I told you last Saturday that our son Mark brought his family to Huntsville so he could attend his 20th high school reunion. He returned to Birmingham on Sunday leaving his son Jackson at our home for a week-long visit. On Tuesday we started a Monopoly game. Jackson, who will be 9 on the 22nd, picked it up pretty quickly. It took 4 days before we were able to declare a loser. Last night I landed on Boardwalk twice and Park Place once in 3 successive turns around the board. Those properties belonged to Grandma and each had a hotel. After mortgaging and selling everything, I was still unable to pay my hotel bill and the game officially ended.

We'll be taking Jackson to Birmingham tomorrow. I think he's had a good time. We went to the Early Works Museum on Thursday. He shopped with Grandma several times. When he and Grandma went to see the Smurfs movie, Grandma asked the lady at the theater if they had any Harry Potter glasses. The pair the lady gave to Jackson goes very nicely with the Harry Potter costume that they found at Party City. That will be what he remembers most.

His Grandma was also determined that he try some new foods while visiting. Would you believe he ate 3... fish, pineapple, and hush puppies! Not all at once, however. We enjoyed having him here to wake us up each day around 8.