Surprise! I went to the gym and when I came back there was a birthday cake waiting for me! I tried to blow the candles out, but they kept coming back on. Jason had put trick candles on the cake. They almost burned all the way into the cake before we got them put out!
Even though Jason is back from deployment, he still seems to have a lot of Army obligations. He missed the Meneely Reunion, for the second year in a row, because he had to attend a commander conference. So, Flat Jason went with me to Chillicothe.
We stopped in to see Grandpa, who is recovering from a broken leg. He should be out of the nursing home by the end of October. We got to see the extended family, eat good food and win neat door prizes. I got some body spray and Flat Jason won a cute pink ceramic elephant. Later, we put some roses on Grandma's grave before we headed home.
The weekend started with Erin, A.J. and Tracy coming to visit. We went to the Royals game on Friday night. We got sweet deals on our tickets. Plus it was Buck Night and Fireworks Friday! 
The Royals lost and Jason stayed home to finish homework, but I was distracted by the fact that Erin wanted to get some dirt from the warning track for her brother. 
I ran/jogged/shuffled for two miles without stopping. Then I had to walk a short distance. I ended up walking about a quarter of a mile in all. Jason kept encouraging me and entertaining me along the course. We finished with a time of 41:01. We were number 575 and 576 to cross the finish line. Afterward, Jason still had plenty of energy. Handstand anyone? 
Then Tracy, Jason and I went to the KC Irish Festival in Crown Center. Jason and Tracy enjoyed some meat pies while we listened to Irish music and history of Irish influences on American baseball. We stayed until the very end for Pogey because I saw them last year and absolutely loved them. They totally rocked it out again this year!
On Sunday, we went to the KC Ren Fest with Tracy. There were lots of craft booths, food and entertainment. We ran into the Maurers at the jousting event. Then we learned about samurai swords at another place.
Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun hosted a few different Public Safety Days where firefighters, police officers, military members, etc., got into the park for free and their family members got in for half price. I told Jason that if we were going to make it to the park this year, we should plan to go on one of those days because we are cheap. Jason invited some of his Army friends, and it became a couples date. Cool, I thought, we never do anything with Jason's friends. As the day approached, however, it became clear that it would be an outing for Amanda and the boys.
The day went better than I expected. We packed our lunch and met Cook and Cutter in the morning. By noon, we had already circled the park once and hit all the major roller coasters. We even stopped to play some games. 
Jason tried the Crazy Wire, and Cutter won a large prize for playing a bowling game. We ate some lunch, met McBee and made another pass around the park.As all the kiddos go back to school, my big kid went back to school, too! That's right. Jason is picking up some classes at a local community college and online. His first day of class was Aug. 18. I wish I had a photo to share of his first day, but I was working at the state fair and missed it.
Jason recently found out that his first test grade was an A. Unfortunately, the teacher didn't hand back the test, so I couldn't hang it on the fridge. Do you have any ideas to encourage Jason to keep his grades up?
