harking back to the Fourth

This year was an unusual Fourth of July for us in that we had two cousins visiting (Greg and Sam, two of Marc's sister Lisa's sons). Their family was in town from California to see their oldest son off on his mission.

We really don't see Lisa's family that often, and consequently our kids have never known each other well. It seemed like a great opportunity, so we invited the boys to stay over for a couple of days. Mission accomplished! Now they know each other and they all had a great time.

The boys were content to just hang out together, playing video games, jumping on the trampoline, having water fights and tennis matches, which suited me just fine.

It was strange having every seat in my van filled! And discovering that it's possible to be even pickier than Lucas!

We had a barbecue with hamburgers, corn on the cob, potato salad, potato chips, and fruit. One boy had an ear of corn, and the other had a small bowl of mac & cheese. That's it! They didn't even want the after-dinner popsicles I proferred! I had to apologize to their mother when I returned them because they pretty much starved while at my house, despite my continuous offers of various foods...

They did accept Italian sodas the next day. (This is our new favorite celebration drink of choice.)

We went to the store to pick out some fireworks and the boys were thrilled, since they are outlawed in their hometown (Sam holding sparklers here).

Marc just about went crazy trying to light the sparklers. Our butane lighter ran out of fuel and apparently our matches are too short and flimsy to be of any use. In addition, it always seems to be super windy on the night of the Fourth! (Note to self: make sure we have a fresh lighter and "real" matches next time...)

We had our now traditional play with sparklers and photography (Max making an M).

Greg making a circle.

Eva went to bed because she couldn't stand the sound of the fireworks. "Seriously." "For real." I can't remember when I didn't love fireworks.


It was a typically low-key Fourth for us. I always feel a little disappointed about this, but when it comes down to it, I'm just a "low-level recreator" (as Denise says), so I should probably just accept it gratefully.

We also decided that it's a good thing to have cousins stay over occasionally so that we can experience the sigh of relief that comes when we are restored to our little family. They are good kids, but having that many kids around is just loud loud LOUD! and definitely more chaos than we are used to. I guess it's a good thing that we have just our three...

a happy Fourth for all

We had a relaxed Fourth of July at home. It always makes me happy to see the flags in everyone's yards. (Max was supposed to go help put them out at 6:30 a.m. but he didn't hear his alarm! He went at 8:30 p.m. to take them down.)

Much water play kept all the kids entertained.

Max and Lucas agreed to watch the girls so Jessie and I could escape to Archiver's, a place which is much better experienced without small children. Hannah met us there and we all oohed and aahed over the products and pawed through the clearance sections for good deals. Jessie and I were both amazed again by Hannah's restraint -- I think she only had about 3 items in her basket!

Jessie with her purchases

When we got home, we gave the kids lunch and put the girls down for naps. Then we played with some of our supplies! When they woke up, it was time for more water play.


We made a less healthy version of Hannah's muffin tin snacks for the girls:

When the boys saw it, they wanted their own! Hey, whatever it takes to keep them happily playing outside.

We did snaps and sparklers before the little girls went to bed so they wouldn't be completely left out.

Jack even managed to come out and join us (we thought the door was completely closed!).

Bella got brave and held her first sparkler!

But then she touched the end of it while it was still hot, giving her instant blisters on her fingers. It was so sad -- what a reward for her bravery! (It reminded me of the time we girls were inside on July 24th making place cards for Jessie's wedding reception, and the boys were outside doing sparklers. Lucas held a sparkler for the first time and did the exact same thing.)

I bought some Molli Coolz ice cream -- it looks just like Dippin' Dots, only at the grocery store -- and the kids gave it their stamp of approval. After the girls went to bed, we did the rest of our fireworks and Jessie and I played around with our cameras.

the boys' shadows during a strobe firework

Max got promoted to firework-lighter. He cracked us up by telling us that there are no duds on his watch!

Lucas with his sparklers

Jessie had the idea to make initials with sparklers. She claimed that the little sparks falling down felt like being hit with shrapnel! She won't live that one down anytime soon...

That's just cool!

I overcooked the caramel for the caramel corn... oops. We still ate it. It was great fun having Jessie & Bella around for the Fourth -- just like old times.

a very happy Fourth!

We had a great holiday yesterday. Jessie, Timm, Bella, Mim and Bob all came for a cookout and some outdoor fun.
Eva and I made Nieman-Marcus chocolate chip cookies for homemade ice cream sandwiches. She kept saying, "I'm a helper girl!" the entire time.
I loaded this photo in an effort to be inclusive, but it is mighty hard to be in a picture next to Jessie...

Yay! Grandma and Grandpa came!

Double yay!! Marc didn't go to work! (He took the boys to see Ratatouille -- they all loved it.)
Eva looking back to see how long she can stall before Bella gets impatient for her turn. (turns out, it's a really long time.)
(p.s. she has some very cute sunglasses that actually fit her, but she wears these instead.)
Look at those rosy cheeks from the heat! Which leads us to:

even the big kids enjoyed the pool (or "cool", as Eva calls it)

Eva writing her name with Uncle Timm.

that is some serious watermelon enjoyment! (how can he stand that it's dripping off his elbow?)




The little girls couldn't last until it was dark enough to do fireworks, so that was left to me, Marc, Max and Lucas. Fireworks transport me back to my childhood. Marc wanted to set the whole box alight at once -- it would be spectacular and fast! We decided to do them one at a time. We ended up having to bring Jack out on his leash because he was barking at the fireworks.

In short (well, not really!) a good time was had by all. Today I have been sad thinking about the fact that Jessie, Timm and Bella won't be here for the next 4th of July...