Mix day

We had plans for the cousins to join us today for a play date. There were plans for bikes and scooters, chalk drawings, and music playing. But the plans changed last minute, but not all was lost. We grouped together and visited my husband's ninety year old Grandmother who, unfortunately, is hospitalized following a severe heart attack a few days prior.

The kids were rightfully nervous to go, not knowing what to expect, but as they filled up our house waiting to head out, the playfulness began. They are a funny team. Three girls, two weeks apart and the other only eighteen months older. And two boys only six months apart. Their posse was set. There is never any real leader, they just mingle and go from one twosome or threesome to the next. Everyone with their own unique personality.

While the adults sat visiting with Grandma, the cousins ranging from age 7 to 11, went to the mini lobby area of her room and played a whisper game; which included London Bridge and Ring Around The Rosy. I wish we had a camera. (But if you knew our Grandma, she doesn't even like camera's at holiday gatherings. So to even consider bringing our camera to the Cardiac Unit where she was resting in a gown and bed, would just have been rude). The cousins created their own happy moment against a backdrop of a nervous situation.

And Grandma loved it!!!

She looked great and acted as sweet as she always has. She has the perfect soft face look with extremely few wrinkles. Her secret? Ponds Cold Cream every night for as long as she can remember. Loaded up with gossip magazines, our Grandma is set for a few days of catching up with Hollywood. She is one "with-it" lady who has a nurse that comes in to chat about the celebrities. Grandma's in good hands.

A mixed day. But a day we are proud of our children and nieces and nephew. A day we are thankful for seeing our Grandma looking rested ... and herself.

Laughter

I like these series of pictures for two reasons.

One; I had no idea the extent of their funniness when I started taking these pictures. I was napping on the raft while everyone did their own thing; my dad and husband were fishing, and the kids and my mom were off and on fishing. Apparently, my daughter started a great imagination story game, going on and on with her drama star power giving her story some life. It cracked up my mom. My daughter continued. I woke up and saw these three in their element and grabbed the camera.

Two; At this moment it captures the girls laughing about something my son was saying. He has always had a knack for one liners and cute things to say. He definitely can let his sense of humor shine when he is in the mood. To me, it captures a good memory.

This is how the three of them look very often when they are together. Laughter.

Budding Photographer

Our son has been fascinated with photography since we got our Canon back in May. However, it is not the Canon that he is excited about using, rather he adopted our Kodak EasyShare P880.

Desperately wanting his own camera; offering the neighbors to weed their front lawn for money to save, counting the change and bills that he already had in his piggy bank, asking his dad to research camera's online ... it has been a summer quest.

The reason he gave why he needed his own (and less quality camera, because it would take him many summers to weed beds to get the cash necessary to equal our current stock in cameras), was because he wanted to call it his own and not share with his sister.

But as the days ticked closer to our camping vacation, he finally agreed that yes, our current, very good conditioned Kodak would have to do. And the end result was ... he loved it!

My husband and my son went on an evening nature hike during our camping adventure with their camera's. Walking quietly, finding their own subjects, my husband said that our son was very thorough and observant. He can navigate that camera like a pro and told me accurate ways to fix my problems in photography while using "his" camera.

Very proud of my son. We'll see if the camera money quest is alive or if the Kodak will do. And, by the way, his sister asked to use the new camera anyway!

Camping

My parents are experienced campers, having returned from a cross country adventure which took them over 11,000 miles in 9 weeks through 27 States the Spring of '07. Being a life-long dream of my mothers, a retirement gift to each other, they made the trek in their truck and trailer from the West to the East and back again. This time, however, they included us on a four day adventure where we drove only 2.5 hours for our little get away. And it was perfect!

The weather was warm, but not the scorching hot kind where you feel the skin sizzling under the sun. Just the warm kind that heats up the bones and makes you feel refreshed. The kids enjoyed their bunk time with my parents in their trailer, while my husband and I pitched the tent and enjoyed the sounds of the wild against the wind.

Every night was a new adventure for me, not critter related, but noise related. Whether it was a neighboring tent with a crying baby, dogs barking, car alarm sounding at 2am, chipmunks chasing and singing at the crack of dawn (deemed the Rooster of the Forest by my husband), or the wind blowing the high cedar trees making it sound like we were on the depths of an ocean beach; I slept sporadically and felt it every morning. But I really did not mind the tent like I had thought I would have, lack of sleep - ehh - but my biggest concern did not come true; I was able to stay very warm and no bugs were witnessed.

My family learned the ropes of camping. My son thoroughly enjoyed washing the dishes with my mom at the trailer's outside hose, and he loved getting up early with the men to go fishing. My daughter enjoyed playing creative imagination story stuff with my mom, and singing to my dad's guitar around the campfire. My husband enjoyed rafting with my dad and fishing along the beach; just chilling out. I enjoyed taking it all in and watching our family interact with all our fun against the gorgeous backdrop of nature.

We took showers. We got filthy as if we did not take showers. We roasted apples over the camp fire and made "apple pie." The kids spontaneously made crafts from collected wood and moss. We compared mosquito bite stories and passed around the Lanacane. We ate great food, creatively inspired by my mom (I was in charge of the picnic Lunches, not much fancy to that). We laughed at things that you had to be there to enjoy. The kids swam in the lake. The men paddled the two rafts against the current and the wind on the river to help get us across the river (change of plans, don't even try to go that way to connect into the lake) to our own cove of beach ... which we stayed all afternoon and lounged, fished, picnicked, told stories, under the summer sun.

It was so relaxing, we all agreed we could have continued .... thanks for a great vacation, Mom and Dad!!

Specific pictures will be posted at a later time.

Hmmmm....

I have written every day on this blog since March 6th. I have filled up the pages with random memories and summaries of my days. I find writing to be a form of relaxation and I write daily because I look forward to it, not because I have to.

I have debated whether to do that fancy new trick through blogger which allows you to time stamp your post for a date in the future and then Whamo! they will publish on that date and time. Because ... I am busy packing for a vacation and thought maybe Iwould "pre-post" while I was gone, so that I would continue to have something new every day on my blog.

But then I remembered that I really am more balanced than that! I truly am not one of those overly obsessed people. So I will break my writing streak and let those who are faithful readers of my blog know that I am on vacation; until I resume my writing.

Of course, my next post will be about where we've been! But I'll leave you with a photo of my two cuties and let you ponder where we might be ...

Tractor Country

I have good memories about visiting my Uncle and Aunt in the farmlands of Idaho when I was growing up. Using a stop over in Washington to visit Grandparents; we would make the shorter trek from their house to my Uncle's farm to spend a few days with them. Just my brother and I, city kids, wandering around their farm with their big, gentle dog named Wendy. Throwing stick after slobbery stick for her.

Their white farm house was huge to me and it had an upstairs which was always so mysterious. I'm sure it was like any other upstairs of someone's house (not mysterious at all), but because we didn't go up there often, my mind always conjured up something on the spooky side. They had great places to play on their grassy lawn amongst the pine cones and trees and long gravel, dirt driveway.

I remember one year my cousins, who also lived out of the state, came to visit at the same time. We got into playing this "hide from the car" game in the dirt ditch along the gravel country road. City kids thinking that there would be cars to hide from! I think we managed to hide from a total of two, but for some reason it kept our attention for much longer than it took for that already long stretch of time.

There was this great big (kids view) wheat hill behind their house and barn and I never went to the top of that hill, and I could not see over the hill. So, in my mind, there lived Cowboys and Indians directly over that hill. Just looking at that hill gave me the shivers and it wasn't until I was grown when I shared that story to my dad; and he just cracked up. If only I had said something to them while I was young, I'm sure their farm land would have just grown before my eyes. A whole new adventure to explore.

I completely loved falling asleep at my Uncle and Aunt's house. Pitch black outside. Nestled under the covers in a different environment; the house totally quiet, and I would hear the sound of a pack of coyotes. I loved it!! Wow! How cool was that sound. Sometimes very close, other times so distant you really had to stretch to hear them at all. My favorite!

So when I saw this picture on file that was taken by my husband of our son, I immediately thought of my Uncle and Aunt's farm. Lovin' Country Life!!

Recipes for today

The mother of our good friend had a slip and fall accident late last week which resulted in a broken hip (ouch!) and surgery to place three pins to hold it back together. To say she is disappointed and angry is an understatement. She does not even have a good story to tell; like she was chasing down Brad Pitt and fell or something. No, she was just walking down the stairs and missed the last one.

So here are two great recipes that I am preparing for their dinner tonight. These have been passed around my family, but I know they did not originate from us, so wherever credit is do ... please consider it mentioned.

Elle J Enchiladas:
10 Flour Tortillas
precooked chicken ~ like Foster Farms Grilled Chicken strips
1/2 chopped onion
8 oz (or more) shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
16 oz sour cream
1 can Cream Chicken Soup
1 can milk
7 oz (or less) Green Chilies, you select grade of mild-medium-hot
can of sliced black olives

In large bowl mix together cut up chicken, onion, 1/2 of the cheese, salt & pepper to taste. Roll some of this chicken/cheese mixture into a tortilla and place in a large casserole dish so that the entire dish is covered in rolled tortilla's. In a large saucepan, barely warm the sour cream, the cream of chicken soup, the milk, and the green chilies. Pour the sour cream mixture over the tortillas. Top with the remaining (or more) cheese and olives. Heat only to warm in a 350 degree oven for about 1/2 an hour. *This can be pre-made and covered in the fridge until you are ready to warm.


Elle J Parmesan Bunt Bread
12 Rhodes frozen dinner rolls
1 1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup (or more) grated Parmesan cheese

Separate rolls and thaw per package directions. Liberally grease a bunt pan. Dip the thawed rolls into melted butter, then into the cheese, and then put the rolls next to each other (squeeze all 12 rolls) around the pan. Cover the pan with a towel and let rise for 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Immediately remove the rolls from the pan by flipping the pan over onto your decorative plate. Once warm/cool, you can slice and serve.

Bon Appetite!!!

Super Sunday

The last few days we've had a theme going on in our house; and it has been girl dates and boy dates. My husband and son have been thick as mud pie this weekend and it is so darn cute to hear and see them pal around.

They went fishing again today and caught 3 fish!!!* At one point, they were witness to an Eagle swooping down and taking a fish off the nearby lawn (someone had thrown it there on purpose for the Eagles who were peering from a nearby tree). What a cool sight to witness.


While they were away, my girl and I went to church where I was a helper in her Sunday School class. It was fun to see her in this environment; I am usually in my son's class when I do volunteer. Then we had a shopping date; always fun for me to watch her pick and choose clothing and ask for her opinion about items for the house. She has a very good eye; I usually take her ideas and choices. She's just my easy-going Sunshine.

We met back up on the front lawn; time to play with the plethora of neighborhood kids. My husband is a worker bee in our beautiful lawn. Always finding something to do; he enjoys it and finds it relaxing. Today, however, while the kids were out on the street, we both just found chairs and sat. And talked. And sat. And talked. It was so fun! Like a mini date, but surrounded by a dozen kids.

*So they didn't go to the lake, but checked out a U-Fish Farm nearby. Fish are fish to my son; although he thought the poles were a little babyish. :) They got some good bait tips that they will try on the lake shortly.

Something about summer

I remember growing up loving summer evenings. The times when I was out all day with the neighbors making up recreations of tv shows, playing cards, riding bikes, and playing in the woods. Other mom's would yell their child's name from their front porch, my mom opted to use her old school bell to ring us in. At the time, my brother and I would roll our eyes as the kids teased us when they heard that bell that it was time to go in, but looking back, that was pretty cool. Not hearing my mom YELL! at us from down the street. It was pretty classy.

I remember eating dinner with the days sweat stuck to the sunscreen and ultimately meshed to my clothes, arms, and legs. Hair messed up, barbecue sauce dripping with the corn on the cob butter down the chin, with multiple torn napkins on my lap. By the time the dinner and the day were over, it was high time for a bath. Remembering the showers that were deliberately set to the coldest ever in our brightly colored green bathroom in the basement. It felt so good!

But my best summer memory was laying on the floor of our basement family room; our carpet was a plaid decor with colors of red's, yellow's, green's, and blacks. It was totally awesome, and being of Scottish decent on one half of my family, it felt completely like home with the wood paneling and floor to ceiling bookshelves. We had black leather furniture which really popped against that floor, but I always opted for the floor in the summer. With clean body, summer pj's on, it was the best to stay up "late" (9:00pm) to watch The Facts of Life; with the added bonus when The Wonderful World of Disney would air The Bad News Bears.

Maybe that is why my favorite time of day in the summer as an adult is still in the evenings; when the kids have had a jammed packed day of outside fun, their belly's are full, they are showered, sporting their pj's, and get to stay up late to watch one of their favorites.

Morning Light

While my husband was preparing the boat, the truck, the fishing gear, my son lay sleeping in his bed. Trying not to push the clock too early, my husband went into my son's room at 6:55am. I could hear my son wake from a deep sleep, pushing hard to be coherent, saying "Is it time? Let's go." And in literally less than 59 seconds my son was up, dressed and ready with hair sticking up on end and puffy eyes, coming in to my room to kiss me goodbye. He was adorable and full of grin. As if he were sneaking out to something secret.

They went fishing. Complete with new gear and new things to try, my son was so happy to be able to "get up early" and get on that water. While they came up short, my son was ok with that and it was more about spending time outside before his sister was even up. It was about chatting with dad, being the full center of attention. It was the unknown, could this be the one, when the line would jiggle. All in all, it was about guy time and he loved it!

He came home with cold fingers and cold toes. The summer sun was hiding this morning and the breeze maked it just a tad chillier than what we've been experiencing. But he is ready to go again in the morning light.

A feel good photo for a day when I do not have much to say. My daughter was seven and my son was five. I just love any good black and white photo; and this is one of my favorites.

We used this as our Christmas card in '05. I remember we took many photos that day, and this still tops my list when I review the file.

A lot of the "take outs" were due to little brother could not stop tickling.

And of course the sillies came out too.

American Girls

My daughter received her first doll from American Girl about six years ago. It was a Bitty Baby at Christmas time from my parents. If my daughter's love for her doll is any indication of what type of mommy she will be; she is going to make a wonderful mommy.

On my daughter's seventh birthday she asked for an American Girl doll, the bigger version and the one that looks like herself. My parents surprised her with that doll and she fell in love all over again. Like a great mom, she does not have a favorite; they are equally as important to her.

Last Christmas, my daughter had, and continues to have, this fascination with the American Girl wheelchair that she requested and received; again from my parents. And that poor doll has been stuck in that chair ever since!! So, my dad surprised my daughter with home-made, one of a kind, crutches for her doll (and he did a great job). After all, that girl has to learn how to walk! My daughter is now fascinated by the crutches.

Of course, hearing the camera clicking, our pup soon followed for equal attention.

Agility in Action

Cora triple dog loves Agility! I have to time my prep at just the right minutes before leaving, otherwise she is a crazy dog until we go. Just saying the sentence, "Cora, do ya wanna go work?" will get her tail spinning and her cute talking Whoo-Hoo underway. I just love it!

Cora brought her fan club today to Agility 102; my parents and my children. My dad was very kind to take video of her and captured many great runs of Cora. Here is just one to give you a taste of her ability. I am very proud of her runs for only doing this for ten weeks. The instructor mentioned she was very impressed with the entire class because a third of today she stuck in more advanced moves from Novice Prep.

Enjoy the video of Cora! Thanks, Dad, for doing such a great job!!!

Club House

Tucked behind tall evergreen trees and bushes, my children have been creating a wonderful Club House on the side yard of their neighbor buddies. The only view from the street that gives their secret hideout away is the occasional Lady Bug umbrella popped open; otherwise they have it made in the shade.

They have set up Club House rules, added tissue-paper flowers to plastic vases for decoration, marked off intruders with jump ropes, added their own drawn posters, rearranged kid tables and chairs for themselves and guests, and made a fireplace out of sticks.

But my personal favorite is their highly creative fire escape route; which entails rolling belly flat on two rubber outdoor balls through two bushes and one tree. And yes, they have also requested the services of an exterminator (dad) to come remove a large spider casually hanging around the Club House.

Their housewarming gift from their buddies' mom? A Hershey Bar to share.

Our Newest Purchase

.... this week:


After numerous attempts at patching the hole(s) in our old raft, my husband and my son opted to start over. This is a great little boat for our family of four; an Intex Mariner. The lake around the corner from our house has an official name, but while we were taking our first family voyage, my children decided to rename it. It is now called Golden Lake.

No gas-motored boats allowed, this lake is perfect for the quiet stroll and for fishing. Both of the kids had their turn at steering; and I had to help with something too, so I opted to row us into shore. That was fun.Great purchase, guys! Looking forward to many adventures together.

*Camera phone photos.

Puppies!!

I grew up with Northern Dogs; huskies to be exact. While I was old enough to know our first dog, she was there before I was born, and I was relatively young when she passed away. I was more bonded to our next dog (having helped pick the pup from the litter), a half blue eyed husky we named Kilo. He was awesome! Independent Husky character through and through, but he had a smart and lovable side to him that I adored. He passed away after I was married. My parents' next dog was a Malamute and he was big and friendly and very handsome.

My parents have been dog-less for many years. Now both retired, they have been on a patient quest to find their next dog. And this time it will not be of a Northern kind; instead it will be a Portuguese Water Dog. Not only is the goal to have a well behaved, amazing family pet, their other goal for this next dog is that it will be a Therapy Dog; a four legged friend trained to visit such places as hospitals, nursing homes, and schools.

Fast forward a year and some months and their puppy has entered the world! My parents have established a good relationship with this breeder and they know one of the eight puppies will come home to them in three weeks.

Today we visited the clan of pups and adult dogs at the breeders' house. The puppies were high energy, mischievous, playful, curious ... and then tired! We all have different pups that we are secretively rooting for as their chosen one. But frankly, they are all adorable and healthy, they are sure to get "the best".

Summer Music Camp

My daughter has enjoyed a week long Summer Music Camp at our church this week. The goal was to practice and perform a musical in five days. And the kids and directors did awesome!

It started at the end of May with "auditions". While nobody was denied, the auditions were necessary in order to assign character parts. Then during the first week of June, each camper was given a CD with all the songs, and a play book with the character highlighted which the camper would be in the musical.The kids worked solo during the month of June to memorize all the songs and their speaking parts. On Monday, the campers assembled for camp, ready to work hard to put it all together in five days for a wonderful performance for friends and family this evening.

The musical was "Pirates ... of the I don't Care-Ibbean." My daughter's character had a few speaking parts and she performed a nice quartet. But my favorite part of watching her was to see her facial and body drama unfold on stage, to watch her stand out in the choreography, and to see that she enjoyed every second!

I asked her what her favorite part of the experience was; she replied, "Definitely the choreography." Her little brother created her biggest grin when he came up to her with paper and pen and asked for her autograph.

Quiet Time

There is just one sure thing that I am glad that I followed through with in our parenting. One thing that I can guarantee worked well for us. So brilliant, that if someone were to ask me to give advice to a new mother it would be this: establish Quiet Time for your household.

Obviously children nap. But when the napping was over because my children grew up, I didn't want to lose that guaranteed daily moment of peace and quiet. So I went straight to Quiet Time. Upon completion of lunch, I would clean up the kitchen and they would head to their bedrooms. They could look at books, or play quietly, or even nap, but they had to stay in their own rooms with the door shut. The length was always one hour (I think, perhaps longer, but I know not shorter). It provided them a chance to chill out from one another, a chance to be independent, and creative (and yes, sometimes they actually fell asleep). It also provided me a chance to get whatever I wanted to get done without youngsters (aka: free time to myself to just be allowed not to talk).

Daily Quiet Time vanished when the kiddos hit elementary school full time. But I pull it out every now and again in the summer when they are with each other or with friends for many hours. I think kids still need time to themselves to regroup their thoughts and emotions. A place to veg-out.

My daughter has had another full week of camp (this time Drama/Music) and today she got in the car t-i-r-e-d. And her brother was not helping with his endless questions trying to get the camp scoop. So, before a verbal explosion ensued, I suggested that Quiet Time be had at 1:00pm. They both agreed. And it is quiet around here. Ahhh.

When the hour is up, we will all be refreshed and ready to have more fun.

Not a simple cookie ..

Got braces. Got a craving. Got a craving for Chips Ahoy!, which is not a soft accommodating cookie, but the good hard kind which serves dual purpose of crunchy and sweet. We had a park picnic with friends and I purposely brought enough Ahoys! for the whole troop and brought along a chocolate pudding snack for myself. But the pudding looked unappetizing as I eyed the cookies.

By the time I watched five kids and one adult enjoy their crunchy, sweet, chocolate chip cookie, I was in desperate mode. But not knowing if I could really handle the hard cookie, I opted for will power and put the rest of the cookies back into my pack, along with the lame pudding.

Once home, the kids went straight from car to front yard play time, while I came inside to unpack. The cookies were right there on the counter. I am sure I heard them calling my name. I'm alone, I can figure this out, and not have to worry what my face contortions look like to accomplish this task. So I went for it.

Uh-No. That totally hurt. A combo of like eating nails and hitting cement at the same time. And my back brackets were being compromised and I do not want to haul myself to the Ortho for a replacement over a shelf food cookie.

However, not to be out done by a crunchy, sweet, chocolate chip cookie (I am in desperate mode remember), I broke off the pieces and dissolved them in my mouth. Hmm. Just not the same. And now the roof of my mouth hurts.

Oh, the joys of eating in 18 months (crossing my fingers). I! Can! Not! Wait!

Snippet of Memories

While my daughter was enjoying Drama-Music Camp at our church this morning, my son accompanied me to Agility with the Handycam. I had plans to add my first video blog. One of Cora doing great at Agility. I have watched his videos. I nearly got motion sickness with the camera flipping up and down, and then quick side to side movements. I will spare you the dizziness and go for round two next week when my parents come to watch. The cool part of the video was his commentary of the event; you would think that we were at a National Competition and had won. Very cute.

But as I have been waiting for our copier to complete it's task, I have been staring at these two photos in my husband's den. They are printed on canvas and are casually displayed behind his desk. The computer screen does not do it justice compared to the canvas, but the personality continues to come through. They were taken about fourish years ago when my daughter first started Kindergarten ballet, and when my son loved to try on his daddy's snowboarding gear and then pretend to be on a motorcycle. Traditional girl. Traditional boy. How fast they grow.

Now I want to pull out videos taken when they were little to be reminded of their baby voices all over again.

Little Man Date

With the sun beating down on our day, my little man and I went on a date. It was so fun and so cute to be with him one on one doing boy things. First, he wanted to shop for cars. And I do not mean Hot Wheels found at Target. He was talking big boy cars that need gasoline to run. So we headed out to some dealerships and were lucky enough to be left alone. I think the fact that he got in the cars, rather than me, made the salesmen stay clear.

Next, he chose the bookstore to look at ... what else, but animal books. He chose a really neat and challenging animal maze book that he promises to "Not peak at the answers in the back unless it has been a full year and I still haven't solved it." Ok, fair enough. Another selection was a Geronimo Stilton chapter book.

And since it was so hot and summer-ee, we opted for an ice cream stop; never mind the fact that we are so close to dinner prep. Ice cream is a must for any summer date!

A happy Monday with my son!

(For those camera savvy readers, I used my Sony Handycam which does combo video and photos ~ nice point and shoot, but not ultra quality).

Willow. Willow. Willow.

We had a fantastic day yesterday. Yesterday we spent the evening with Willow and it was so! much! fun! Full of creativity, energy, and personality, Willow brings all of these and more to the table.

The purpose of our get together was to enlighten us on how to use our new camera to it's fullest potential. Learning about ISO's, F/stops, controlling the flash, all about the histogram, etc. etc. etc. It was fantastic to get the scoop from Willow; we learned so much!


We met at her really cool studio with the red door, hard wooden floors, neat chairs, lighting positioned from large windows and high ceiling lights. We moved outside to the hot spots on her street; the yellow and green wall, the black and white circle, the new red speckled door. We walked to the Link which shuttled us through the city. Stopping at the end, we got great backgrounds at the historic Opera Alley, while ending our day with a relaxing meal at Harmon Brewery Co.


The kids were all-for the fun, games, and photos that Willow had streaming. My husband, learning along side her, captured neat photos as well. Between the two, I am inspired to get my hands on that camera; even if I have to flip a coin for it.


Hands down, no doubt, no wavering, if you are looking for a hard working, fun loving, creative, fair and honest photographer ... call Willow! You will have a new friend and be hooked for life like us.

*Too many good photos to post at once ~ the rest will be posted in the future ...

Block Party

Since the first 4th of July was celebrated on this street six years ago, we have been hosting the neighborhood block party. Food, games, fireworks; we always have a good time together. However, it seems that the size of the crowd is determined by what day the 4th falls, as this year we were low on numbers, but not on fun!!!

The kids enjoyed their bike parade.

Smoke Bombs, Snakes, Flowers, and Pop-It's ... all things the kids could handle on their own while the adults socialized and supervised.

Our celebration would not be complete with out a game of kick ball; dads versus kids. The dad's think they won, but the kids are sure they won.

Block Buddies. Close in age (third, fourth, fifth grade), these three are always hanging around enjoying their creativity with drama or dance or bikes or games.


Clean up before our yummy BBQ.

Homemade Ice Cream the Ol'Fashioned way. The best ever! (And yes, that is my girl wearing ear phones to lessen the impact of the noise of booms and bombs going off around us. Sensitive to noise? A definite positive since she was born!)

Then it was time for the main event. While our city hosts a professional fireworks display on the lake, they have yet to ban fireworks in neighborhoods; so we were able to enjoy lighting off our fountains and a few that flew through the air. But we all admit we were outdone by the surrounding neighborhoods' display of the kind I call "Disney-like." A fantastic day together with friends and family and fun.