July 4

I was going to write a post for all of July, but then I realized that it was taking quite a bit of text just to share about July 4th! So this is just week one of July. Hopefully, I will blog about the rest of July before Christmas!

The first week of July was a bit slower (thankfully!). We had a few play dates and we had neighbor's kids here, but no scheduled activities until July 4th. Of course, I had a lot of housework to catch up on! I spend over $300 at the grocery store, because I had not taken a real grocery store trip since school let out and we were pretty much out of everything!

On July 4th, we went to my hometown to have a picnic with my family. We originally planned to go to the park that we used to go to when I was little for the 4th, but the weather was looking really iffy, so we decided to eat at my parent's house instead. We decided to have everyone chip in and buy fried chicken, instead of cooking and it was the best decision ever! It made preparation and clean up so easy. I had made pepperoni rolls and cinnamon rolls the day before and my sisters and mom made a few things each too, but it was pretty easy for everyone. I don't get to see my two oldest sisters much, and my other sister I see just a little more than them, so it was great for everyone to be together and getting along! My kids played outside with their cousins for a few hours before we ate and the adults sat around and caught up, since we didn't have anything to cook!
After we ate, my sister Tracey and I decided we were going to try to go to the park anyway, even though the skies looked pretty ominous. It was only $4 for a van load to get in, so I thought that even if we didn't get to stay long, it would still be fun. My sister wasn't so enthusiastic! My kids love to play with their cousin, Emma, and she is so easy going that she is always a joy to be around. Tracey's other three kids didn't get to join us on the 4th because they were at church camp. We got there and minutes after we got to the beach, it began down pouring, serious rain the size of small birds down pouring! Since it wasn't thundering and lightning, the kids ran out in their bathing suits and played in the rain. I kept saying, "It's going to clear up. I can just tell." It finally the rain did slow, but then it began lightning and thundering, so we had to pull the kids under the bathroom awning where Josh, Tracey and I had huddled. Then I said, "Even if it doesn't clear up, at least we are making memories!"  Tracey said jokingly, "Yeah, I can just hear us. 'Remember that time when we went to the park and got struck by lightning!'" But then suddenly it did start to clear up, so we waited for the storm to move away a little and let the kids play in the sand. After about 15 minutes, the thunder and lightning began again, so we made them come back up under the awning and I joked again that it was going to clear up. After 15 minutes under the awning, the storm had passed and we let the kids go back to the sand and play for about 15 minutes.
Then the sky actually did clear and the sun grew hot. The kids were finally allowed to get in the water (which was pretty gross, since all the rain had really churned all the sea weed and everything from the bottom). They were ecstatic! The plunged right in. They splashed and played for about an hour. Tracey and I had waded up to our knees in the water, both of us decided that it wasn't worth getting in our suits. We were standing there chatting and we noticed that the clouds on both ends of the sky were looking really black again. Almost before we knew it, the rain began pouring again. By the time we gathered our stuff off of the beach and got back to the awning, we were already drenched to the waist. We stood there deciding whether we should make a run for the van or wait it out. We decided that we were already so wet, we might as well just go. By the time we got to the van, even my shorts were soaked all the way through, but we were all laughing and I don't regret going to the park for a minute.
We had originally planned to go to the professional fireworks that are shot off over Deep Creek Lake, but when we got back to my parent's house, my dad was already setting up for his own fabulous display, so we decided that we just had to stay there instead. Tracey asked Dad to build a fire and we ran to her house to get S'mores stuff and so that Emma could check the dogs that she was dog sitting - which my kids love to help her with every time we are there!
So we got back and pulled out the lunch left overs, sat around the fire and the kids played in the yard. My dad, Josh, and my brother-in-law Donnie went up on the hill of my parent's property to start the fireworks display. I have to say, it was quite impressive. In between the blasts, you could hear all three men laughing, like blowing up things was the funnest thing in the world to do! My sister thought one of them was going to end up losing a finger or something! The kids actually got bored watching the fireworks before they were finished (that is how many my dad set off) and began playing flashlight tag.
We didn't leave until 11:15 p.m.. I thought the kids would fall asleep as soon as we hit the interstate, or before. But not only did they not fall asleep, they talked and played pleasantly the entire trip home. They decided to use their blankets to make a tent over them. It took them the entire trip, but they actually had one constructed by the time we pulled into the driveway.
It was such a great day. It was definitely one that I will remember for a long time and my parents were so happy to have us all there.