Papa

My grandfather passed away this afternoon.  His health steadily declined over the past month or so.  We got to see him and my grandma when we were home in August for our family reunion.  He was a good man, a family man, a lowkey funny man.  My entire family is, of course, sharing stories and photos of him on social media.  What I want to share is longer than what most social media posts are, so here is a fun story I have of the man we all knew as Papa.

Several years ago, we were home around Christmas time because my wife's grandfather had passed away.  All of the services were going to be in the spring time because you can't really do much in terms of burial in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in December, but we wanted to be with our family.  During that week we were home, we took a trip to see my family for their annual Christmas get together.  Papa suggested that if we were going to be around for a bit that I come out to hunting camp to hunt for a day or two.  After clearing it, I went out there with my dad and Papa.  As we were leaving camp to go to our respective seats, dad told me 'nothing that doesn't have antlers.'  I said okay, not thinking I would see much only having just a few hours of light.  Papa turned to me and said 'Bullshit.  Charlie he's home for just a few days.  Shoot whatever the fuck you want!'  I looked at him, looked at Dad, shrugged my shoulders and said okay.  Just before sunset, I had a small doe walk into the bait pile.  I waited for a bit hoping for maybe another (read: bigger) one come in with it, contemplated, then shot it.  This was the first deer I had ever shot.  We didn't hunt much as kids, which looking back at it I hate myself for that.  I walked back to camp and Papa had just gotten there before I did.

Papa: 'See anything?'
Me: 'Yup.'
Papa: 'Well did you dress it out?'
Me: 'I didn't have a knife. (I wasn't planning on hunting so didn't come home prepared) Papa, this is my first deer.'
Papa: 'Oh?'

He then walks over to where the Crown Royal was stored and pulled out two shot glasses.  He poured, we toasted, then had one more.  Just Papa and I sitting at King Pine Camp.  Sharing a few shots of whiskey.  It was everything. 

Sentimental Present

It's 2015!  We've made it!  I guess.  Wasn't the world suppose to end a couple of years ago?  Anyway, Christmas came and went.  It didn't feel like Christmas because we didn't have any snow on the ground.  So that sucked.  We got snow a couple of days later, so at least now it feels like winter.  So much so that not only do we have some snow, we also have a wind chill advisory this morning!  It's negative ten out right now, and it feels like negative seventeen.

Other than not having any snow, we had a pretty decent holiday season.  However, it came and went too quickly.  Part of it was because the month of December came so quickly after Thanksgiving.  Usually there's a week in between the two, but with Thanksgiving being so late in the month, there was a holy shit moment a week into December.  My in-laws came into town for Christmas.  It's always nice to spend time with family.  We have spent a couple of Christmas days by ourselves, and it was okay, but it didn't feel like it was anything special.  Christmas time should be spent with family, and when you don't have that, it feels weird.  Like there should be something going on, but there isn't.

I got a wonderful present this year from my parents.  Here's a picture of it.

So, it doesn't look like much.  I got a chuckle out of it because I knew what it was.  It's an ornament that I made when I was a kid.  What was more important was what my mom wrote on the bag. 

 'To Mike,

This ornament has been on our tree every year since you were in preschool.  We think it's time to hang on your own tree!'

Love, Mom & Dad'

As the saying goes:  'Right in the feels!'  It kinda caught me off guard and made me even more sentimental than I was because that's what Christmas does to me.  The rest of the day, I was thinking about Christmastime from my childhood and how great it was.  All about how our extended family spent even more time together, about waking up at two or three in the morning and trying to sneak a peak at what Santa brought us without waking my parents up...and then trying go back to sleep afterwards. 

Making Traditions

I don't know exactly when it started, probably in 2004 or 2005, but every year I find myself watching the movie 'Gettysburg' some time between July 1st and 3rd, the days that the battle took place.  Is it hokey?  Yes.  Not as hokey as if I were watching it on three separate days to coincide with the actions of the battle.  That would be down right troubling.  I prefer to watch it all in one sitting.  One, four hour long, take an intermission break, have both breakfast and lunch during the viewing, sitting.  It's my own little nod to a part of history that I have always found interesting and the movie is very enjoyable.

While the movie watching might not be what most people would call a 'tradition' in the normal sense of the word, I am going to include it.  Normally, when you think of a tradition, you think of eating a holiday meal at one specific relative's house, or going camping at the same place every year with the same group of people.  I don't necessarily think that traditions have to occur at the same time year in and year out.  I know that when I think of 'traditions' that families have, they tend to revolve around holidays.  Which is the norm, is it not?  Whether it is summer holidays or winter holidays, I'm sure every family has at least one tradition that they stick to each year.

When you think of a tradition, you do not normally think of sitting down and watching a movie the same time each year.  And why not?  Because normally, a tradition is something you do with other people.  Whether it is family or friends, a tradition is something you can always mark on a calendar and call people a month ahead of time to make sure that the plans are still on.  When I was growing up, each summer we went camping with our longtime family friends.  I do not remember it always being the same time every year, but I just remember going each year.  That is the nice thing about a tradition that doesn't revolve around a holiday.  If you take a summer camping trip with friends, it doesn't have to be the same weekend every year, it can just take place in the summer.  Or if you go on a ski trip each winter, it doesn't have to be the second weekend in January every year.

But sitting down and watching a movie around the same time each year can be a personal tradition.  For people like me who enjoy both history and movies, taking the time to watch a movie the same day(s) as the historical event took place, that's a pinnacle of nerdiness.  If you want to watch 'Half Baked' on April 20th each year, go nuts.  Watch 'The Longest Day' each June 6th if that tickles your fancy.  More recently, I have noticed that television channels have been doing holiday marathons of movie series.  AMC did a 'Jaws' marathon leading up to the 4th of July weekend.  I have seen channels like TNT, Spike, and TBS all show movies like the 'Lord of the Ring' trilogy, the 'Star Wars' prequals and original trilogy.

So there are different kinds of traditions that you can now start to call your own.  Traditions that don't involve the stress of planning out entire weekends or weeks.  Traditions that are cost saving too.  And yes, these types of traditions are a bit anti-social.  But if you are going to just sit down and watch a few movies, that isn't going to take up an entire week....unless you want it to.  

43/120

Who am I?

Next week, I have some training for work.  It's a 'get to know your peers' type of training.  The kind that no one ever looks forward to.  It's suppose to make us closer as a group and all that HR bullshit.  I say that if you want to get to know the people you work with, get to know them over a glass of beer, but that's just me.  One thing that we are suppose to do is bring something that makes us us.  Anything from a book or a movie to, I don't know, your stuffed teddy bear you had as a kid.  Something that is significant to your life.  So what possession do you bring to this training if you have nothing that really makes you, you?

That's not to say there aren't things in my life that have made me who I am, but these things aren't material possessions.  Sure, I could bring in the Star Wars trilogy and say that these movies made me love science fiction and are some of my favorite movies of all time.  But how does that make me the way I am?  I didn't become some sort of astronomer or astronaut because of them.  I could bring in The Catcher in the Rye because it's my favorite book.  But that doesn't make me a spoiled rich kid with first world problems.  Multimedia doesn't make us who we are as a person.  Unless you are freaking crazy.  Who lets a movie or book define who they are?  They may have an impact on your outlook of life and the world, but that is just one small part of who you are.

I don't have anything from my childhood or even early adulthood that has shaped who I am.  There is no heirloom that has been passed down to me that has a great story of my family.   Even if I did have something, it creates a story, not a person.  Heirlooms passed down tell great stories of hardship and perseverance and can really put you in your place if you don't appreciate what others have gone through to get where they are today.  Whether it is a pocket watch or jewelry brought over from the old country it shows family pride, but doesn't make you the person that you are.

What makes me who I am can't be found in books or movies or any other material possession.  What makes me who I am is found in the morals that have been passed down to me by my family.  Having strong family ties builds a better person I believe.  So, unless I can bag up my entire family and bring them into work next Monday, I suppose a family picture will do.  Preferably one where we don't all have beers in our hands.  Or not.  

Father's Day

I meant to write this yesterday, but whatever.  I had to work, I was tired, I felt like doing nothing last night and that's what I did.  It was nice.  I called my dad.  We talked.  No big deal, just borderline awesome.  It's always fun to talk with him.  We talk a lot of sports, weather, fishing, idiot politicians.  Stuff like that. 

I know at one time or another during all of our lives, we have all said the following:  'I don't want to be like my parents.'  Now that I have I grown up (kind of) I am going to put this out there.  My dad is one of the greatest role models I have had in my life.  I know that growing up, most kids want to say that movie stars, athletes, writers, etc. are their role models, but the greatest one that you can have is your dad. 

Dad raised us all to be good, moral adults, but when you are growing up you don't think about that.  You want to grow up to be some rich well known person and have an easy life, but guess what, life isn't easy.  The only way that you can get through having a rough go at life is to be raised by a strong person that you can look back and say to yourself 'if I go about my daily life like my parents did, I can get through this.'

Much like my dad, I don't get that emotional, so if you are trying to picture me sniffling and crying a little bit while writing this because I am thinking back at my childhood and writing about how much I look up to my dad now, you can get off it.  It doesn't work that way.  These are just the facts.  Some of the best times of my adult life are having beers and talking with dad.  Just about random stuff.  Case in point:  the last time my parents came down to visit, we went to a baseball game, drank one dollar beer, talked about the sport and how independent teams like the ones we were watching are the great teams because they are playing because they want to play not because they are making millions of dollars each year.






This post is for you Dad.  Thank you for raising me to be just like you, as scary as that is to think about. 

Repost from 2008

*Author's note: I wrote this a few years ago and I have since made it my Christmas Eve or Christmas day post. It is simple and makes it easy for me to say that I at least wrote something for the holidays. Enjoy the day everyone. Be sure to keep the television off as long as possible and love being with family and friends.*

We are watching A Christmas Story right now, and there is nothing better in this movie than the nostalgic feel of the Christmas morning scene. More than the kids ripping apart the wrapping, it is the expressions on the faces of the mom and dad. Just the joy that they have watching their kids.

As much as people think it is all about the Red Rider BB gun, the movie is more than that. It's about family, more than anything.

• Idolizing the father
• Having a life long understanding with your mother
• And the fighting with your brother

And the final scene of the mom and dad relaxing with the Christmas tree alight and the snow falling at night. Magic.

Making the family proud

For my final beer of 2010, I wanted it to be memorable. Something that was cheap, something that I wouldn't want to drink a ton of at once to make it last for most of the month, and something that I could store outside. It is getting cold enough outside to keep beer on the balcony in the deck box. It makes me think of home a bit. Granted, it isn't beer stashed in a snow bank, but a close second.

I went out and bought some Busch Light. I know, I know. Why? Why in the hell would I do something like that? We drank it a ton in Seattle this past fall and I kind of fell in like (not love) with it. It's better than Bud Light, cheaper than PBR and not as trendy. Plus, I think of it as the family beer. Whenever we go home, that just seems to be what is lying around the some of houses when we visit relatives.



It makes me smile a little bit and it is the time of the year to be extra happy, what with all the snow and cold weather and whatnot....

Being home

Currently I sit in a chair in the state of Michigan. We came home for my brother's wedding reception. The nice thing, I have discovered, about living so far from home is that when you get married far away not everyone can make it to the actual wedding. That sounds mean, I know, but wait for the follow up sentence. When you have a family like mine, they love to party so much which means because they miss out on the first reception, a second reception is damn near mandatory. And who is the one that benefits the most? The bride. My wife and sister-in-law both got to wear their wedding dress twice! If you are going to drop that much money on a dress, why not find a reason to wear it more than once? Am I right? Of course I am.

And who can turn down getting together to celebrate a wedding? I got to see some relatives I hadn't seen for a handful of years, by which I mean since college. With a second reception, there is almost no stress for the married couple. The most stress is decorating the room which includes figuring out which vase of flowers goes on which table.

So being home has been nice. We got to see our nieces and nephew dress up for Halloween and watch them run around my mom's house hopped up on sugar only to presumably crash by the time the drive home had ended. The weather has been fall-like. We were out last night and it got down to thirty three degrees. Now that is fall weather. One could make an argument for winter weather, but there isn't any snow nor is it December. There is something different about the air up here. Going outside, there is just something. A smell to it. It smells, natural. I don't know if it is the trees, the grass, or the just the moisture in the air. It makes it feel like fall. It puts a smile on my face and a hop in my step. In Kansas, we just hope it doesn't get into the eighties or that the wind isn't blowing too hard. It feels more like summertime weather then it does fall weather. And when winter comes around and it gets down into the forties all day long, it beings to feel like fall.




Too bad that when it hits the forties it is almost time for Spring.

Visitors

Mom and Dad came down for a quick trip earlier this week.  By quick trip, I mean two days, and then off to Seattle to visit Chuck and Lauren.  It was fun to just hang out with them for the couple of days that they were here, but the weather was crappy.  We had made plans to go to a ball game, but with the on and off rain, we thought better of it.  To say that the trip was low key would be a bit of an understatement.  The only time we left the apartment was to go to dinner or when Mom and Andrea went dress shopping.  That was really it.  Very nice to have that kind of relaxation I suppose. 

We solidified our plans for the trip out west at the end of August.  Very exciting that it is all coming together.  We'll be spending an entire week out in Seattle, but the important thing is being able to see family.  All of us haven't hung out together since last summer, so an entire year.  I am excited about being out in Seattle for more than three days, which is what we did the last time we were there, and it just was not enough time to see anything really. 

Back in my day

I just finished having a conversation with Dad about watching sports and about how watching them back in the 70s and 80s was 'better' than now.  And it truly is compared to watching it now, if only I was alive back then.  From baseball to hockey and we even touched on boxing for a quick second.  Just watching clips and show now on sports back in the day it makes me long for those good ol' days.  Players just wanted it more.  They played hurt and with broken hands and fingers and with sprained ankles (etc. etc.).  For love of the game if you will. 

It got me thinking if thirty years from now I have a child (big IF), can I say that I remember watching great sports moments?  There are a few moments in my mind right now, but they revolve around Detroit.  I will forever remember Magglio hitting that home run against Oakland, the overtime game winner that Stevie Y scored against St. Louis, the epic Detroit-Colorado rivalry that spanned several years.  There are a few outside of Detroit sports memories that I remember, but not many. 

It makes me sad that I never got to watch Gordie Howe or Al Kaline.  But at least I watched Barry Sanders in his prime, and the majority of Steve Yzerman's career, even though I have no memory of his early years.  The big issue I have is that I enjoy watching baseball and the farm system isn't really in tact.  Sure they have a player here and a player there that can come up and make it to the bigs, but organizations don't replenish their teams the way they did back then.  They buy their players, or trade big names. 

Once again, I'm sad that I missed out on the golden age of sports when players played because they wanted to.  Because they loved to play.  Not because their paycheck made them play. 

Spring weather, fall trip

When we got back from our vacation, the snow was gone. It was kind of nice to see. Snow here in Kansas in the month of February is a little depressing because it is only here for a short while. You get your hopes all up for sustained winter weather and atmosphere only to have the temperatures rise a few days later and melt all the nice looking snow and leave the ugly gray snow that has been piled up in parking lots or on the sides of the road.

Last week it got up into the sixties. There was a three month stretch (roughly) when the temperature did not hit at least sixty degrees. It was a record of some sort. It didn't bother me. But when we did have those three days straight of sunny and sixty degree days, I was hopeful for spring. And then it got cloudy and started to rain. It could be a sign for this spring and summer, it could be a wet few months. Rain is fine with me. As long as it is a warm weather rain. I despise rainy weather when it is cold outside. Warm weather rain is just....nice.

Speaking of rain: Seattle! My brother is getting married in September. Our family has been in the beginning stages of planning for the big trip. Every time we talk about it, I get a little more excited about heading out there. We visited him close to two years ago and it was only for a long weekend. It wasn't enough. This time the plan is for an entire week. Outside of the wedding and the correlating events, we want to get out and explore the city. Go see things we didn't get to see the last time we were there. We hit the big sights while we were there, but I would like to just walk around downtown and take some pictures and enjoy being in a different city.

prep for vacation

We booked some flights home for the middle of February a couple of weeks ago and the time is flying by. It's funny how that seems to happen. You plan and plan and plan and the time before that goes by so slowly, but once tickets are purchased every twenty four hour day seems to last half the time. It is going to be a bit of a longer trip, eleven days. Plans have been made for the most part, hockey games, birthday parties, drinking, ice fishing. The ice fishing is pending, hopefully there is enough ice on the lakes to do so.

In a perfect world, I would plan out what I would bring on vacation to wear but anyone who really knows me just knows I am going to pack the day before. It's kinda my thing, procrastination. I enjoy it. I am not one for planning that far in advanced. On the other hand, how difficult is to pack for a trip you have taken before? Jeans, sweatshirts, tee shirts, socks, underwear, a couple pair of shoes. Not exactly a complex list. Normally I'll write down the number of days and nights that we will be gone which helps. Then I'll start grabbing clothes and putting them into stacks and counting and double counting to make sure I have the right number. That is my system, and I love it. It will probably never change.

Repost from 2008

Author's note: I wrote this last year on Christmas Eve and thought it would be appropriate to repost. Enjoy the day everybody.

We are watching A Christmas Story right now, and there is nothing better in this movie than the nostalgic feel of the Christmas morning scene. More than the kids ripping apart the wrapping, it is the expressions on the faces of the mom and dad. Just the joy that they have watching their kids.

As much as people think it is all about the Red Rider BB gun, the movie is more than that. It's about family, more than anything.

• Idolizing the father
• Having a life long understanding with your mother
• And the fighting with your brother

And the final scene of the mom and dad relaxing with the christmas tree alit and the snow falling at night. Magic.

Traditions

Traditions at Christmas. Everyone has them. Whether it revolves around religion, family, or just plain presents. If it has been passed down for generations or if your parents started it. As I was coming up with the idea for this post, I tried to think of what my family always did. The big tradition that most families have is whether or not the kids can open one present on Christmas Eve. We never had that. Our family will forever be a 'presents are for Christmas morning' family. IF we ever have kids, I will carry on that tradition. The only exception is if you are visiting extending family members and won't be around them on Christmas morning, then it's okay. Who wants to open presents the day before. It would be like opening presents the day before your birthday. How is it different? Is it because there are more gifts to unwrap?

This is the situation I grew up with:

Christmas Eve, we went down to visit our extended family and attend Christmas Eve mass. It was followed by a huge dinner and many rounds of Tom and Jerrys. Of course I didn't get to experience them until college. It was worth it. Excellent wintery drink. On Christmas morning, when we were younger, my brother and I were usually up by seven or eight. It varied year to year who got up first, but because we shared a room when we were younger it didn't matter. Once one got up, the other soon followed. I'm pretty sure we were both up earlier than that, but didn't want to be the first one up. We were allowed to open the presents in the Christmas stockings before my parents got up, but that was it! We had to sit and wait anxiously while my parents slept in and waited for the coffee to be made. That was our other tradition: we had to make the coffee before our parents woke up. Dad always worked left to right with the presents under the tree. He also made sure that the present distribution was even amongst us kids.

All in all, a great tradition to grow up with. The memories I have on Christmas morning growing up are the kind of memories I think everyone should have.

'All that noise noise noise'

We are watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Not the new one with Jim Carrey, but the old school one. You know, the good version.


Christmas has officially shown up in the ICT. Not in the form of snow or presents, but in the form of decorations. We are ready for our families to come down and visit for practically the entire month of December. We put up lights on the balcony earlier this week and set up our christmas tree last night. It seems too early to do so but on the other hand, it is fun to decorate this time of year. It makes the apartment festive and with the lack of snow in the area, the decorations are that much more important. It doesn't feel like the end of November/ beginning of December with no snow. It has been cold enough to snow, in the thirties and forties at night, but then it gets up into the fifties or even sixties during the day.







Stupid Kansas.....

Thanksgiving

Not much good can be taken away when you spend holidays close to 1200 miles apart from your family. So we try to make the best of it. A small dinner, just for two this year, followed up by a night with some friends. That's it. That was our Thanksgiving. Who needs a big dinner when one can be cooked in just a couple of hours?
It was so tasty. And relaxing. While in high school and college, we had two dinners for holidays. It sounds great doesn't it? Well it was for the first couple of times. And then it just got awful. There was so much food. I felt the only way to prepare for those dinners was to fast for three days before hand. And then there was the time factor. How much time needed to be spent at each house, before the meal and after. No one wants to eat and run. By the time college rolled around, we had it all down to a science. Complete with mental spreadsheets. At the end of a big holiday meal, all anyone wants to do is sit around, have one more beer, and slip into a coma for the next few days.

Vacationing plans

Both sets of parents are planning visits in the month of December. I can't wait. It will be nice to have visitors. My mom and dad are coming down for four or five days in the first part of the month. Andrea's parents are planning on coming down for another Christmas trip. It makes sense for them. Both of their kids are in the area, with their son being in Colorado.

It will be nice to see family again. I haven't seen any of them since this past August. This will also be the closest to being with my parents at Christmas time since 2005. It'll be good, but I fear they will be taken aback by the lack of snow. Although they may enjoy the break from it, but it never feels quite like Christmas time down here because of the lack of snow. Two years ago we had about five inches of snow, which was great. Other than that year, we have had none on Christmas morning. Each year, I hope to wake up to snow on the ground but it doesn't happen.

Review of a great week

The important thing about vacations is being able to look back at them remember all the great things about them. No one looks back at the travel time with longing eyes, who the hell wants to remember sitting on a plane or in an airport?

When we landed in Detroit, my brother and his girlfriend picked us up. It was a wonderful start to the trip because we got to see them for the first time since we went out to Seattle last fall. We got to catch up with them and it made the five hour car ride go by quickly. We made it to the cabin in time for dinner that night. The family was there and even though we saw them in June, it felt like it was much longer than that.

We had a bonfire that night, and my sister and brother-in-law came down with their three kids (who seemed to have grown in the course of the month and a half). Extended family members came down for the evening as well. Once again, it was just nice to see everyone.

The next day, we ventured up to the Soo for several days with my wife's family. More visiting ensued, which included a trip to the Antlers. The Antlers restaurant can best be described as PETA's worst nightmare. There are stuffed animals EVERYWHERE! It is great, and the food isn't half bad. We also took a trip out to the woods to go blueberry picking. My memories of picking blueberries are not the best. It always seemed to be sunny, with no clouds, in the middle of July and very very hot. Very uncomfortable. We drove not far from the Soo and just went back in the woods. The results? Buleberry pancakes, muffins, and dumplings. Yes!

The last part of the week we went back to the cabin with my family. It included a day trip on the boat. We took it out and just shut it off and relaxed. It didn't get hot enough to jump in, but the option was there. We had several more campfires, drank several more beers, and made s'mores. It was fun to watch my nephew and niece eat them. They would take a bite, get distracted, and then take another bite about five minutes later. It took them a long time to finish just one. The bonfires went to the wee hours of the morning.

The best part of the vacation? I didn't wear a watch the entire week. Lame, I know, but it is essential for trips not to care about what time it is or needing to be somewhere.

Trip approaching

Our vacation home is coming up quickly. We fly out eight days from today. It will be very nice to get home. The trip I had in June just was not long enough. You can only cram so much into four days.

One thing that I really want to do while we are home is fish. I did not take advantage of the oppertunities to go fishing while I was living in Michigan. We did fish a lot, but it just seems like there were many times when we didn't go out but could have. Or maybe it just seems that way because I have only been fishing once in the past year.

Fishing isn't always about getting the fish. Sometimes it is just about getting out in the lake and just relaxing. Just having a great time. The middle of the lake is just about the most relaxing places I have ever been. I think that it is just the quite with no one else around. No phones, music, sounds of the city. Just silence, or the occasional bird song. And that is okay too. Unless it is foggy and a loon calls out. That is just chilling.

Visit recap

My parents are still here and we have done some new things.  In their past visits, we have just stuck around Wichita and done stuff here.  Museums, movies, shopping, etc.  

The first new thing we did was a baseball game.  There is an independent baseball team, the Wichita Wingnuts, here.  At one time the Kansas City Royals had a double A team, the Wranglers, here but people just stopped going to the games.  So, the team up and left to Arkansas.  Of course, there was plenty of outcry about the team leaving town, but why would an organization stay somewhere that isn't profitable?  So the Wingnuts came to town a few years ago.  The game was fun, and cheap!  Great seats for twelve dollars.  Who cares what team is playing, if you enjoy baseball why not go?  

Yesterday, we went to Abilene.  But why?  In actuality, dad wanted to meet with a guy that his company does work with.  The company is in Solomon Kansas.  We dropped dad off to meet this guy, and we went a little bit further down the road to Abilene.  There we found the Dwight D Eisenhower center.  It was fantastic.  There was his boyhood home, a museum, a library, and his resting place.  Once again, it was fairly cheap.  I believe it was eight or nine dollars to get into the museum, which we spent a little over an hour just in the museum.  You could spend two or even three hours there.  They have audio recordings, so sitting there and listening to them would take up some time.  Well worth the trip up there.  A good day trip if you have family in town and they dig history.  

Today we are going to hang by the pool for the first time this year and go to all star sports to play putt-putt or maybe hit the driving range.  

All in all, a great relaxing visit.  The weather cooperated the entire time my parents were here as well.  It has been in the mid to low eighties all weekend.  They leave tomorrow to go to Seattle for the last leg of their trip.