JULY 4 WEEKEND

We left around 1:00 PM Fri. to travel to visit our son and his family in the Hub City.  This retirement has worked wonders for Susan!  Normally when we go on trips, she is nodding off before we're all the way out of the driveway.  But on this 3 hr. trip she was awake pretty much the entire time!  Guess she's well rested now that she's a lady of leisure.  Our grandchildren greeted us with their usual enthusiasm upon our arrival.  Matthew arrived home soon after we did, and we went out to eat at the Crescent City Grill, an excellent seafood restaurant in H'burg.  Matthew had taped the Wales vs. Belgium soccer match, so I watched the tape after we got back home.  Great win for the Welch!

Sat. was a full day.  After breakfast Matthew and I took the kids swimming at one of the pools in the subdivision.  We were impressed at how well the little ones are swimming now, and we swam, played, and splashed around for well over an hour.  In the early afternoon all of us took the kids to see Finding Dory, and it was a terrific kids' movie.  The theater has huge reclining seats, and I confess to having dozed off once or twice, but I did enjoy the movie.  Matthew grilled chicken, and afterwards we played some games with the kids, and they entertained us with some Bible School songs they had learned.  Everyone was so tired that as Susan and I were putting the kids down, Carson said that he wanted to sleep "until 100 o'clock" in the morning.

We were up a bit before 100:00 and had breakfast, then went to church.  They had a new minister, replacing one who had been there for 16 years.  We were impressed with him.  After church we went to Half Shell to eat, which is one of my favorite places in the H'burg area, plus it's near Matthew's neighborhood.  We played with the kids and loaded the car, then left around 2:00.  Stopped in Meridian to see Susan's mom, and happily found her in good spirits and feeling as well as in a good while.  We arrived home before 6:00, and our dogs enthusiastically welcomed us home.

Susan has been saying to everyone that she plans to do nothing for about 1 1/2 weeks until her next trip.  I know better ... she'll be busy with DYW things the entire time.  It sounds good though.  I have plenty of tasks I need to get done, few of which I'm particularly enthusiastic about.  But tomorrow is July 4, so we'll have one good holiday before getting busy.