Thursday - June 30

 Wow....the last day of  June which means summer is 1/3 over!   😒

Blair was a sleepy head this morning - not surprised with all her water activity yesterday!   Made pancakes, eggs, sausage, toast and fruit - Luke loves pancakes and sausage!

Today we are off to Cedar Point - the "roller coaster capital of the world".    We arrived at 10:30 and like yesterday, the crowds were not too bad - apparently July and August are the busiest, so nice to meander around without heavy traffic.   It got to 90 today but a nice breeze, so didn't feel too too bad!

We rode the gondola (3x), Merry-go-Round, Ferris Wheel, tilt-a-whirl, train around the park (2x), but NO roller coasters.   Lunch at Johnny Rockets (AC felt really good) and bought a few souvenirs.   We were all tired and ready to head back to Catrina but first a stop at the Great Lakes Popcorn Co. (Luke got root beer and movie popcorn for Blair) in Port Clinton.    Good stuff and oodles of flavors to choose from.

Entering Cedar Point

Of course, kiddos with some pretty flowers

Merry-go-Round

Grandma and Luke racing their horses

Blair riding in the gondola

Luke 'n Grandma

Grandpa and Luke

Riding on the Cedar Point/Lake Erie Railroad

Flower Child

Pondering where to go next

What a shock to come upon this!

On the move

By bye and thanks for a fun day

Back to Catrina to watch "Zoey 101" munching on their popcorn

So we had a big discussion on the way to Cedar Point this morning about a "barber pole" and why they are red, white and blue.    We asked Siri and now we all know the details...the history of barber poles goes way back and was all about getting hair cuts and shaving facial hair.

The look of the barber pole is linked to bloodletting, with red representing blood and white representing the bandages used to stem the bleeding. The pole itself is said to symbolize the stick that a patient squeezed to make the veins in his arm stand out more prominently for the procedure.

It was hot still around 6:30 when we walked to "Scooter's" for ice cream.    Sat at a picnic table in the shade, scarfed down our goodies and then walked home.

Cool treats on a hot night

Showers, shampoos and settled in for the night!

Wednesday - June 29

 Sunny and 83 today.    We had pancakes and sausage for breakfast and then off to Cedar Shores Waterpark.    The kiddos were just a bit excited and it was a great day for water activities.    Here are some photos...

Tah dah....Cedar Shores, we are HERE!

Breakwater Bay - a favorite

Cuddles from Grandma

Goobers

Grandpa and kiddos in Lazy River

Here comes Blair down the green slide

This girl LOVES the water

In between all the water sports, we had lunch and did some people watching....gosh, it is so $$$ to take a family to these parks.   Entrance fees, food, etc.....off the charts!   Amazing watching all the folks enjoying the day in any and all ways shapes and forms!!!

Last purchase of the day was 2 new stuffies and here we are with all their menagerie....

Lots of Pusheens and friends!

Last year we were on Catrina and it was very convenient staying at the marina to go back and forth; this year decided to drive and tomorrow, going back to do Cedar Point (amusement park or as Luke called it "the dry rides"   Ha!)     Maybe next year, we could take Flo as there's an RV park close by, too.   But as with everything, very $$$ to stay the minimum 3 nights.

So we went from an elegant restaurant last night to a diner tonight.....Blair prepared various dishes and I did the clean-up while Grandpa took the kids for a walk as apparently they didn't run off enough energy today!     We read thru last year's blog from when they were with us July 6-15 and reminisced with pics.    Lots of good memories and laughs!

Tuesday - June 28

 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us!

 

53 years 

We walked downtown to Coffee Express (their request) and enjoyed yummy pastries, hot chocolate and coffees.    It is another lovely day and we're happy to have Luke and Blair  celebrate with us!   

Thinking back to June 28, 1969, we were 2 kids from the farm starting our married life in St. Louis (Mark was getting his Masters) after dating 4 years.    We were both on a 4-H Exchange trip to Rochester, MN.   Our host families were friends and took us to see "The Byrds".   He asked me to dance to their hit song, "Hey Mr. Tambourine Man" on July 15, 1965 and the rest is history!      

Here we are 53 years later with 4 children, 8 grandchildren, wonderful friends and so much to be thankful for.   Who would've thought by this point in our lives, we would be living in 2 tiny homes?    The adventures continue and we are so blessed.

Grandpa took the kiddos for a dinghy ride and even went out on Lake Erie.

Hello from "Tigger"

We took the kiddos to the Hopfinger/Zimmerman Park for fun in the water, on inner tubes, the playground, paddle boat ride and had a picnic lunch.    Fun afternoon and spectacular day at 75 and sunshine.

Back to Catrina and rested till it was time for our chef/waitress/waiter to prepare our anniversary feast and wow....they pulled out all the stops.    They wanted us to get in the car and then when we arrived at the restaurant (Catrina), they opened our doors and escorted us to the bridge for wine and snacks.   They had menus for all the courses, too + nice music and candlelight.    Later we went into the "dining room" for assorted veggies and dip and hot dogs.   And then all was topped off with some excellent chocolate cake and frozen strawberries stuffed with a mini marshmallow!      They had so much fun and so did we.   This will go down as a very memorable anniversary for us!!   The best part was they did it "all" and the clean-up!!!

These 2 can do it all!

Cheers

Yummy dessert

Congratulations to our niece Lisa and hubby John on the birth of their first child June 24th.    Joan (Mark's sister) and Joe are the proud grandparents.    Grandma Joan shares her birthday with us today!

Landon Matthew Flynn

Mark and I thank you all for the cards, texts and e-mails.   Having our munchkins with us made for a very special day!

Friday-Monday, June 24-27

 Hello from Port Clinton - our first very busy day after returning last night from our whirlwind trip to Texas and North Carolina.

Friday - we left early for the Cleveland airport.   We had a 1-hour delay cause of some mechanical issue (3 latches on small door but 1 didn't work so tried fixing or taping).....finally on our way and good flight,   Oh my...........walking out of the DFW airport, the heat hit us with a vengeance!   Got our rental car (5-mile trip from terminal) and drove to hotel where Mike and Claire were also checking in.   We met Barb and Roger and after checking into our room, we 4 went to lunch at Gecko.    Great catching up and back to our rooms to relax a bit before the rehearsal dinner.    Rick's Chophouse (beautiful private dining room) in downtown McKinney was the site of our very good dinner.....cocktails and appetizers followed by salmon or chicken dinner + Texas pecan pie and ice cream!    So fun to see Paul and Kathy, Katherine, and friends/family.   

Roger, Mike, Mark

Barb, Claire, Pat

Saturday - I slept in and then Mark walked across the street to "Cream and Sugar" for coffee.    At 10:30, Barb, Roger, Mark and I drove to Plano to check out Legacy West, the area where Drew will be living in with his new job (moving in mid July) .   What a wonderful area full of shops/restaurants and 4 floors of apartments.   A perfect place for young folks, but as Barb and I said "we sure could live here"!!!     We had lunch at "Mesero", a great authentic Mexican place and Drew's apartment is directly above!

Great lunch with Barb and Roger

We walked around and would've explored more, BUT, it was so very HOT.    The heat index today was 111.   Back to hotel to cool down before getting ready for the wedding which was at 4.   It was an outdoor wedding but we stayed in the AC house (Surrey House and Gardens) till time to sit in the garden.   Nice ceremony and then back to house for wine and appetizer spread.   Had a nice buffet of chicken and brisket with several sides and wedding cake.   We 6 had a fun time visiting, laughing and just being together celebrating Katherine and Twylia.   Said our good byes and hugs and thanks for a great time in McKinney.   We left the reception around 9 as tomorrow, we will be leaving very early for airport.   

Dear friends - Barb, Claire, Kathy, Pat

Reception dinner

Twylia and Katherine

Parents of the Bride

Kathy and Paul

Katherine and her Mom's friends - we've known Katherine a long time!

Sunday - Woke up at 3:30 AM and left for gas station to fill up car and then returned our rental.    Shuttle ride to terminal A and then waited for our flight to Charlotte.    After hearing about more cancellations over the weekend, we were thankful we had no issues with our flights.    Arrived in Charlotte around 10:30 and Michael, Brooke, Luke and Blair arrived shortly after - we met outside security and after a very short visit, said our goodbyes to Michael and Brooke and rest of us traipsed thru security.    Had lunch (Blair and Grandma at Bojangles and the guys at the Shake Shack).    Took off for Cleveland and luckily we had parked in a lot that had a roof and we were protected walking there as we had a torrential rainstorm.    Drove thru some very nasty stuff, but fortunately, we ran out of it and heading west, the sun came out.   When we got to the boat....no rain!    Unloaded our stuff and of course, the kiddos were sooo happy to be back on Catrina!    Settled in and enjoyed a good night's sleep.

Brooke and Michael with the Littles

Waiting in Charlotte

Welcome!

Big guitar at airport in honor of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame here in Cleveland

Walking to the car in Cleveland

Ice cream at Tofts in Port Clinton

Monday - Beautiful day in the 70's and sunshiny!   We walked downtown and had breakfast at A la Cart (these 2 are hearty eaters).    Walked around and checked out the new children's shop "Littles" - cute clothes, toys and games.    Blair especially loved it all.   Luke and Grandpa walked back to the boat and Blair and I came later.

Pretty girl amongst the hollyhocks

Delicious breakfast at A la Cart

Helping deliver package to Catrina

Rested a bit  and then took the kiddos to Hofinger/Zimmerman Park where they ran and ran, played on the playground, dipped their toes in the pond, went for a paddleboat ride and want to go back to swim.    Maybe tomorrow?

Fun at the park

Went to Bassett's for groceries around 4 and the kiddos had their list as they are wanting to prepare meals on Catrina.   Oh my....we are gonna eat "good" while they are here - lots of ideas for meals + appetizers, desserts, etc.    Home to unload and put away groceries and later, we had our first goodies.

Grocery shopping

We had piggies in a blanket, chips, fruit, cheese and pepperoni, +++ strawberries and melted marshmallows!   Tomorrow...a brand new menu coming - it's our anniversary and the kiddos are promising something "special"!   

 

Very dry here...

Not forgetting Miss Maeve back in NC showing off her swimming skills

A very fun busy 1st day.....the week is off and running!