No dog to wake me up at 6:00 AM! I managed to sleep in until 9:00. What heaven. We were in no hurry to get moving. Since everyone thought we were out shopping for a shirt this morning, it worked to our advantage to do it last night. Breakfast was starting to sound pretty good though. On to food at that point.
We arrived at The Mansion around 11:00. Rick and Joe were sitting around the living room watching some sort of cartoons or something. That was fine. Alex was exercising downstairs. I think Rich went down to heckle him through the remainder of his work. Could be, Rich felt guilty? Probably not.
Kelli came home around 12:00. She took Lucy for a walk around the walking path. Rich decided too late that he wanted to do that. So we both suited up and headed out. The path to Valhalla Lake starts on the left. We walked the path and met a lot of dogs and their owners on the way. I’d say this was a pretty popular place to go walking. We saw a spaniel, box, Border collie, a nice mix, and a couple of other dogs. I really only notice the dogs and not their owners that much.
The wind was pretty strong until we reached the tree line. The break gave us some relief from the bracing bite of the cold and wet wind. We reached the lake and Rich saw a muskrat swimming out across the length of the water. He saw Rich about that time and sunk under the surface. We didn’t see him anymore after that. We turned up the trail to go on the dirt path through the woods. It was a very nice trail and a nice stretch of the legs. We headed back to The Mansion.
We got back to the house in time for the magic hour. The Louisville Kentucky basketball game started at 2:00. I had prearranged to make sure I could watch the game downstairs. I settled in on the couch and began to get ready for the rivalry game. Now, I’m a Louisville fan for the most part. I watched the end of the Indiana Georgetown, which I didn’t really have a vested interest in. On to Louisville at the Yum Center!
So I followed the game as the family ebbed and flowed around me. Unfortunately, the Cards didn’t live up to their hype this year as the 4th ranked team. Kentucky was a much better team this year, for a bunch of sophomores and freshmen. According to my nephew, Joe, Kentucky had recruited all of the All American players from the high schools. Amazing. I guess winning is everything. So I was downhearted to see that Louisville lost. I guess I’m not picking them in March Madness.
Upstairs, we arranged ourselves to do the gift exchange. The little kids along with Erica and Greg sat in the floor to get us started. The adults took up places around the edges of the living room. Vanessa acted as Santa to pass out the gifts. Between the families, we had gifts between the adults. Everyone gave to each of the kids. I have to remember how much money Rick got. I don’t remember seeing it. Thanks to all for the gifts and the wonderful time to exchange admiring glances and quips.
It was time to decide on what to order for dinner. Erica and Greg went out for chicken and sides. Alex ordered pizza and tacos from two different places to be delivered. This was going to be a lot of food. Oh wait, these are Zureks and we have a lot of people. The pizzas arrived first followed closely by Eric and Greg. Soon, the tacos arrived and we began to eat. It was all so wonderful. I think we were hungry by then.
After dinner, the watching of the TV occurred. We started with Goldfinger featuring a very young Sean Connery. This was followed by a cult horror flick, even though I like Bruce Campbell. I came in to work on the blog from yesterday.
Pretty soon, it was time for Vanessa, Chris, and the kids to leave for their room at the hotel. I just had to have pictures of everyone. We got the cousins together for a picture. I’m not sure they were all looking at the camera though. Even Greg is included in these shots. I did get Vanessa and her brothers together for a shot. No outlaws this year.
Now the remaining Zureks have settled in. Kelli and I are working on blogs in the dining room. Alex, Rich, Jon, and Patty are in the living room watching TV. Erica, Greg, Joe, Rick, Patrice, and Janine are downstairs in the basement playing Cards Against Humanity. It’s definitely a Christmas celebration.
Pretty soon, it’ll be time to go back to the hotel and relax some more. With some luck, I’ll sleep in again until we all need to meet up for breakfast in the morning.
I’m tired for sure tonight.