Amanda and Graydon Visit - April 2026

Amanda and Graydon came in town for a brief weekend visit and arrived on Friday. Saturday morning, Andrea and Amanda went on a long adventure together to view some neighborhoods in the area that the Gobles might be interested in. Graydon wasn't interested in looking at houses, so he hung out with Paige and I during the day. After I finished with tennis in the morning, we went to lunch with Paige and Caleb at Anejo. In the afternoon we headed to Top Golf to hit some balls and play some games, and it was perfect weather for it, and we were happy to have a spot on the upper level.

After Top Golf, we met Andrea and Amanda at Mellow Mushroom for pizza and then headed home. 

Sunday was a fairly chill day and we slept in and had a fairly lazy morning before heading over to Cantina Laredo for lunch. Paige turns sixteen next week and we had her drive us, which turned out to be a bit of a trigger for some arguments. Thankfully we all calmed down in time for a pleasant lunch, then we headed home to get our things together for pickleball. 

We had a bit of a slow start at pickleball, with some fairly terrible shots, but eventually we got it together and had some fun and competitive games. 

Relay for Life at Hope Lodge - Paige and Kendall

 

After school on Friday, Kendall came over and we took the girls up to the Hope Lodge so they could volunteer to help out with the Survivor/Caregiver dinner for the Relay for Life. The girls assisted with the dinner, then gave out sashes, medals, and helped to give out prizes for the raffle. 

National Honor Society Paige's Induction

 

Paige and friends had an induction ceremony in to the National Honor's Society this past week. 

Connor's Fraternity Formal

 

Connor took a friend to his fraternity's formal event last week. It was the first time that he wore the custom suit we bought for him in Vietnam.

Andrea's 46th Birthday - Surprise Visit from Connor

 

Andrea's a tough person to surprise, or to buy for. Her birthday this year fell on a Sunday and inconveniently also fell on the same weekend as Dad's weekend in Tallahassee. I'd considered skipping the Dad's weekend, but Andrea selflessly insisted that I should go to be with Connor and so we wouldn't miss out. 

I had been planning to come back fairly early on Sunday to spend the day with her when I realized that Andrea would really love to see her favorite guy Connor on her birthday. I texted Connor to see if he'd be open to the idea and he immediately agreed and said he'd love to do that for her. I was so excited about it, but I was certain that Andrea would figure it out ahead of time and the surprise would be spoiled. There was a breakfast with the frat brothers in the morning on Sunday, and another baseball game in the afternoon. I told Andrea that we were planning to go to the breakfast and probably would go to the baseball game as well. 

Before I left town, Paige and I schemed to have Paige turn off the Tesla notifications on Andrea's phone so it wouldn't alert her if and when Connor and I were charging during the drive home. Connor turned off his Life360 tracking as well so no alerts would come through that app either. We eventually decided that the most certain way to surprise her was to drive home before she woke up and checked in on us. We left Connor's dorm a little after 5am and made it home just after 8am. Andrea was fast asleep when we arrived, and I had intended to wait until she woke up for her scheduled tennis clinic with Paige, but Connor was too excited so we got Paige and Millie Mae and we all went in to wake up Andrea and wish her a happy birthday. 

Poor Andrea was dazed and confused for a minute after we all barged in, and I think it took her a moment to realize what day it was, who was in her room, and why we were all jumping on her bed. I shouldn't have been worried she would be grumpy at being woken up, she was surprised to see us and was thrilled to hear that we would all be spending her birthday together. 

Eventually, Andrea got ready for the tennis clinic with Paige, and Connor and I took a short nap to try and get caught up a little on sleep before we went to the tennis courts to watch them play.

Andrea and Paige played in a fairly competitive clinic, run by Coach Jeff, against a mother+daughter duo as well as another good player. There was an open spot available, but Connor wasn't feeling up to it after our long drive.

When their clinic finished, we went over to the pickleball courts and played two very competitive games. Connor played with Andrea, and they were leading in the first game for almost the entire time, but Paige and I pulled ahead and won at the end. The second game was another close one, and I think Paige and I may have had a match point, but Connor and Andrea were too good and won it.

The girls went back to the house to shower first, and the boys waited a little while to head home so Connor could swing at the park.

We went to Town Center for lunch, to Cantina Laredo, which used to be a weekly favorite. We hadn't been in quite a while and the kids were reminiscing about playing outside the restaurant while we were waiting for our food. It was extra delicious today and our server even brought over a complementary apple pie dessert when we mentioned it was Andrea's birthday. 

We did a little shopping and took care of a few returns before heading home to play dominoes and hang out for just a little while before Connor had to start his drive back to school.

I'm happy that we were all able to celebrate Andrea's birthday together on the actual day, and so happy that Connor was willing to spend so much time driving to make Andrea's day extra special. We all love our Andrea so very much! Happy birthday Andrea!

Dad's Weekend with Connor

Connor's fraternity hosted a Dad's weekend and I drove out to hang out with Connor on Friday after I finished work. The frat brothers planned mostly around the FSU vs Notre Dame baseball games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I arrived a little late on Friday night and we decided to stay in that evening. Connor's moving out in a couple of weeks, so we went through his room to do a bit of cleanup and organization before we relaxed and went to bed.

Saturday morning we joined his fraternity brothers and their parents at Brick Restaurant for brunch.

Connor's friend Ethan and his parents sat by us and we enjoyed chatting with them and meeting some of the other guys as well before heading over to the baseball game. 

It was a bright and sunny day, and although we found a shady spot initially, the sun moved on after a half hour and we were in the full sun. Eventually we couldn't bear it so we moved out of the general admission and student section and found some empty seats in the reserved section that were in the shade. Connor and I are not really baseball fans, but the game was exciting and Ethan's dad had played D1 baseball, knew a lot, and his commentary was entertaining. We stayed very hydrated in the heat, got some BBQ sunflower seeds, and a couple of hot dogs.

After the baseball game we got an Uber to take us to Chicken Salad Chick for a late lunch and Connor's friends gave us some nice generous portions.

We went back to Connor's dorm afterwards and had a really nice nap which eventually turned in to a full nights sleep since we needed to wake up early on Sunday so we could drive home to surprise Andrea for her birthday. 

The weekend with Connor was a fun time for the guys and I enjoyed seeing Connor with his fraternity buddies and hearing his anecdotes from his freshman year at school. He's had such a successful year away at college and we are so proud of him for doing well academically, while also making friends, balancing his fraternity responsibilities, working at his job, and making time to exercise and stay healthy. 

Millie Mae's Dinner TIme

 

We may have gotten in to a bad habit of feeding Millie Mae a nearly full diet of people food and treats. In the morning she gets one of her "chicky bite treats" from Shawn and then a "sweet tater treat" from Andrea. In the evening she gets another chicky bite treat after an evening walk and then I will usually share my dinner with her unless it's not dog friendly. If it's not dog friendly, I will usually find something leftover for her to eat and will cut up and heat up her own little dish. Very often we have leftover chicken quesadillas, which is one of her favorites. Andrea fed her dinner the other day and I got a video of Millie Mae politely and gently eating her dinner off the fork as is our typical routine.

Payton's Birthday Party

 

Paige had a full and fun day with her friends on Payton's birthday last weekend. They went to the Nocatee water park and then drove all around town taking pics, shopping, and eating at Nona Blue. It is quite a change with them all being so mobile now and Paige will have her license soon too!

Easter Sunday 2026 - Tennis and Lunch

 

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day in Florida, and we started our day with tennis at our club. I played in a clinic at 9am and the girls joined me for a clinic at 10am. It was a great level and we all were hitting the ball well. It was a good workout and a nice way to start the day.

After tennis, we got cleaned up, and then Andrea brought out Paige's Easter basket, before we headed over to BJ's for lunch.