May seems to be going  has gone by awfully quickly, here it is Memorial Day June 1 and it seems like we just got home from our West Coast tour last week, not 5 weeks ago.  It’s been a busy time since we returned including Doctor appointments (annual physicals), catching up our volunteer work for Project Linus and getting ready for Spring.

Spring did finally arrive (more or less) and we took the pontoon out for the first time not long after we got home and it was great to be able to get back out on the water.
We also started getting ready for our oldest grandson Garrett’s high school graduation including adding a few hanging plants to the yard and having Mara’s son Darrin help with painting, yard work, and launching the pedal boat before our visitors arrived.  Our youngest grandchildren, Angelina and Ariana, arrived from Seattle (oh they did travel with their parents Dale and Monica) a few days before the big event.

We are very proud of Garrett – he was a varsity soccer player, a National Merit scholarship winner and a diploma candidate in the International Baccalaureate  program.   After visiting many college campuses over the last couple of years he has decided to join his sister Breanna and attend Rhodes College in Memphis where he will  also play soccer for the Lynx.

We had a great time with our visitors.   In addition to attending the graduation and subsequent festivities, we all spent a day at Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s amusement park in Pigeon Forge, near Smoky Mountains National Park.  The weather wasn’t perfect but we didn’t let the rain dampen our spirits and a good time was had by all.

We had a day of great weather for being on the lake and doing some tubing and some fishing.  They left before Memorial Day and we spent a quiet (and wet) holiday weekend getting in our walks and catching up on a few to-dos including finishing my Introduction to Genetics course.  I really enjoyed the course, my first online learning experience and I would recommend it if you have an interest in genetics.

Next up, my daughter Holly and grandchildren Charlie and Kayla arrive from Colorado Springs on Tuesday and I expect more tubing, fishing and maybe another trip to Dollywood will occur during their visit.

On the Parkinson’s front, I am still working thinking about adding a page with a list of the blogs I follow but in the meantime here is a list of Parkinson’s Disease blogs posted on The Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia and Parkinson Foundation website.  I am honored to be on their list which also includes many of the blogs that I follow and has pointed me to some new ones to add to my list.