4th of July

Ben and I ventured home for the 4th of July. We had a jam packed weekend visiting family, eating more food than I have all month, and cheering Ben on for his second triathlon this year.

Friday we helped my mom & dad move my grandparents into their local assisted living home to allow grandma to recover faster from her broken hip. Grandpa was a little resistant (to put it mildly), but I guess when you're being uprooted from your home that you've lived in for 70 years, I would be too. I MUST say the temporary residence is quiet plush. While the rooms are small, they have a walk in closet that I would DIE to have. The rest of the place is like an all inclusive resort. They've got billiards, a floor to ceiling bird cage, baking classes, hillbilly golf, shuffle board, tons of board games, a computer with Internet access, a Wii with competing bowling league, hair salon, their own chapel, the list goes on... Every meal is served in the dining room and to find out the menu of the day you press a button in your room and a recording tells you the menu and activities of the day. Kinda like a cruise ship. The best part, besides not having to cook, is if you spill your pills, you push another button and have someone else pick them up for you! I think grandma and grandpa will do well there and the main focus is recovery. I think they will enjoy their short time spent there.

After we got them all settled we packed up and headed over to Brian & Heather's for dinner and some time with the kids. I had called ahead to make sure Heather had strong cocktails made, and she had! Cute pink things! Heather had also made enchiladas for dinner. We played some corn hole, (which I suck at) were irresponsible around the kids, gorged ourselves, and visited. We had planned on going to the fireworks that night, but I could barely keep my eyes open so we headed home.

Saturday the 4th. Ben's folks picked us up early for yet another day on the road to visit grandparents. This time is was lunch at Grandma Ruby's & Grandpa Phil's. Grandma Bert and Uncle Pat drove in to eat with us as well. We arrived at 10:00am and cracked open the first beer at 10:01am. Remember, I'm married to a Catholic whose mom is Lutheran. It's always 5 o'clock somewhere. The ladies had wine and got lunch together while the guys sat outside, grilled steaks, speculated as to why Sarah Palin really did resign and, of course, solved all the other worldly problems. Lunch was excellent and it was great to visit with everyone.

Saturday evening we had dinner at my parents house and had hoped to go to the park for fireworks. But it rained the entire day and canceled all the holiday festivities. So we sat around, talked and rubbed our full bellies. I think it was probably best that fireworks were canceled because Ben needed to get to bed early to rest up for his race on Sunday.

Sunday morning we all got dressed for rain and headed down to the park to cheer Ben on for the Rodney T. Miller Triathlon. This was his first year doing this race and this was the longest distance he had participated in. He did great! Finished in 2 hours and 3 minutes and in the top 35% of the race. While I would like to say it was a smooth race he did hit a speed bump along the way. Totally wiped out on a sharp turn heading back in from the bike leg. When I say wipeout I mean full blown, over the handle bars, quick shoulder roll to his feet, wipe the grass stain off your shirt, straighten out the front tire and a quick check to see if anyone caught it on tape, wipeout. I would venture a guess that next year when the race volunteers yell, " slow down sharp turn ahead," he will heed their advice.

After the race we headed back to John & Sherry's for lunch. John had mowed the back yard for a competitive game of Bocce ball but we ran out of time. The drive home jumped up on us quickly. Ben and I were both exhausted. I downed two cups of coffee before jumping in the car and took a coke zero for the road. We made it home safely and awake thanks to the caffeine and my Ultimate Dance Party 97 & 98 dance mixes on my iPod. Hobbes was happy to see us and we were happy to be home and in our own bed.