Sue and I gently loaded Beau into the car Wednesday morning 06/24/20 to go pick up Mia and celebrate her 5th birthday with her.

Earlier that day, Marissa had sent Sue the following couple of pictures of Mia in her new birthday outfit.

What a ham!

But very photogenic. Maybe a career as a model, or something?

We stopped at McDonalds just off the Weeks Circle in Dover to pick up our lunches: Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal for Mia, and McNuggets for us — including The Beau Dog.

Sue dropped me at the shop to bring Mia in Marissa's car so we didn't have to mess with moving her car seat around. She was all set to roll as soon as I came in the door to get her.

Marissa pulling Mia's hair back so she wouldn't get it into the ketchup....

I got her strapped into her car seat, and drove up 108 to the Willand Pond Park lot where Sue was waiting for us.

Mia was so excited to see Sue and Beau, but we had to caution her about being really gentle with Beau because of his injuries. Mia had seen the pictures of Beau's wound, and understood why Beau wasn't going to be able to play with her.

We walked along the trail toward the pond where there were some benches we could sit at, and eat our lunch. I tied Beau up to a fence, but Mia kept him happy by walking over with a fry or piece of chicken — well, those pieces of chicken that she had dropped onto the ground, anyway!

Gramps sharing a fry with Mia at the park.

Mia stuck with Sue like glue. They walked all over the place while I stayed with Beau.

View through the trees down to the pond.

Mia checking out the water in the pond. She said it was cold....

Sue and Mia had taken Beau for a little walk along the trail. I had caught up with them, and was given the task of hanging onto Beau as we headed back to the cars. Mia over-ruled that, and insisted that: "I can handle it, Gramps!" And she did, though Beau kept her moving.

Sue propped Mia up out of the sun in the back of Marissa's car so she could open our gifts. The best was a very special gift from Sue who had hand painted a watercolor of a bear. If you look close, you can see that his underbelly hair are evergreen trees.... Really a labor of love, and I hope Mia treasures it.

Sue's watercolor painting of a bear birthday gift for Mia.

I had sent Marissa several of the pictures I had taken that day, and she responded to us both so wonderfully: "You guys made Mia's birthday so much more enjoyable/special. There is nothing better than a happy meal and a date with her grandparents. Thank you both for coming over to Dover, picking her up and taking her to lunch. She fully enjoyed herself ❤️ love you."

It had been just a really lovely day, and so great to have shared some of it with Mia.