First Fireworks of the Holiday

We have found Romeo!  Now I know it has been there even when we lived here from 1981 until 1996, but I never gave it much thought.  Last year we went straight instead of turning left and found Lake Orion and this year we went straight the opposite way and found Romeo.  So we headed to Kroger's over there on Thursday for our grocery shopping.  They have pick your own strawberries and a movie theater we may take advantage of when the kids come out again.  The restaurant where we met Carole and Margo has a great menu.  It's nice not to have to take the dirt roads to get into Troy especially since Main Street in Rochester is all tore up and you have to take a detour.  This country living is getting better as we find more places closer by.

Last night was the fireworks display put on by Oakland County.  They do a spectacular job for a smaller municipality.  It was not as grand as the Detroit/Windsor ones we watched on TV earlier in the week for the US 4th of July and Canada's Dominion Day, but pretty impressive.  We were able to sit outside the trailer in our lawn chairs and see it all.

Kelly and family had come out for dinner.  Afterwards Ted built a fire and the kids made S'mores.  They waited a bit for the traffic to clear before heading home. 

Our last week is filling up.  We are going to a friend's home I worked with tomorrow and will go out on their boat.  Kara bought us tickets to see Neil Diamond on Tuesday and Kelly is having all of us for the 4th on Wednesday.  I've offered to take the kids Monday, Thursday or Friday to give Kara some relief from having them home while Allen is trying to work and she is still recovering.  I know we have to go in to pick up the Neil Diamond tickets Monday so we'll see what she wants us to do.

We have made a change in our plans a bit.  When we leave East Harbor we are going to Grand Lake St Mary to visit with my brother Dan for a week.  We were going to skip this year because we need to travel south and then back north again to do it.  But Ted said he doesn't mind the extra drive or fuel so we made a reservation.  We'll then travel to Shipshewana, IN and on to Marshall, MI from there.  We still have about two weeks until the HitchHiker rally in Manistee so who knows where we will end up.  We have friends in the area and others traveling in their RVs in Michigan.  Ted's great niece and her husband just moved to Cheyboygan on the NE coast of the lower peninsula and they said they would love for us to come up that way.  Time will tell.

Here are a few of the dance photos Larry took at Ally's recital.  This is the one that became the centerpiece of her graduation party photoboards.

Ally is the front girl and I thought this really showed her lines and extensions well.

Two of these are of Pat and Ally during the Daddy/Daughter dance.  Pat has participated nine years with Ally.  What wonderful memories he has given her that will last a lifetime.  Pointe Academy is the dance studio Ally has studied at for all these years.  They gave the departing seniors' Dads a T-shirt after the recital.

Nothing I've ever done has given me more joys and rewards than being a father to my children. ~ Bill Cosby