July 8, 2010:
Got up early and hit the road so that we could meet my family for lunch in Rockford, IL. Not much to report - just busy handling conference calls and work as Gary heads down the highway. We arrived at my niece, Tiffany's, new home just in time for Chicago style pizza (not my preference - too much cheese, but good to try it out once anyway). It was a great afternoon reconnecting with my family. We had not all been together in more than a year. Gram took the entire family and part of the wedding party out to The Machine Shed restaurant (a local, down-home kinda meal). As we should have expected, my family got a little silly, and a little loud, with goofy harmless fun (where does my brother get these ideas - as we passed a bottle cap perched on a straw around the table throughout the dinner - and more importantly - why do we all play along?!?!? Then there was something about a taco - and who knows, we laughed, and ate, and had a wonderful time) . We reconvened at our hotel for some late night swimming - the other guests just sort of departed for the quiet of their rooms. What a day!