Happy Fourth!

Hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July! This was kind of a different weekend for all of us - Katie went to Chicago and Chris went to mom's in Muncie and basically no one from the Bulldogs program was in town. My parents, however, came to Louisville! They decided to drive, which my dad was pretty bummed about until he realized the drive to Louisville from Jefferson, at about 11 hours, was shorter than the drive to the other end of Texas.

I took them to do all the touristy things you have to do when you come to Louisville - we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum, checked out the bathrooms at 21C, lost money at Churchill Downs while sipping a mint julep, and watched the Louisville Bats play. We ate lots and lots of delicious foods at Lynn's Paradise Cafe, Mark's Feed Store, Fat Jimmy's, and the Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen. I don't think I've eaten so much food since I got here.

We also went blueberry picking in Indiana with my mentor family, which brings me to my next point - mentor families. Each Bulldog is assigned a mentor whose job is basically to just be our friend throughout the summer, and let me tell you, I won the mentor jackpot. The Pauw family is perfect. They are incredibly nice and friendly, and they have three smiling, well-behaved blond-haired and blue-eyed daughters that are absolutely gorgeous. They've been having me over to dinner once a week since we got here, and I've even been invited to the middle daughter's piano recital in two weeks. It's been really great to have a Louisville family that takes care of me while I'm here and helps me feel integrated into the community, so even when my parents aren't in town I can still feel loved.

Yay Bulldogs! Yay parents! Yay mentors! Yay Louisville! Now I just wish Katie and Chris would hurry back home...