Alex is home! I went out there to help get him packed up and bring him back this week. In finding flights and lodging and such, I found that the cheapest flights west all leave from O'Hare and the earlier the cheaper, so it turned out that getting a ParkSleepFly deal at one of the airport hotels allowed me to be at the airport earlier (without having to get up super early and fight Chicago traffic) and take an earlier flight, which meant it was cheaper to do that than to take an even 90-minute later flight and leave the car in extended parking. So I stayed overnight in Chicago Wednesday night, took an early flight, got to Seattle late morning, and found that Alex was still asleep when I got there. So I did some shopping and came back to take him out for lunch. We got laundry going and started getting him packed up. I found and rented a storage unit while he was doing some stuff with friends, and then we got his big things (bike, dresser) stowed that afternoon. He kept laundry going in the evening so we were ready to get him packed, and the next day we hit a laundromat for his bedding and towels and such. Everything was either packed or stored by late afternoon, and his apartment was as cleaned as it was likely to get, so we took off and stayed overnight at a hotel near the SeaTac airport so we could easily return the car and get an early flight home. We made it back to Chicago with no issues.

I had been trying to get us home in time to go see the "Star Wars vs. Star Trek" Symphony of the Lakes performance at OCC Saturday, since we got the tickets for that long before we knew when Alex was coming home. I had no idea at the time it would be so early. I wasn't sure we would make it, but our luggage was practically the first 3 bags onto the carousel, and there was almost no outbound traffic from O'Hare so we whizzed through Chicago and home. We made it in plenty of time for the concert, which took Beth by surprise. All 5 of us went. Then Natalie had a panic attack and had an incredible episode just before it started. And she blamed Beth and me for it. and is still mad at us. Turns out OCC is too close to a trailer park where things happened years ago...whatever. So I had to take her home and missed almost the entire first act waiting to see if she was going to be all right at home. But I came back for the second half, and caught some really good music. Star Wars wins in music even though I kinda prefer the Star Trek universe. 

Missy had a mandatory trip meeting at school Tuesday. Looks like 2 years later she is finally going to get to go on the Adriatic Odyssey trip! They were going over all the things she needs to do and to have for the trip, and especially all the covid rules. When she has to take tests and all that. She's really looking forward to it! And she'll depart on her birthday. 

This past Tuesday was supposed to be the return of FCC softball, but we were rained out. There is new management of the league this year, and already she's been much more communicative than in the past. We've been assured that we will make it up, probably as a doubleheader sometime soon. 

 Easter was a mixed bag for us this year. The services were great, and we had a nice meal at home with May Jane visiting for the evening, and Beth, Missy and I went to Good Friday services as well including the Journey to the Cross exhibit which was super. The Easter service itself was great but afterwards Natalie (yes, she went with us) got upset and offended at something someone said and had a meltdown. Yelling at them and storming off, and throwing a fit in the car on the way home. Then stomping down to her room and we barely saw her the rest of the day. So Beth's favorite holiday was spoiled by the crushing anxiety that  resulted. Not sure what she was so bothered by, if the story we heard was correct than it was basically nothing. Well anyway, I'm starting to feel like we have to figure out what happens now that she's done with high school. That's turning into an elephant in the room.

Spring break has wrapped up. It was certainly different this year, since Alex is away and he had his spring break a few weeks ago, and Natalie is already done with high school. We're trying to save some money so the vacation was smaller, but we did get away to Chicago for a couple days and did a couple favorites. I took Wednesday and Thursday off work, and Wednesday we all went to the Schaumburg IKEA for a couple hours (as usual, we bought a bunch of stuff but kept it under $80) and then to Medieval Times in the evening. Not sure how many times that is for us all together, maybe 4 or 5? Anyway, we were cheering for the blue knight this time, but with the program they're running (same one we saw last time we were there) by the end of the show it definitely seemed like he was actually the bad guy. Something about being upset that the queen couldn't understand that they should fight to the death. Or something like that. Anyway we stayed in a motel overnight and in the morning headed into the city and spent most of the day at the Field Museum. Sue has been moved since we were there last, and she has a much bigger exhibit. She's the centerpiece of a whole big dinosaur wing that you walk through before you can see her. And, some of the bones have been repositioned, and some added, because of current research into the t-rex physiology. She looked chunkier than before because more ribs have been added. So, we did the Field Museum until everyone was done (Missy probably looked at every single animal in that big diorama display wing, and there are a lot), and headed home. 

The girls both have prom dresses! Beth took them each out this week to go dress shopping in Fort Wayne and they both found dresses that look gorgeous on them. Since Natalie's school doesn't have a prom she is looking into options, and she'd like to do a family party of sorts in Michigan. Anyway, she didn't find anything at the usual prom dress stores so they went to a bridal shop and found one there. Plus matching purse and shoes. Missy found a dress at Macy's. She's planning to go to the Warsaw prom, probably with some friends again this year.

I actually picked the winner in the NCAA tournament this year! Way to go Kansas. Correctly picking 2 of the Final Four is usually a big achievement for me.