Three Kids and a Dog: My Happy Place

Can you guess where that is?

Tom's is in Michigan and mine is in Indiana. At IU to be exact so you know how excited I was to take Austen back to IU soccer camp last week after a two-year hiatus due to COVID.

We drove in Thursday morning and I could feel myself smiling as we got close to campus. The rolling hills and the trees - oh how beautiful they are especially in the fall. For a moment, I was transported back in time to almost 30 years ago.

I dropped Austen (and his friend) off at check in and drove to the designated lot to park, all the while with a huge grin on my face as I meandered through part of campus and back to the dorm to help them move in. Now that he's older, Austen needed little to no help with check in and also move in. He wanted to eat lunch before training though so I took him to our usual spot - Nick's so he could get some fuel before practice. I could tell Austen was excited to be there and what made it even more exciting was that half of his team was there too. These boys were going to have so much fun and Austen couldn't wait to get back to his room. I didn't want to hold him up too long because I had my own tour to do and I had to drive back home that day too. So I dropped him off and then went and found a parking spot so I could take my time and meander through campus. Oh how I love walking over the wooden bridges with the streams gurgling below. The paths that took you through the forest of campus and around the limestone buildings where I attended classes so long ago brought everything right back to mind like it was just yesterday. I walked and smiled and said to myself probably multiple times, "God, I love this place."

I especially like sharing it with my family and people who have never been. I want them to love it as much as I do. The beauty is in the campus, yes, but to me it's that and so much more. It's a story, my story of coming of age and lifelong friendships. It's a part of me and I'm a part of it and I feel that as I walk around campus that day. Then it's time to leave but I know I will be back with the rest of my family on Saturday so we can watch Austen's early games on Sunday morning.

Usually, I stay for the weekend and I wander all around campus and venture a bit further to some of my old stomping grounds and meet up with friends. But my friend had COVID and Peyton had a swim meet on Saturday morning so I went home but was glad that I could look forward to returning on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon we made it back to campus. It was hot but I wanted to walk. We ventured through campus and probably walked 6 miles in the 90 degree heat. I hadn't heard from Austen since I dropped him off but I knew he was having so much fun. The girls complained about the walk and the heat but Peyton was happy to buy an IU sweatshirt and that kept her going. We ate dinner on Kirkwood at Farm Bloomington and cooled off with their freshly squeezed lemonade. It was late by the end of dinner so the girls retired to the room while Tom and I went across the street to meet some parents for a drink. We had to get up early the next morning for games so it wasn't too late of a night.

The early morning brought storms so I wasn't sure we were going to get any games in but they did. It poured at one point then they cleared the fields due to lightning but Austen's team got in both their games just the presentation of their evaluations and any team pics were snuffed out due to the weather. Austen was miffed because he said there should have been an MVP trophy too and thinks that they didn't hand that out due to things getting cut short. He was vying for that trophy and thinks he should have for sure gotten it too. Who knows, maybe they just handed it out to the top teams but Austen said he was happy with his play. He got a solid evaluation from his coach (a former IU player and a head coach at age 26) with some very constructive things to work on. He noted that Austen was a standout player in their division which consisted of about 8 teams.

Austen had so much fun with his teammates at IU camp. In fact, they all had a lot of fun. He can't wait to go back again next year. But he was sore and exhausted. He said he played so much in the heat over the course of the three days that he was just spent. I think he slept most of the way home and most of Monday too. He can't wait for high school season to begin now and is so focused on this year being an important year for him to get even better in soccer. He has a dream. It's not mine. But I hope it comes true.