Just as tourists from all over the country were pouring into the nation’s capital to celebrate the 4th of July, we were headed out! Off to spend the weekend with Murphy and Josie.

We arrived in time for a delicious late lunch at a small Italian place downtown near Josie’s studio, MUJO. After lunch we popped into a doughnut shop for a quick sugar fix and then toured MUJO. We were wowed by all the wonderful improvements that had been made since our last visit. It is all white …floors, walls, ceiling, light fixtures, furniture… with pops of pink and aqua. Very bright, welcoming, contemporary, and sophisticated. Josie showed us some of the projects she recently completed and a few things in progress. We are really impressed with how far Josie (with Murphy on the sidelines) has brought the business in just over two years!

We headed home from the studio and relaxed before grilling hamburgers for dinner. Graeter’s ice cream, a Cincinnati premium brand that has been making people smile for 150 years, was the perfect compliment to our burgers.

The day ended with a trip to Coney Island, a small amusement and waterpark, to see Balloon Glow. We’d never heard of  Balloon Glow so were anxious to check it out. Anyway, there were a number of stationary, fully inflated hot air balloons situated near each other in an open area. Our favorite part was when they fired up the burners which lit up the balloons from the inside. The darker it got the cooler they looked.

We crammed a whole lot of fun into nine hours and headed to bed tired  and happy.