Off We Go!

We are about to set off on a family vacation for the next three weeks, so I'm not planning to post on this blog while we are gone. If you would like to follow us, click the link for our vacation blog 

Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated 4th of July with family BBQ, swimming, and of course, fireworks. The weather was beautiful and it was a great day for a celebration. Our fridge was full of special treats; we ended up having too much food, so now we'll have to celebrate again today with the leftovers! Mom and I made ribbon Jello in wine glasses for our "with dinner" dessert, they were festive and pretty. Next, we jumped in the pool for a swim. The water was nice, but the air was already cooling off, so we got a bit chilly, but it was fun. After the pool, we had our second dessert. I made a festive fruit tart with blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. It was delicious. We ate quickly, then headed to the Nickell's for fireworks. Isaac and Jonah had left before the rest of us and already had the fireworks set out and ready to go. Michelle and I were busy photographing the firework line up when Isaac announced the finale piece wasn't even out yet. Wow. Things started out small with sparklers, although Jonah and Isaac had some sparklers that weren't quite so small and actually got rather crazy when they started sparking more than expected. Then they started setting off the bigger fireworks in the street and we had quite the show.

The neighbors were setting off their own fireworks.

The last firework exploded more than it should have and caught on fire at the end.

Here's a video of the evening:

It was a festive and fun fourth with lots of food, family, and fireworks!

The Pre-Party

Fourth of July is here again and we started celebrating on the 3rd with fireworks at the baseball game! First, we met at the Nickell's and had star shaped sugar cookies Michelle and I made at work this week.

Then we headed over to the baseball stadium to watch the end of the game. We got there at the end of the fourth inning and bought snow cones. The view from the grass where we were sitting wasn't very good, so it was hard to follow the game, but we weren't very interested until it was tied at the end of the ninth and had to go into an extra inning. By then, the kids were pretty tired because it was already way past their bedtime. Thankfully, we scored at the bottom of the tenth to win the game at 10:00pm. Finally it was time for fireworks! The show was short, but worth the wait with lots of good ones. I love fireworks!

Relaxing Weekend

Jaime came to visit this weekend and we went floating on Sunday afternoon after she arrived. 

 Our first stop was Walmart to get a cheap inner tube and lunch. Then we headed for the river. Thankfully, this time we knew to wear shoes, which made the walk along the railroad tracks much less painful. It was a beautiful day for a float, hot and sunny but the river wasn't too crowded. Michelle trying to get in the water, it was still pretty cold. The float took about an hour and a half and was relaxing. Afterwards, we went home and Jaime opened her new game.Pirateer is a game she played awhile ago and has been looking for, but they don't make it anymore so it's hard to find. We finally found a new one on ebay for a good price so Jaime was pretty excited to finally get to play.

The next day we decided to go floating again. This time Janelle came with us and we went for a longer float and had lunch on the river. Ready to set out. Jonah trying out a rope swing from the starting bridge. Michelle and Jonah with the crab that held our snacks and music (they brought their iPod and speakers). Another Chaco picture! It was another relaxing afternoon on the river, we went farther this time and took about 3 hours, with a stop in the middle to reapply sunscreen. Back at the car afterwards. It was a lovely way to spend a hot summer day.