What a wonderful day!

My son and his family from "down South" were in town today and we spent a wonderful day at the Strong Museum of Play and later dinner at my house. Folks, if you have never been to the Strong National Museum of Play, you are truly unfortunate. It has exhibits and activities for all ages. I am a member there and enjoy going with my grandchildren equally as much as going by myself to see the exhibits for us older children.

Margaret Woodbury Strong was an only child of very wealthy parents who lived in Rochester. She grew up with an extensive collection of dolls and toys from around the world. She died in the late 60's and left money for the museum to be formed. My mother-in-law and I were the third and fourth people through the door when the museum opened back in the 70's. It has grown tremendously since then and I have enjoyed every visit.

The top picture is a simulated Wegmans grocery store where children choose items off the shelf and then go through the check out process just like in a real Wegmans. They actually get a real paper receipt showing the items they "bought."

The next picture is Andrew getting a hug from a Berenstein bear. The Berenstein bear exhibit is a real delight.

Here is Jake climbing on the rock wall.

There is a new exhibit at the museum which has video games from the 80's and 90's. Remember Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Star Wars, and geez, I can't even remember them all? John could have spent the entire time here. I found it amusing that there were just as many 30-somethings and 40-somethings enjoying this room as the younger kids!

We came home and had dinner at my house. I made fruit salad, three bean salad, deviled eggs, hamburgers on the grill and lemon meringue pie. After dinner, John decided some of my trees and shrubs needed trimming. Kevin, Jake, and Andrew helped haul the debris to the street for the town to pick up on Monday. I was amazed how fast the pile at the end of the driveway grew. For me to do all that by myself would have taken half a day or more! THANKS GUYS!!!

While they were doing that, Jen was installing my new printer to my computer, something I could have done myself, but I have a short fuse for those kinds of things. Thanks much, Jen!