Memorial Day in Columbus, Part 2

This is part 2 of the posts on our Memorial Day 2016 visit to Columbus. Susan and I dropped off Josh with S&S and Sam with AA and went off to a hotel for the night (Holiday Inn Express near Easton Mall). We had dinner at the Refectory and a very refreshing evening.

S&S also got a new kitten, Lulu, this weekend, which meant that Sue was already up at 6 AM when Josh got up earlier than usual. I am not 100% sure how they passed the time with Josh, but I know a trip to the library was involved, as well as playing in the back yard, and a walk around the block. They were nice enough to give him THREE NEW ELEPHANT AND PIGGY BOOKS as well as a 4-inch roaring velociraptor, all of which he loves. 

Stu, Josh, Susan and I rendezvoused with the Westerville Collinses after a lunch at Abuelo's at Easton mall, and Stu, Josh, Susan and I then met Amy and Sam at the zoo, where we dodged the rain as several thunder storms rumbled through:

 Memorable! We spent a fair amount of time in the safety of the aquarium, where we saw this bamboo shark circling:

Monday morning we all went over the the Worthington Estates playground where we sat in the shade and chatted:

The boys were excellent travelers. On the way down Josh spent a long time using the etch-a-sketch. This is his drawing of our family. You can guess which of us was too tall to have his head appear in-frame!

Here's Josh on the cat furniture in Emily's room at S&S's. By Monday Josh was feeling the effects of his cat allergy. We had to use a inhaler a couple of times during the weekend.

He's coughing much less now that he's home. All worth it! He had a great time, and definitely enjoyed meeting Lulu and seeing Thumbs again.

Back at the playground:

Sunday lunch was at the Liberty Tavern in Powell. Excellent food and company, and Heather was able to join us.

Mom's pond is looking great. Here Nana is giving Josh water so he can use the watering can to fill the bird bath:

A content Nana! She still has the occasional cough but is much better than at other times in the past 12 months.

Dad also demonstrated his dad's table-top steam engine:

It runs on denatured alcohol. If all's going well it makes a wheel turn. This time it was able to nudge the week, but a little more work is needed to get the wheel to turn. Fun to see!

Sam and Josh heading to the playground. Josh is pulling the red wagon we used as kids.

Sam being spun at the playground:

And Uncle Stu being chased:

Had fun using Sam's sling to bounce a tennis ball against the gym wall at Worthington Estates:

And here we are enjoying a really fun meal at the Refectory. I had forgotten that the waiters don't set any plate down without narrating it for you. We had two other surprises. Before the main course we each has a scoop of blood orange sorbet, and when all was said and done they brought Susan and small piece of chocolate cake with a candle and wished her happy birthday. We didn't want to embarrass them, so it became her birthday. :-)

Looking forward to doing this again in the fall or next year!