Magic vs Lakers for Connor's 19th Birthday

For Connor's birthday this year he wanted to see Lebron James play, as it might be James's last year in the NBA. We looked at the Lakers schedule and found that they were playing against the Orlando Magic shortly after his birthday. We'd suggested the Magic games in the past and Connor had never been interested, but this year they're doing well and he thought it could be a competitive game.

Saturday morning, Connor went jogging on the beach with Millie Mae and me. It was a nice cool dawn, and we ran the six miles fairly easily and quickly. Millie Mae had a fun time running with Connor and it was a good way to wear her out and give her some activity, since she was going to have to spend quite a while in her kennel until Andrea and Paige got home.

On the way to Orlando, we stopped by Chicken Salad Chick for lunch. 

Since the game was in the evening, we wanted to do something fun and decided to try the Andretti Indoor Go Karts. We purchased a package that included two races, two of their premium games, and arcade credits. 

While we waited for our scheduled Go Kart races, we played a connect 4 basketball shooting game, a 2 player Pac Man, and a few other arcade games. We watched an orientation video on the go karts, put on our helmets, and then prepared for our races.

The Go Karts were exciting to drive and while it was hard to pass people at times, it was a fun track and I felt like we were getting faster and faster as we got used to it. The karts kept track of your fastest lap, and ranking in the end was based on your fastest lap. The first race had more, and slower, racers and I'm not sure what our best laps were for that race and I think there was a bug in their system. The second race we were much faster and I was sure I beat Connor as I felt like I was really flying around the track. 

We were excited to see our times and Connor came in first somehow, and I was close behind in second place.

1. Connor: 43.379

2. Shawn: 43.909

We did one of their premium VR games, which was terrible. We shot some zombies while wearing blurry goggles and tried to use janky turrets which didn't work well or turn very far. We also did a multi-player indy car game, which was extremely hard to control. Connor did the best on that race too and got first place out of the 7 racers. 

We still had some credits left on our accounts, but we decided to depart so we could charge the car briefly and then get to the stadium with enough time to find parking and our seats.

Connor snapped a pic with a couple of Chick-Fil-A cows and then we headed inside to find our seats. The Kia Center was a disaster to navigate. Our seats were on the club level on 4, and when they scanned our ticket they told us to take a series of escalators to 4. Unfortunately they didn't tell us that the escalators took us directly to 5 and not 4. The level you were on wasn't marked well and we wandered around for a while before asking and eventually were directed to a bank of elevators.

We found our seats, got an overpriced hotdog for Connor and chicken strips for me. The highlight of the day was definitely the game. Both teams were strong and there were constant lead changes, lots of emotion, and many exciting plays.

Our seats were in the front row of the club level and we had a perfectly unobstructed view from near the middle of the court. 

At halftime we decided to check out the store to possibly grab a souvenir. This experience was another frustrating exposure to the confusing layout of the Kia Center. We asked where the shop was and were told to go down to 1. We got on an elevator and asked the attendant to push one for us. The floors were not numbers, but letters. After a moment the doors opened and we asked him if we were on one. He grunted something that sounded like an affirmative and we saw some jerseys for sale, so we got off. After walking up to the shop, it was just a small kiosk. We wandered around for a moment and asked a worker if we were on one, and she informed us we were on three. We saw a staircase which said it was down to the Founder's level and were not sure whether we were allowed there, so we went back to the elevator and got on a different one with a different worker. We asked her to take us to 1, which turned out to be the E level. We got out there and were told that it was an Exit only to leave the game and we would not be allowed back in. There was no way to get through to the store and we would have to find a different way.

At that point we gave up and went back to our seats after using the restroom. We had used the entire halftime wandering around and still didn't even know where the store was. We resolved to go to the store after the game finished. 

The rest of the game was exciting and even though we weren't really fans of either team, it was a treat to experience.

The Magic took the lead late in the fourth quarter and with just 5 seconds left they were ahead by 2 and had the ball. They attempted to inbound the ball, but Lebron James darted in and deflected the pass off of a Magic player to force a turnover. The Lakers had enough time for one play and one shot. I expected that they would try to position themselves for a safe 2 point shot, but instead ran a tricky designed play which left their best 3 point shooter wide open. He hit a perfect 3 point shot to win them the game. Connor and I screamed in surprise along with everyone in the entire arena, it was electric.

Before the crowds got bad, Connor and I departed to try and get to the shop. We found ourselves in a stairway along with many other fans and worked our way down to the first floor. On the ground level, the doors opened up out to the street and there was no way to get to the store and no re-admittance once you left. We were so irritated about it, but decided to just give up and start our drive home.

The weekend was a memorable time for us and we both enjoyed spending time together. Connor questioned whether we should even bother going to another NBA game in the future because he doubted that we would never experience a more exciting game. That statement made my day and I'm so happy that he enjoyed his birthday adventure.

Spring Break 2026 - Kansas City and Silver Dollar City

For Spring Break this year we flew in to Kansas City to spend time with family and have some adventures in Missouri. When we landed, Abby picked us up and we met everyone at McAlister's Deli for lunch.

After lunch, we all drove over to Allison's new place for a tour. Her place is cute and cozy and we're proud of her for making such a nice life for herself and Garrett.

In the afternoon we went over to Amanda's house for a bit to meet her new dogs Teddy and Rocky, and to say hello to their very slightly older dog Pepper.

In the evening we all met up at Grandma Genie's house for game night. We played Spoons and Happy Salmon.

Sunday, March 15th, we all went out to play some pickleball together. I organized a matchmaking system so we could have a tournament and we were surprised that Grandma Genie wanted to participate. Especially as she's been having trouble with one of her eyes after cataract surgery and hasn't been very active lately. 

Unfortunately, on the first round of games, on one of the very first points, Grandma Genie had a painful accident. She was trying to go backwards for a ball when she lost her balance and fell on her back, hitting her head hard on the ground. 

We were worried she'd cracked her skull and she was in a lot of pain. We borrowed a wheelchair from the pickleball manager and got her to Amanda's van. Andrea and Amanda went with her to the hospital, where she spent most of the day doing imaging and being inspected. Thankfully, she didn't have any broken bones or permanent damage and was released later in the evening.

The rest of us did play some pickleball and then we went back to Amanda's to hang out with the pups.

On Monday, Shawn and Ryan had to work, but everyone else got up fairly early and went to the school where Alli is teaching Kindergarten. They visited her classroom, read books, and played some games together.  

We all met up for lunch at McAlister's Deli and then Paige went to the Goble's house for the evening.

Connor spent the afternoon at the Rudolphs, and then came over to Grandma's in the evening to help with making cookies and to play dominos with us.

Tuesday, March 17th, Andrea went with the kids along with Amanda, Abby, and Nate to Springfield and then to Silver Dollar City the next day. It wasn't exactly on the way, but they stopped by to see Renie and had a very nice visit with her.

Dinner was at Lambert's and then they spent the night in Springfield.

Wednesday, March 18th, the group went to Silver Dollar City and had beautiful weather for the day. It had been extremely cold for the past few days so they had planned their visit perfectly for a cool sunny day.

Shawn, Genie, Ryan, and Griffin all spent the days back in Blue Springs. I worked during the day and hung out with Genie in the evenings. On Wednesday when the weather warmed up, I took Teddy on a five mile run and took the little dogs on long walks as well. 

Genie, Ryan, and I met at McAlister's Deli for lunch, and I took Genie out for burgers and ice cream in the evening for dinner at Culver's.

Thursday, very early in the morning, Connor and I flew home. 

Abby and Alli took Paige shopping for stuffed animals, which was a nice surprise for Paige as she doesn't have many stuffies and so certainly needs some.

The rest of the gang celebrated Griffin's 10th birthday a little early on Friday with a bowling party and then cake at Amanda's house.

Andrea and Paige flew home on Saturday and they made it home without any issue. It was a different Spring Break than we've had in past years, but it was a nice chill week and it was a good use of my limited time off as well since I was able to work during the week while still seeing everyone.