Beginning of Summer

-
I usually divide the summer into parts - end of school up to my birthday - from my birthday to John's birthday and the 4th of July - until vacation - and until school starts again.  By that reckoning we are halfway through the summer - the 4th of July has passed - and we are leaving on vacation in three days. School ended late this year - on the 10th of June - had three days of vacation and then we started Vacation Bible School at church.  It was a fun week of evening chaos, learning, kids and church.  Had a good time helping out.  Celebrated my birthday in the middle of that week - though we had celebrated the weekend before with John and Sasha, Kristin and Scott.  Sasha left for China on the 16th. Celebrated my birthday a week later with a birthday lunch with Debbie and Patty.  Snuck in a trip to Rock Island, Kristin brought Scott so we did a fair amount of driving around, seeing the sights - which Marilyn enjoyed anyway.  Went out to eat and took pictures by the river.  Then it was on to John's birthday - we were going to grill - but decided that it would be easier to go out to eat - since it was a work day for Paul and Kristin (though they both got home early).  Dinner was at Margarita's in Oak Park - good Mexican food and a good time.  The 4th was rather quiet - Kristin and Scott drove up to Milwaukee, Paul and I enjoyed the activities of the day in Elmwood Park.  Went to the parade in the morning and to the fireworks in the evening.  Enjoyed cooking and eating out on the patio.  Yesterday we grilled and ate out on John's deck.We have been fortunate with fairly decent weather for the most part.  Had a few days of rain with some water puddles in the basement - but they are all gone now.

So I have been reading, and going through emails, and paperwork.  Trying to take a walk every day as well.  Have read three books since school got out - The Book of Lies, Written in My Own Heart's Blood and Sense and Sensibility.  Not too bad.  Almost done with book number 4 - Full House.

 Leaving for Cape Cod and Quebec in a few days - looking forward to being away and traveling to different places.  Let the vacation begin.






Popular posts from this blog

-
 Christmas 2023 A great day with family! Celebrated at John and Sasha's house in Oak Park.  John, Sasha and Xochitl along with Kristin and Scott, Anna, Jim and Luke plus Paul and I and Mom. Photo Highlights here .
Read more

Spring Has Sprung! The Time to Travel has Begun!

-
Spring has sprung! And the time to travel has begun.  Retirement is great because we have time to do the things we want to do, including traveling as the weather warms up. Of course we are traveling safely, wearing masks and not making contact with too many people. This March we drove out to the Cape to visit my mother. I have been going to the Cape in March for a number of years, though I never made it last year. Paul was able to go with me this time. The weather was decent - at least no rain - so we tried to spend some time outdoors. When I go to the Cape I always want to "find the water" and eat fish and chips. This time we found the water at Dowses Beach, the National Seashore, Plymouth Harbor and the Sandwich boardwalk. We had fish and chips from Bobby Byrne's Restaurant and Seafood Sam's.  Finding the Water We had a nice visit - drove out to Provincetown one day, stopping to see the water in various places. We drove to Plymouth to visit the harbor, see Plymouth ...
Read more

Home Improvement - Part 2

-
Kristin has been staying here for the past few days - and while she has been here she has been working on painting the 3rd floor.  The bathroom is now slate blue instead of green.  And she is working on John's old room painting in there as well - a rather pleasant shade of lilac - not sure exactly what the paint shade is - but it looks good so far.  There is lots of wall space to cover so it has been taking time.
Read more