Saturday night in Louisville we ended up in the same hotel with a bunch of teenagers in town for a basketball tournament. The kids were left almost completely unsupervised and were slamming doors, giggling and yelling until 3am. After three calls to the front desk and numerous visits by the hotel manager, the kids were forced into a room with an adult and things finally quieted down. Our 2-night stay ended up being on the house, but that hardly made up for the fact that Bernie and I were completely exhausted on our only full-day in Louisville which intentionally coincided with Nick's birthday.
Nick spent both nights in Louisville with Gary and Katie. They gave Nick a few options of what we could do for his 17th birthday. Nick chose Lazer Blaze; a place that offered Laser Tag, black light minature golf, and arcade games. Gary coached Jack on Skee-ball technique:
Nick spent both nights in Louisville with Gary and Katie. They gave Nick a few options of what we could do for his 17th birthday. Nick chose Lazer Blaze; a place that offered Laser Tag, black light minature golf, and arcade games. Gary coached Jack on Skee-ball technique:
Katie, Gary, and Bernie all took turns playing laser tag with Nick. Jack was sad that he was too little to play. We watched them run around the arena from the observation deck. After that, we all played mini-golf. It was the first time Jack played, we really didn't enforce the rules, and he had a good time. He was a little afraid of some of the aliens and other creatures in the room, but he seemed to be better when we confirmed for him that it was all pretend.
I had Vivian in the Ergobaby Carrier while I played. I was beating Bernie by one stroke going into the eighth (out of nine) holes. Here he is concentrating on his shot to try and beat me. Such a serious game - LOL. He ended up tying me so I guess we will have to have a rematch.
Katie hit the jackpot on her first try for one of the games that gives you tickets. We'll have to take her to the casino when her and Gary come to visit and see if she can be just as lucky there. She gave all her tickets to Jack, as did everyone else. I think she may have regretted that decision. Jack purchased little rubber men that stick to the wall when you throw them. He got a few stuck on the ceiling in their living room.
We went to Buca di Beppo for Nick's second birthday celebration. He was completely embarassed as the wait staff sang to him. When dinner was over, Jack took me up on the offer to take pictures next to the statutes and he even got Katie and Gary in on the fun. Yes, Jack did wear his Darth Vader costume the entire day. He had fun using "the force" whenever he felt the need.
Just as Jack was sad to leave Buffalo, he was sad to leave Louisville too. We headed out Monday morning to participate in a tour at Morehead State University in Morehead, KY. Morehead is two hours east of Louisville. It is one of the more affordable options on Nick's list, even for an out of state student. They offer a computer gaming concentration within the Computer Science major. While I think this may be a modern day equivalent of basketweaving, it actually wouldn't be a bad minor with a more serious computer programming major. With a student population around 10k it was larger than some of the other schools Nick has liked. He didn't mind the size since the campus is compact. Here is Nick on the tour:
While Vivi, Nick, and I were on the tour, Jack and Bernie had a picnic at a local park. When we were done at Morehead, we headed four hours south to Cookeville, TN. Cookeville provided the lowlight of our dining experiences; Bernie will never again eat at Logan's Roadhouse. We called from the car to order take-out. The meal he chose from the menu on-line was no longer offered and what they substituted it with wasn't very good. On top of that, Jack's macaroni and cheese was so small it was packed in a condiment container. I called forty minutes before we arrived and we still had to wait 15-20 minutes for our food. Since the highlight of our college tour was Tennesee Tech University (TTU), we are fortunate that there are many other restaurants to choose from in Cookeville.
TTU leapfrogged to the top of Nick's list after we visited on Tuesday. The campus is beautiful. All of the buildings are done in the same style, regardless of when they were built. The tour was extremely well organized. Nick really enjoyed meeting with an advisor from the computer science department who talked about all of the companies that are coming to TTU to recruit. He likes the fact that the computer science program is in the engineering school rather than the business school. He liked the ice cream, and he liked the fact that one of the official school colors is purple. Here is Nick at TTU:
Vivi came with us on that tour too. While we were at TTU, Jack and Bernie went swimming at the hotel. Jack really enjoyed it and was convinced that he could go swimming in the lake at my grandparents' house despite the fact that it is February.