Squaw Run Park

Good: Cool local park with some still-dangerous playground equipment(!) and large stage for kid's impromptu play; creek for stream hiking; cute water snake.

Bad: The park's pond was ruined in the floods last fall and now sits empty; dry conditions had the stream too low to have any real fun.

South Side Works

Good: Great weather; fun ground fountains for kids to run through; live music by Mon Gumbo

Bad: stoopid kid who decides to run through the fountains at full speed without looking where he is going, who completely flattens Lucy.

Worse: clueless parent of said kid who didn't bother to tell him to stop after he had flattened Lucy, leaving her crying [and bleeding - Joy] on the cement, nor indicate that he should apologize. I suppressed the urge to lay her out in a similar fashion when she finally got up to leave.

Presque Isle on Lake Erie

Good: Beautiful; great weather; great swimming; great beach (available shade, very clean, not crowded).

Bad: cashiers at local restaurant that accidentally charge their server number (23920, or $239.20) to your debit account after you leave the restaurant.

July 4th Lunch with Family

Good: Well, it was July 4th, and it was lunch with the family (sister and parents); brother in law, who is an excellent cook, manned the grill, producing excellent food.

Bad: Beastly honking hot.

Fireworks

Good: You can see them from our house, so we don't have to go anywhere; Maddie thinks fireworks are really cool, and it's a treat for her to stay up to see them; I remember feeling the same way as a kid.

Bad: Even when they're good, they're just kind of lame to me anymore. I mean, the fireworks downtown, the big Zambelli extravaganza was okay, but it's just a bunch of stuff blowing up.

Worse: No Fourth of July toad, who had shown up in our neighborhood only on the fourth, for the last two years. Oh well. You know what they say: "Two years of a toad is life; three years is a sign from God."