Birthday visit

New bike and helmet

New bike for sis

Madeleine's loose tooth

Birthday boy

Little brother

Simon and his Deere

Sis taking Jude for a ride

Hi everybody. This week instead of touring someplace we decided to make a quick trip to Ohio for our grandson's third birthday. Our daughter Rachel, son-in-law Benji, and grand kids Madeleine (6 in Sept.), Simon, and Judah (1 in May) live about 5 hours from here. We drove up on Friday and arrived early enough for a nice visit with our friend Pam Shouse before the kids got home. We stayed with Benji and Rachel on Friday and Saturday nights. Simon's birthday was on the 21st so he had his birthday party on Saturday the 19th. (In the pic he is sitting on Benji's dad's lap.) We were able to visit with more friends then. In the evening Benji and Rachel went out for their 8th wedding anniversary so we got the grand kids all to ourselves for the evening. Sunday am we packed up and moved to our friend Barbara Harmon's house for some quiet time. Barbara and I played Rummy Cubes and Duane took a nap. In the evening her friend Gene came over and we all had dinner at The Olive Garden. Monday Barbara's sis-in-law brought her grand kids for a visit and a swim. Unfortunately, thunderstorms chased us out of the pool after about 1/2 hour, so after lunch they left. For supper Duane and I met my sis Marycarol and her man Dave at Marion's, the local place to be for good pizza. After stuffing face and a good long chat, Duane and I went back to Barbara's. Gene took us to visit a woodcarving friend of his, Leonard Watts and his wife Beulah. We spent a wonderful evening admiring all of his beautiful carvings (some of them prize winners and featured in major carving magazines). He had carved several large dolls. His wife made porcelain dolls so she detailed his carved dolls. They were really awesome works of art. Before we left we were treated to ice cream and homemade black raspberry syrup. Yum! Our trip was over too soon. On Tuesday we packed up and headed for home. We drove through pouring, blowing rain until Kentucky, then through sunshine and increasing heat and humidity the rest of the way home. We made a long stop at the Kentucky Artisans' Center at Berea. This was a combination welcome center, cafe and showcase for the local artists. We had a good time viewing all the different art forms: pottery, fabric, blown glass, metal, and paint in sculpture, wall art, clothing and jewelry. Unfortunately we didn't think to take any pix of this. We arrived back home around 4pm without incident, ready to resume our normal pace.
Enough for now,

Louise and Duane