4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated today by driving (my still bare tires) into the cities for a BBQ at Grandma and Grandpa's. Last year was the first since we had moved that we did not have a super big bash at our house.....the kids and I had stolen Grandma ? and chased Alex and the Marching Band into Colorado. And honestly, neither Bob nor I miss it.....though fun, those parties were so much work, and both of us are too tired these days to even imagine such an undertaking again. So, we were quite satisfied to spend the day somewhere else today.

The kids got to play with their twin cousins for a bit....all the girls seemed quite shy with one another. Perhaps a clue that we need to all be getting together more? The day was beautiful, warm, and sunny, verging on hot,but not quite there, thus making for a lovely day. The kids played in the sprinkler, and played soccer and kiddie croquet in the yard. We had great all-American food, and some good red, white, and blue treats. And lots of sitting around, just enjoying the day. It was really relaxing.

While Daddy and Grandpa visited the driving range, the rest of us travelled over to the neighborhood park which featured a new sprinkler park on one end. It felt like something out of the urban kid-friendly set of Sesame Street......big, colorful sprinklers and buckets, with water conservatively activated by the push of a button. Loads of fun on a summer's day, and certainly something unique for us. Melissa, Crispy, and Laura had visited this park last weekend while staying with Grandma & Grandpa, and they were excited to share it with their older siblings and cousins.

After some apple pie, we drove back home to catch the fireworks in our own city. Following a quick change of clothes, and anti-mosquito coverings, Daddy had just enough time to blow off the few fireworks the kids had picked out months ago. We all may have been content enough with the cul-de-sac show, but we felt it necessary to still attend the city display. When the show began, we were disappointed to discover that we could not see very well from our hand picked spot on the hill. I guess our biggest hint should have been the large vacancy on the hill? Oh well, we were able to see the top halves of most of the fireworks, and enough of the big ones to leave feeling happy to be celebrating freedom in our nation. Thank you, Grandma & Grandpa, for hosting today's party!

FYI Tip: Burt's Bees Natural Insect Repellent has done a fantastic job in mild bug areas such as keeping away gnats at the baseball fields and ants along parade routes. It was not so successful against the blood sucking beasts that attacked us mercilessly in the deep dark of night on a grassy hill!