The Eye of Kris

We've had two vacations over the last three or four weeks, and it seems like it's been much longer than that.

First, my parents and grandmother came to town to visit us, and I took about 4 days off. As always, we were very busy and wore ourselves out. Here are some highlights:

• We visited my dad's cousins Don & Brooke and spent a beautiful day out by the little river that runs through their property.
• We went to see the movie "Cars", which everyone loved. Owen sat through the whole thing very attentively and when it was over, asked if I could play it again.
• We had Ivan dedicated at church, with grandparents (and great grandma) proudly watching.
• We ate at several restaurants, including Famous Dave's Barbeque (a family favorite) followed by ice cream at Maggie Moo's.
• Dad and I test drove a 2006 Miata and a 2006 RX-8. I'll take one of each, please.
• Mary and I took dad to a Sounds game, complete with a big band concert and fireworks at the end.

Before their visit, we went ahead and bought an extra mattress and switched Owen to a twin bed so we could move the double bed that we borrowed from the Fadelys into the room that was formerly my office but will now be Mary's sewing room and part-time second guest room. That way, we had two guest rooms and the boys could stay in their room, and I think that made it a little more comefortable visit for everyone. As far as my office goes, we are trying to get a contractor to come put up a wall downstairs to enclose the small room in the front of the house for an office. Until then, I'm just set up in our bedroom, which has a little bit of extra space in it.

The following week was 4th of July week, so I only had to work 4 days and we had a great holiday with the Fadelys and Buttons. We bought some fireworks and shot them for the amusement of the kids (really - it was all for the kids). Owen even got to hold some sparklers and seemed to really enjoy them. He's been talking about fireworks ever since.

Last week, we were in Michigan, and I won't go into all that we did there because Mary has already written extensively about it. It was a great trip and the boys traveled very well. It was great to see Owen playing with his cousins and remembering those special times when I got to visit with cousins that lived far away.

Now it's back to work and at least a month or so before I'll have any time off again. I've got to get back in the habit of going to bed and getting up early and all that. Maybe I'll get back into the habit of blogging a little more regularly, too.