As I will be working on Bank Holiday Monday, I took off Saturday and went for a walk along the Lagan towpath with Pearl and Archie.
We parked one car at Shaw's Bridge and another out about Drumbeg somewhere.
Had a picnic and then drove back to Lady Dixon Park. Got a little showry in the afternoon but the morning was nice. Wandered around and had a doze in the sun before heading off for coffee in the late afternoon.





Tim and Kim had a suite at the Hilton in Belfast for the night and invited us over to play Rummikub. Didn't actually play Rummikub, instead we introduced them to a game called "Phase 10" which friends from Texas had brought over. We started off in the Executive Lounge with free drinks and nibbles until it closed at 10 o'clock and then went back to their room to finish it off.
Great views over Belfast at night from their room. Left about 11.00pm and made our way home.

Took Thursday as my day off this week instead of Friday as I had been invited to play golf with "Firefighters for Christ". A group of Firefighters from the US were over meeting with thre Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
The two guys Rick and I were playing with were from California, Brian, from Fresno and Paul from Mission Viejo. There were so many of us and a number had never played golf before so we ended up with the world's slowest game of golf at Rockmount Golf Club, over 5 hours for 18 holes!


While Rick and I were playing golf, Lilian and Katie took Reuben to the swimming pool.

Carl & Mavis away for the weekend so they left us the key of their house in Donaghadee. Arrived on Thursday night and spent the night there. Woke on Friday morning to the sun sparkling off the sea through our bedroom window. Great day to be off.

Went to Greyabbey and picked up Katie and Reuben and took them for a walk around Donaghadee Garden Centre. Had a look at the plants and round the shop and had lunch there.

Back home to Carl and Mavis' for coffee. A pheasant flew in and was tame enough to feed by hand. Rick arrived home early from work and then Jules arrived for the weekend.

We were meeting Freddie and Linda for a meal in the Bo Tree in Belfast. (Thai Restaurant, very nice and excellent food.) Left abot 11.00pm and stayed the night in Winnie's house in Carryduff as Lilian was taking a Precept Bible Study class the next morning. Came back home on Saturday about lunchtime.

Reuben was dedicated on Sunday in "Thriving Life" Church in Newtownards. Lots of people turned up to a lovely service. The theme was "Dedication". Everybody stayed for lunch afterwards. After the service Lilian and I went to Pearl and Archie's for the afternoon and relaxed in the garden. We had a joint service with Greenisland and Whitehead Baptist churches that evening and packed the Community Centre. Good evening service.

Caleb and his new red wagon!

Katie and Lilian decided to try and take a footprint of Reuben. He likes getting the paint rubbed on his foot but isn't too good at keeping his foot on the paper. But after several goes, (where everybody got covered in paint!) they managed it!

A Splash from the Past!

Last summer on the flight to Canada we bought a cheap plastic inderwater camera costing about a tenner and used it to take some pictures in the pool at Cypress Hills in Saskatchewan.

Of course we didn't finish the roll and it lay in the camera for a year! I finished it on Friday by taking it out dingy sailing.

So with the exception of Rick's picture, here's what we all looked like a year ago!

Friday

Day off. Went dingy sailing with Rick on my beloved Strangford Lough. Beautiful day with a light breeze. This has to be one of the most enchanted places in the world! Finished the night with a barbeque at Rick and Katie's. Gareth and Melissa arrived with Evie. Nice day out.

Back to porridge with a mountain of mail and emails to deal with. Had a Religious Advisory meeting in UTV today and dropped quickly into Belfast to pick up a book. Great to see the city basking in the warm Spring sunshine.

Also tried on the "Corner Gas" tee shirt and mug in the back garden.

Monday
Arrived in Belfast! Katie picked us up at the airport andv we went home and had lunch. Reuben seems to have grown considerably since we left!

Sunday
Arrived in Gatwick and stayed nearby in Horley, Surrey. England Note the difference between this English Police Station and David's station in Medicine Hat! Had a meal and went to bed early. Catching our flight to Ireland tomorrow morning.

Saturday 28th April
3 hour drive to Calgary to catch the plane to London. Caleb slept for part of the way. When we got to the airport he had his first ever ice cream!

Friday 27th April

Last full day. Played with Caleb and did some shopping. Dave showed Winnie around Medicine Hat police station. We all went out to Montana's for a meal.

Thursday 27th April

Back in Medicine Hat. Eleven of us arranged to go paintballing. Great night, still bearing the scars!

Wednesday 25th April
Still in Moose Jaw. Spent a nice day around the town and the park. Had a picnic and did some geocaching. Moose Jaw was a centre for bootlegging during "Prohibition" and has some connections with Al Capone. There are tunnels running under the town where illicit booze was made and stored before being brought into the United States. Doing a tour tomorrow showing some of the history of that era.