Our week with the Blackleys

The family said farewell to our friends the Blackleys, our guests from England, this morning at 5:30 AM. After they left, Claire and I went back to bed (Alan was at work), and as I'm falling asleep, I hear Claire in her room sobbing. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I just miss Ruby. Its not the same without her." Those two are peas in a pod and had such a great time together. The scene as we left the ice skating show at the Office Depot Center on Friday night sort of summed up those two. They were about 20 yards ahead of me, Rupert and Oliver, skipping and jumping along together as they tried to step on only the white pavers. Oliver is such a well-spoken and interesting young man. He and Alan had some great conversations and, after one of them, Alan said, "I always respect children who can conduct a real conversation with an adult." We had a GREAT time with them this past week.

Started off last Sunday with a trip to Billie Swamp Safari--the tourism service of the Seminole Indian nation. Went to the middle of the Everglades, took an airboat ride, a swamp buggy ride and camped in a Chickee Hut. (Our Everglades Trip) I told Rupert that we did this first because it would make the accommodations at my house appear luxurious in contrast.

Tuesday was beach for the Blackleys (Deerfield Beach--Deerfield Beach Web Cam) and then a quiet dinner at the house. Wednesday was another trip to the beach for the Blackleys (Ft. Lauderdale Beach--Ft. Lauderdale Web Cam) and then dinner out at Bonefish Grill. We were joined by Monica for this one. Thursday, the Blackleys were back at Deerfield Beach and then my friends Allyn and Jasper brought over Shish-ka-bob for dinner. I took Friday off and we went to Delray Beach (Delray Web Cam) for a while in the morning, then we met Monica, Martha and David for lunch at the Blue Anchor (The Blue Anchor), took the kids across the street to the playground, went down to the girls soccer state semi-final match (our neighbor plays goalkeeper for the defending champions, American Heritage Delray) and we capped the day off by watching an ice skating show featuring a number of former Olympic medalists. Exhausting.

One afternoon, Ruby, Claire and Oliver were out in the street riding bikes and scooters. Rupert said it was a scene out of "The Wonder Years." That same day, they went around the neighborhood singing and performing tricks. Claire brought a "tip jar" and they collected $15. (I think some people gave them money just so they would go away.) Oliver's eyes lit up with excitement and pride whenever he relayed the amount of money they raised. Another afternoon, I came driving around the corner and saw quite the soccer match going on in the front yard. Claire's best friend, Erin, and Erin's brother and sister, Eric and Hailey, were playing boys against the girls with Claire, Ruby and Oliver. How cool is that?!?!?

I think it was Tuesday night that we broke out the potato cannon. (Here's plans for one like ours--Potato Cannon Plans . I would recommend mounting the igniter on the cannon. Loose igniter wires are somewhat shocking.) As the saying goes, it's not a party at the Koontzes until a potato goes 700 feet in the air. First launch by Al saw the potato fall on our neighbor's roof--the neighbors with the solar heater on their roof. EEEK. Ruby and Oliver loved the potato cannon and Rupert was the best at getting the potato to land in the canal. Must be that degree in rocket science that he's got.

It was a fantastic visit. Its nice when your professional relationships develop into personal friendships that are shared with the families. We're already looking forward to the next one. We miss the Blackleys!