Goodbye Columbus

On Saturday we loaded up the car and walked over to the North Market to meet up with Linda's daughter Ashley, her husband Alex, and their children, Alexander, Allison, and Andrew. We grabbed some lunch and checked out the outdoor vendors who were selling plants, vegetables, honey and other items.
The street side of the North Market.

New condominiums adjacent to the Nationwide Arena in the Arena district of Columbus.
Nationwide Arena.
Walking area in front of the Nationwide Arena.
The Nationwide tower.
Another view of the Nationwide tower.
Another Nationwide building.

Sky view of Columbus.
More Columbus sky view.
View of the downtown in Columbus.
Reflection of the Nationwide tower in the windows of the Hyatt hotel.
A fountain in a park on the corner across from the Hyatt hotel and the Nationwide tower. This is a wonderful soothing park and fountain.
Steps of water.
The park and fountain.

Another view of the fountain.

The fountain again.
Me in the garden by the fountain.
Linda in the garden by the fountain.

Alexander came back to Lansing with us and we had a nice drive until thunderstorms started as we approached Bowling Green. We were making a pit stop at the Burger King when a down pour started. We decided to take refuge until the rain let up. There were three or four baseball teams that also sought refuge at the same location. It finally let up enough to get to our car and we were back on our way. The rains continued until we reached the "Welcome to Michigan" sign. At one spot on the expressway the rain was so heavy that all the cars ahead of us had pulled over. We did arrive home safely and the skies in Lansing were clear and blue. During the ride Alexander entertained himself with his game boy and Linda and I listened to some CD's of music from the sixties. Alexander was not impressed with the music or our singing.

My kitties were all glad to see me when I arrived. They were well taken care of by Lisa.

Terri, Madeline and Jackson were staying at my Mom's for a few days to help with a garage sale so after I returned home I stopped to see them. Madeline has learned to enjoy a squeaky rubber ball that I apparently played with as a toddler. She giggles and laughs when you roll it or toss it to her. She is such a happy child. I am sure she will grow up with a wonderful sense of humor. Madeline likes to smile. She makes a coughing sound now. She must be discovering her voice or at least the fact that she can make sounds.

I didn't get to visit long since Sophie and I went to the second play of the MSU Summer Circle Theater and we had to leave early to get good seats. The play was "The Girls in 509". The play took shots at both political parties and once again the acting was fantastic. The weather was very pleasant although it got rather cool toward the end. Luckily, we both had warm jackets with us. We also saw Irene and her husband.

It was a long tiring day but it will be a much better memory than the day of my return from Columbus last year. I wanted a new memory and now I have one.

Since Ruth enjoyed the previous clown so much, I had to include another one.
Here he is up close. Ruth, isn't he cute????