Celebrations all around

May 10 was Bella's 9th birthday and Mother's Day. We celebrated all day, including a trip to build-a-bear in the afternoon. On May 12 Nonny Margaret came into town, and on the 19th we celebrated Papa Gary's first birthday in heaven. Samuel's birthday was the next day, so Mark and I really wanted to do something special to celebrate both of these days. The evening of the 19th, we left for St Louis to go to Six Flags all day on the 20th. Papa LOVED roller coasters, and amusement parks were something that Mark and his brother John enjoyed with their parents regularly when they were kids. Bella also rode her first roller coaster with Papa. It was bittersweet to enjoy that park without Gary, but it was also more precious to think about how much Papa would have enjoyed it there. Mark inherited his father's love of crazy rides, so he really enjoyed himself too.