4 May 2014 – With the Hall Family

Tue: after dinner swim with #1&2  in Lake Murray was refreshing. Met with a charming young gentleman Timothy from #451 who jumped from the dock into the lake to show us that it was safe and deep enough (app 9′). He was fishing and I was concerned with fishing hooks around us. Timothy ensured us that he would stay away from us. Seems like we are blessed to avoid the bad weathers which have caused havoc in some of the SE states.

Thu: picnic with #4&5 in Irmo Community Park and the official opening is on Sat. We decided to try it out before the crowd. Yummy food from Zoe’s Kitchen*** and nice area with well-equipped quality playground at the park surrounded by peaceful nature. Was tempted to try the new junglegym and Linn did..

#1’s Spring concert at CrossRoads Middle School with a cool principal who played the drums with the group. She certainly has improved on the violin and will be traveling to NC this weekend to play and to FL later this month. Did not managed to get L&M playing any music instruments, hope that at least one of the grandchildren will find some joy with an instrument!

Fri: thank you to Debbie for lunch at O’Charley’s***Visited with her and saw that the peach tree has peaches in L&J’s property where the house at Avalon was burnt. Debbie & Rich live next door there and their kindness and help are most appreciated.

Fun Fair 2014 for Irmo Elementary School where#2&3 are attending. #1 was helping and #4&5 were enjoying themselves. Held at the CrossRoads Middle School sports’ ground with space to set up the rides and stalls.

Was not quite up to the loud music. Decided to explore the school grounds to discover some lovely trees planted for shade, a pretty ‘boxelder nymph’ (tkx to Tina for providing the name)and a peaceful sunset.

Sat: #1 headed off bright and early for her fun day at Carowinds; a 398-acre amusement park on the border between NC & SC, in Charlotte and Fort Mill. She will be playing in the orchestra with the CrossRoads Middle School.

Glad that the school organizes these events. Good experience for them and hopefully a memorable time for these pre-teens.

Linn, #2 and I headed the ‘Crawdaddy Dash’ 5k road race where she was top female at 20.08. Believe it or not, here is a seldom pix of me even though it is my back and my shadow taking pix of the finishing 🙂 Thank you to Alex McDonald who has: http://tourdeblueshoes.com/ ‘race reports from a running freak’ a blog on running.

City Roots, an interesting area with a small airport near the industrial side of CAE. Happy to explore the area before and after the race. Discovered Crimson Clovers and thx Stacy Gibson Goddard for providing the name for these pretty lilac ones, wild phlox. There is much beauty in nature, even when they are considered to be weeds… 🙂 🙂

Continued to the Rosewood Crawfish Festival and bought L&J a gift for their outdoor patio wall. Needed a long nap after all these activities… 🙂 🙂 🙂

L&J attended a church function in the early evening, and later there will be 6 kids under one roof as #1 is having her friend Tanvi over to slumber. Never a dull moment with the Halls!

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in – Greek Proverb