2017 Life Logs, Days 172: Big Day—Happy BDay to Jo, Heritage with Ollie, Sam’s 4th Grade Graduation
Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Weather: Mostly Sunny Day with Foggy Harbor Tonight; High Temp 77 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Happy Birthday to my daughter-in-law Jo. Since we will be together this weekend, celebrations will happen then. And I know she was busier today than we were here as Justin, Jo, and kids are flying to New York City in the middle of the night. They arrive at JFK at 9:30 am and then head to West Virginia in a rental car. It sounds like a crazy thing to fly from Puerto Rico to New York and then rent a car to head back south, but actually it was much cheaper than any other option. They are going to enjoy their drive south by doing a quick tour of New York City tomorrow. Ziggy really wants to go to the American Museum of Natural History located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, so hopefully they will get to do that tomorrow.

We are a busy family. It would have been enough to just spend the day getting ready for the trip to West Virginia tomorrow, but that was not in the cards. Ollie and I had a great day at the Heritage Gardens. We love visiting there and today Ollie really enjoyed finding turtles, frogs, and tadpoles in the waterfall pond, riding on the carousel, and playing in Hidden Hollow. We both enjoyed our time there.

Before and after Heritage, we searched for new socks and shoes for Ollie. He has outgrown everything he has. But the bottom line is that if you live on the Cape and need any clothing, you have to order it online. We did find some socks at Walmart in Falmouth and a pair of sneakers in Hyannis on the way home from Heritage. But there was not a pair of sandals to be found anywhere. There used to be Stride Rite in Hyannis, but it is no longer there. Olympia Sports and Sears seem to be the only options, and they have a very limited selection. Sooooo frustrating.

Since Ollie and I could not get home in time to pick Sam and Jonah up from school, the next door neighbor did that for us. Thank you, Melissa. It takes a village. And when we did get home, it was time to get ready to go to Sam’s 4th grade graduation. I was teary-eyed through the whole graduation because I just really cannot believe my first-born grandson is so grown up. He’s almost as tall as I am. And he is such a handsome young man. I am very proud of him. School has not always been easy for Sam, but he has made such huge advances since kindergarten. East Falmouth Elementary School supported him in just the right way and by third grade he was flying high. Congratulations, Sam.

Even though this felt like the shortest day of year since there was no way to get everything done that I would like before leaving for West Virginia tomorrow, this was actually the longest day of the year. Summer solstice happened in the Northern Hemisphere at 12:24 am this morning. Welcome, Summer!