Kansas City for years, and it was their first time doing it in Florida, our first time ever. It was a bright and sunny day for the walk and we took an Uber over to the beach so we wouldn't have to stress about, or pay, for parking. We met up with the Gobles and spent the first part of our day at the play area with a bounce house, slide, and some games. After a brief speech and presentation, a marching band's drumline kicked off the walk and we started down to the beach. The walk itself wasn't super long and it was mostly on the beach and under the pier. 

After the walk we played a few more games, Paige got some Jeremiah's Ice, and then we went to get some BBQ for dinner and to celebrate Ryan's birthday. It was certainly interesting to see so many people with Down Syndrome all in one place together and we were happy we got to support the Gobles and experience it with them. Hooray for Griffin's Group!

Connor Volunteering with SenioRITA Tennis Tournament

 

On Saturday last week, October 15th, Connor and a couple of his friends volunteered at the SenioRITA Tennis tournament. They helped prep the courts between matches by cleaning the clay off the lines and doing whatever odd jobs needed doing. Andrea picked him up and snapped a few pics of the boys in action.