What a summer it has been.  Again this year, we were away for 2 months to spoil the grandson (5 years old now), visit friends and have a family reunion. 

The spoiling went well.  Keegan loves to shop so we took him shopping, then, we went to the Smucker's factory, the Sherer's potato chip factory and picking peaches.  We also got the pleasure of taking him to "Safety Town" every day.  Safety Town is a 2 week course that he had to attend prior to going to Kindergarten.  Each day was a different subject, e.g. how to safely ride his bike, what to do about strangers or strange dogs, pool safety, school bus safety, and so on. 

Then, we went to visit friends and play in a golf tournament in northern Michigan.  We had beautiful weather and had a good time visiting all.  Got to Grand Rapids too to visit the son just in time to see the Betty Ford funeral and then on to Rochester, MI where we met a client of mine for the first time.  I had dealt with him over the phone and via email but this was a chance to put a face with a name.  Lastly, we headed to the Sawmill Creek resort in Sandusky, OH for a long weekend reunion with all of my brother's family and ours to celebrate our mother who had turned 90 over the winter.  What a grand time we had.  It reminded us that we should be doing this more often and, best of all, it gave our grandson a chance to meet his cousins that he didn't know very well.  Mom was thrilled by it all.

In fact, my cousin's daughter from Barcelona, Spain happened to be in San Francisco taking a class for her master's and flew in on the red eye to attend the reunion with us.  She got to meet all of her cousins and so enjoyed the weekend.  Then, we brought her back to Cleveland area where our daughter lives for a week of relaxation and seeing the sights (the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, etc.) before heading back home.

This summer reminded us that families often don't live near each other these days because of job transfers or moving to find a job.  So, they don't often get to meet and enjoy each other's company.  This was one summer we did both and I highly recommend it.  Getting away from the everyday chores with real estate just to relax and enjoy each other was super.  Do it before time gets away from you!