July 4 in Ohio


July 4th weekend was an extra-long one, thanks to the bonus day of July 5 to "observe" the holiday weekend. There were many potential plans for the long weekend, including visits from out of town guests. On the visitor roster were Grandma and Grandpa, who were going to come babysitt for Anna the week prior to the holiday while Ms. Be was on vacation. As always, plans change.

The first change was with Grandma and Grandpa's travel plans thanks to a torn ligament in the knee (Grandma) and a partially torn rotator cuff (Grandpa). Grandma's subsequent surgery and Grandpa's therapy grounded both of them (although they somehow managed to trim 20 bushes and haul several bags of mulch while still down a limb).

Fortunately Kelly, the teenager next door, was able to babysit for the week. Joe and Theresa quickly discovered that Kelly was better qualified to take care of Anna than her parents after she provided a list of credentials that included babysitting certifications, CPR certification, and other babysitting classwork. She even asked that a consent form be signed. Joe and Theresa received no certification prior to bringing Anna home from the hospital. Anyway....Kelly did a good job and Anna had an enjoyable week.

In the meantime, Theresa played the airline lottery in hopes of obtaining a last minute ticket to visit Grandma and Grandpa for a long weekend. She finally secured the tickets for a July 4 departure, leaving time to enjoy the Fairfax City Independence Day parade on July 3 and a cookout with Rose, Mike & Robin from Delaware along with Aunt Gayle.

Anna and her parents arrived in Ohio on July 4th and enjoyed dinner with Uncle Rod & Courtney followed by a visit to Great-Grandparents. Anna is always the hit of the assisted living facility and entertained her Great-Grandpa by playing ball and checkers with him.



Anna then headed to her Grandparents' house for four days of non-stop entertainment. Grandma and Grandpa took everyone to Sauder Pioneer Village on Monday for a great day of history, food, and crafts (http://www.saudervillage.com/) Anna was happy to return to her grandparents where she read books, did puzzles, played ball, rode on the swing (grandpa pushed her really high), the local pool, the playground, etc... The big surprise was the electric John Deere tractor that Grandma and Grandpa got. Anna rode it for hours and became quite adept at driving it. Of course Grandpa let her drive it all over the lawn (something that Theresa and her brothers were NEVER allowed to do). While Anna was playing, Joe & Theresa enjoyed biking all over Paulding, taking walks, and relaxing in the backyard in between the record heat.

The journey home was not as relaxing. After boarding the plane and taxiing to the runway, the pilots determined there was a problem with the plane. The plane went back to the terminal, offloaded, and the flight was canceled. About 3 hours later, Anna and her parents managed to get on another flight into Washington. While Theresa and Anna took a cab home, Joe took a shuttle to Baltimore to retrieve the car. The plus side to this is the complimentary round trip tickets (or at least the promise of them...they have not materialized yet).



Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a nice weekend. Now...if we can only get a break from this heat.







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