And Summer Continues.....

I have my choice...work or type....too early to work, so I'll type!!! We had a great old fashion fourth in KC, complete with a "Steeleville" style parade, followed by a barbecue and ending with a concert in the park and superb fireworks!!!! The weather, though, overcast, and threatening at times proved to be quite enjoyable for a Midwest fourth. CHRISTINE'S proved to be "the place to be" and our thanks to our hosts.
We returned to Quincy and back to the chores that awaited. Dale is painting the garage and putting up much needed new gutters and a garage door. The garage is a little more red than I had hoped--the color "redwood" seems to have changed over the years. I've been deep cleaning the sun room, almost finished, and then will move on to the kitchen (that should take a couple of years).
We've had a quick visit with Kathy and Charlie as they passed through on their way home to North Dakota. Kath wanted to meet Fred, my favorite robot. It's always great to get to visit with them. We had gone down to Fairview Heights last Wednesday to spend the day with them, too. We have a lot of catching up to do--we only get to visit once a year and not always with Charlie.
We're headed to Springfield tomorrow to pick up Gracie. She's coming to spend a couple of days with Grandma and Grandpa and has "plans" for us. I'm sure she'll keep us entertained. She always does.
We're due at Laurie's next Sunday to help with some chores. We'll stay a few days and then return to Quincy to do a few of our own chores, and then return to Iowa to help Leslie out the this year's Iowa Ragbri--one of the stopping places this year is Indianola and Simpson is helping out--they're expecting the town to grow 30,000 people for the day and night. Leslie's looking for lots of body help for all the activities that are being planned for the bikers. Sounds like fun. Dale and I are taking care of the kids and whatever else she needs us to do.
From there, we'll come back to celebrate Mom's birthday and then take off for KC once more. We're going to go to our favorite dinner theater to see "Sound Of Music" (I've heard it's a great musical). We're staying an extra couple of days to take Grace and Hope to the KC zoo' they'll be joining us on Monday. Grace is also in line to have Chris cut her hair for the first time. It's long enough that what Chris cuts can be made into a wig for a sick child.)
We're due to have a houseful of kids the first weekend in August as Grace and Hope will bring David, Matthew, and Michael with her to visit. (They're the sons of good friends Donna and Glenn). Then it's back to Indianola to watch the hot air balloons from Leslie's deck--we're hoping to bring Dad and Mom with us then. I know they enjoy watching the balloons.
We've scheduled a weekend trip with Bryan and Nikki (Laurie, too?)to Wichita to visit Dale's Aunt Henrietta tentatively for the weekend of August 14th. So we'll be busy for a while.
Hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer. Please write and tell us all about what you've been doing. I really enjoy the pictures. Mom and Dad are too, and keep us posted when new ones are on.
Take care and love to all.