Good Morning from Merrillville, Indiana

We arrived in Merrillville, Indiana about 330pm yesterday afternoon. The bus ride felt short compared to the day before. On the way here we stopped for a nice lunch in Apple Bees with Missy, Colin (Dodger), Rhiannon (Nancy), Chaz (Mr. Bumble) and Zac (Fagin.) Rhiannon had to do an interview about the show with an Indiana newspaper as she ate via phone. The reporter asked her what she was eating. I was very impressed in how she anwsered the questions the reporter asked. I was glad we had the opportunity to lunch with them because we only have a week left. In many ways this tour was very long and in other ways it seems it went to fast and I can't believe there is only one week left. Zac says he may have an Oscar party on Sunday which could be a lot of fun. After arriving at the hotel yesterday we had a chance to relax a little before going to dinner with John, Q, Missy, and Colin. The receptionist at the hotel warned us about purse snatching the the mall area so we decided to leave our purses at the hotel and just take a credit card. (John really did not want to leave his purse! LOL only kidding.) The hotel has a Mall which is a short walk but to get there you have to risk your life crossing some highways. Of course there are no sidewalks. We walked to Olive Garden which must be the most happening place because we were told it was a hour wait. The boys were not thrilled with this and their faces were a study in brooding! Missy and I were determined to eat there so we decided to wait and have a glass of wine. The restaurant bar was in the same area where everyone was waiting except that had a low iron fence to separate the area a little. The boys were not to happy when they were told they had to wait on the other side of the fence and could not be near the bar. Hey, with there brooding face it worked for us to have them 3 ft away from us! Even when we left the people were still crowding in waiting. The meal was delcious and it turned out the wait was only about a half hour and the boys ended up loving the place as we knew they would. The meal put everyone in a good mood again so when we went back to the hotel we all went in the heated pool and hot tub. The kids had fun and the parents relaxed. Today we are all sleeping a little late before we plan to go to the mall. It is snowing so the walk maybe even more challenging today. I will let you know later................Now I am helping Mikey with Math.