4th of July **** Long post, lots of pictures

The 4th of July is one of my all-time favorite holidays. I am a very patriotic person and I love looking back over the history of our country and the struggle it took to gain our independence from England and I'm so grateful for all those who sacrificed so that we could be the country we are. We got to sing the Star Spangled Banner in church on Sunday and it's such an amazing and inspirational song that I can't sing it without getting goosebumps and choking up a bit. I've never memorized the 2nd or 3rd verses, but I think I will make that effort because it's such a powerful song.

Anyway, we had such a wonderful time visiting Scott's family this past weekend. Luckily Scott's office was closed on Friday so we got to leave on Thursday afternoon to get a jump start on a nice long weekend. On Friday spent the entire day at the lake. We were out there for hours and hours but we were so slathered with sunblock that nobody got burned. I only brought the kids' sunblock (spf 50) though, so that's what I used too. Unfortunately it did the job too well and after 7 hours at the lake, I have zero tan lines to show for it. Darn it! But I guess I'd rather be pale than burned.... Oh well. Mister and Pumpkin had a wonderful time at the lake. Mister wasn't brave enough to take a ride on the boat, but he had a blast playing on the shore and wading in and splashing around with his cousins. Pumpkin went on the boat and did really well but he didn't like to play in the water at all, so he just sat on the shore playing with the rocks he found (and occasionally putting them into his mouth). Scott really enjoyed getting back out on the waterski and I got brave and not only jumped into the lake (gasp!) but went tubing as well. I know - I don't know what got into me. I have a weird thing with water - normally I only like to swim in pools, but occasionally will branch out.

On the 4th we went to a parade in one of the neighboring small towns and enjoyed the show they put on. They had a pair of F-16s fly overhead at the beginning of the parade and we thought Mister would be thrilled to see the fighter jets in person. But alas, he surprised us again, by freaking out and crying because they scared him with their loud engines. Oh well.

We had to cut our parade enjoyment short so we could meet up with a guy to buy Scott's birthday present - a great longboard we found on Craigslist. It was a joint gift from me, Scott's parents and my parents. I don't think I've ever seen him so happy about any gift before. He's already counting the days until we go to the coast so he can use it. Only 12 days honey....

After naps we went to a local swimming hole up in the woods that was maybe one of the coolest places I've ever been to. They had a really deep pool and big rocks and cliffs to jump off of into the water below. Then they had a shallow area for kids to wade around safely and comfortably (which is also where I stayed - the water was chilly there!). It was spectacular. So you all probably know that Mister has no fear of water. He doesn't know how to swim yet (he's started lessons though) but he has no problem jumping into the deep end or going off a slide or whatever. But I never expected him to want in on the cliff-jumping action too. After watching Scott and his Uncle Ryan jumping off the big cliffs so many times he decided that he wanted a turn too. Fortuantely he was content to jump off the small 8-9 ft. cliff instead of the 25-30 ft one. And he just jumped right in! I think the water was too cold for him though because he wouldn't do it again after that - he was shivering!

Mister going for it!

Our fireworks show (in the backyard) was amazing. Mister was so excited about it (he asks for it all year) and did really well. Pumpkin was a trooper too (ears covered, of course) but got so tired that we had to put him to bed halfway through the show. But I got some great pictures after playing with the settings a bit.

Just a cute picture of Pumpkin:

Speaking of pictures, I was so mad because most of my pictures that I took this weekend turned out blurry. I've never had a problem with my camera before and I was ready to cry I was so frustrated. So I took it in to Ritz Camera this morning to show them my pictures and see what they thought the problem was. After looking through them all and taking some shots of his own, the guy who helped me said that my lens was defective! Fortunately he just swapped my old lens out for a new one (the same one, just brand new) and let me test it out and showed me how much better the resolution was on the new one. I was amazed that he just swapped it out for me - I thought I'd have to pay for a repair or something. That really made my day. I love Ritz Camera! Haha. :)