First Off, We're OK

Many of you may have heard about the Fort Trudd Campground in St. Clair, MI being hit by a tornado yesterday. They had no warning because it never showed on radar. They went back over the radar reports afterwards and still could not find any evidence of it. One man was killed and four were injured. Trailers, motorhomes, 5th wheels all were tossed around. Some were thrown into the lake. It was a scary scene. This campground is about an hour west of where we are camped. Both campgrounds are off I-69 east of Flint. Please keep those injured in your thoughts and prayers.

Saturday was another busy family day at the campground. Kelly and Kara's families came out as well as Shannon, John and Katie. Shannon has been Kara's best friend since college back in the late 80s. They were each other's Maid of Honor. The kids had a great time with the Super Soaker guns and soccer ball. After eating, they all went on a hayride sponsored by the park and then spent time at the playground. When they returned we had a campfire and made S'mores. I'll always remember little Katie (age 2 1/2) singing It's A Grand Old Flag. She's one smart cookie and a little doll. She tells the lady at McDonald's she wants "nuggets with a toy for a child under 3." I don't have pictures downloaded but will include them next time.

Sunday we skipped church in the morning so we could meet at Great Lakes Crossing for the 11:30 showing of Toy Story 3. Sam brought Woody and Buzz Lightyear and Morgan brought Jessie. Everyone had to use the bathroom before we went in so Grandpa and I, carrying Woody, Buzz and Jessie, walked into the stadium theater and walked up the steps carrying our dolls and used them as seat savers with us on either end of the nine seats we needed!

It's a great movie for kids and grown-ups. The moral is that we all eventually have to say goodbye to everyone and everything at some time in life. I'm sure most people teared up at the end.

Afterwards we went to Rain Forest Cafe to eat. Pat had gone to church in the morning while we were at the movie so he could play soccer in the evening when we all went to church. He joined us for dinner. While we were eating, there were announcements in the mall and the restaurant that we were under a tornado warning. However, the restaurant is a designated shelter so we were OK where we were. This was about 3 o'clock and the Fort Trudd mishap was about 7 pm.

Pat took off for soccer and the rest of us headed to St. Andrew's Church in Rochester. Morgan and Ally planned to spend the night with us. However, Morgan got an upset stomach and didn't get to come.

Ted, Ally and I played a whole game of Mexican Train because it was raining outside. Ted won, Ally was second and Yours Truly was last. The scores were fairly close though and it was no runaway for Ted.

Today Ted is at the ocularist having his artificial eye looked at. He does this each year when we come here and I am doing laundry at Kara's. We are meeting Gus and Melissa at the Alibi Restaurant for dinner tonight at 6:00. I worked with Gus at Hoechst across from Chrysler Headquarters until 1996. That's when we moved to Florida and I decided 15 years of full time and 15 years of part time work was enough and I never went to work again outside our home.

Our time here is winding down but both Kara and Kelly and families are going to Alpena for the 4th of July weekend. They will be about 20 miles from us so we will continue to see them for another week. We continue to have beautiful, pleasant days with rain at night. The temps should get cooler as we start moving north.