A good 4th until the bug hit Ted

First off, did you notice the jackets and jeans in the picture of everyone waiting for the fireworks? Nights are cool but days are warm.

Ted went shooting Sunday morning. They shot sporting clays but had to walk the course. No golf carts available like at Houston Gun Club. It was HOT for a change and he didn't take water. By the time he came home he was feeling poorly but thought after some water and a sugared drink he would feel better.

So we left for Alpena to meet up with the kids. When we arrived he didn't even want to walk up the stairs to their room. I mentioned it was air conditioned inside so he went up. He decided to stay at the room so he could rest and sent me on my way with the kids.

We had to wind our way through town to get around the parade that was going on. Our destination was the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. This sanctuary protects a large collection of Lake Huron shipwrecks that offer incredible diving, kayaking and snorkeling opportunities. We toured the center and then went outside to enjoy the Thunder Bay 4th of July Maritime Festival.



There was a second building that Allen and Pat wanted to tour so we took the kids to the three bounce houses they had set up. There was also a large tent with games for the kids. We sat at a table under the tent and got some sandwiches for lunch while the kids tried all the games (a couple of times).




The only cost was to build a boat and Aunt Kelly treated the little ones. Ally and Cassie helped them.


They had a lot of fun sailing them once they were complete.



The Coast Guard had a small remote controlled boat where the person running it could see the kids and talk to them. He talked to Morgan about the boat she made and she was amazed that "that boat talked to me!"


We were not able to complete a call to Ted's cell phone. Eventually we decided it was the 713 area code so Kara used hers to call the motel directly. The call woke him up and he asked me to come take him home and he made me drive. After several trips to the bathroom and then tossing his cookies he felt better and went to sleep for the night. He felt much better this morning so we suspect he had the 24 hour bug that Sam, Morgan and Allen had.

The kids went back to the motel and they all went swimming. They had dinner at Applebee's and eventually went to see the sand sculptures from the contest at the park. They stayed there to watch the fireworks that were fantastic. There were lots of kinds they hadn't seen before.

Kara and Allen stopped by here today to say goodbye and Kelly called and said they were on their way out of the campground. Kristin called on her way home from Palm Beach where she spent the weekend so now I just need those phone calls saying everyone has arrived home safely.