Saturday I helped host a shower for my good friend Pam Cato’s daughter-in-law, Logan.  She & Keitt are expecting their first baby in a couple of months.  Logan looked beautiful, and it was a good afternoon.  Here she is with her mom, sister, and niece.

Last night we headed to Waxhaw to celebrate Al’s high school graduation.  Surely one of the best parts of the celebration were that Jeff’s mom & dad were able to come down from Indiana to be part of the festivities.  It was a great, great time.

Wednesday, our last day in Indiana, found us checking out the other gorgeous historical hotel in the area, the West Baden Springs Hotel.  Addie & June got in a game of checkers in the beautiful old room off the absolutely gorgeous lobby.

That evening we were back at the motel, meeting cousins for swimming, as we did at least once – and sometimes several times – every day we were there.  A perfect way to finish up a great week.

French Lick is the town in Indiana where we actually stayed when we were on vacation this past week, and its real claim to fame is as the hometown of Larry Bird.  We have some big Larry Bird fans in our family, so this was a pretty big deal for us :-).  Tuesday morning we left the men cleaning up around the condo, and Addie & I took June and Mason to the French Lick Museum, where they did, in fact, have a Larry Bird exhibit.  Every time we took Mase’s picture with a Larry Bird picture, he did some air ball dribbling :-).

We had supper that night with Jeff’s brother Mark and his fiancée June, and with his niece Arielle, and 33 Brick Street, the sports bar where Larry Bird is part owner – 33 having been his number when he played for the Celtics.  Here’s a group shot as we were heading out after we finished eating – with Mason again doing the air dribble.  It was another great day.

Monday when we were in Indiana we headed back to Charlestown, to visit with Jeff’s mom & dad, and to visit his old stomping grounds.  He had mentioned several times that he wished he could get in the high school – needless to say, there have been some pretty major changes made since he went there all that time ago – and lo and behold, they were having girls’ basketball practice when we were there, and we could walk right in the door.  The new gym is so nice, and OF COURSE he was all excited when, in all the historical championship team pictures lining the walls, he found one of the track team he was on.

After we finished up there, we headed across the street to the new splash park that just opened last year in town.  In fact, they tore down the apartment building we lived in when we first moved to Charlestown, back in 1977, to build the park.  June and Mason had a GREAT time playing in it for a couple of hours –  and Addie and Jeff even got in on some of the water fun, too.  Another good day.

Sunday when we were in Indiana we got to spend some time with Jeff’s family – parents, sister, nieces, & great niece & nephews.  We had lunch at a pizza place, and I got to meet his great nephew Johnathan for the first time ever.  Here he is with his beautiful mama Olivia.  What a special time it was, having time to really sit and visit.  I loved it.

We just got back from spending almost a week in southern Indiana, visiting Jeff’s friends and family.  What a good, good week it was.  We kicked off the celebration last Saturday night at a gathering of Jeff’s hometown friends and classmates.  I met a lot of people I’d been hearing about for the last 40+ years, and Jeff got to do a lot of catching up.  Here are a couple of pictures of the big night.  Just great fun.

To celebrate the end of the school year, today we made special picture frames covered in pencils.  Both Mallory & Clara said they would be perfect holding pictures of them with their classmates or teacher.  Here is Mallory getting started on hers, painting the edges of the frame before we started the gluing process.

And here are both of the girls, showing off their finished products.  Fun project for celebrating a great school year they’re finishing up. 

When Mason & I picked June up from school, she was no longer a first grader!  We celebrated by going for ice cream, and then to the park to spend a little time on the playground.  Mason slid down the fire pole for the first time by himself.  He was SO proud!

After naps and lunch, we made a special Frosty Strawberry Dessert for the kids to take home & have after supper, to celebrate the arrival of summer break.  June is working on one for their house without nuts, due to her allergy, and Mase is working on the nut version that we kept here.  Really good summertime dessert.