Fourth of July

Our home computer has been acting up, so I can't get to any of the photos from my "real" camera to catch up on blogging, so I'm going to try to catch up using photos on my phone, and will add more later once we get the computer fixed.

 

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We had a great 4th of July weekend this year.  After a horribly over-worked June for both of us, with the Fourth falling on a Friday, Matt and I decided to take a personal day on Thursday while the kids went to school, so we could relax and catch up with each othe and life.  It was a fantastic day!  We visited friends and snuggled their brand new baby, I got a pedicure an did some shopping, we had a long relaxing lunch (with wine of course!), took a nap, and cleaned the house, all before we had to pick up the kids.  We really need to do that more often - it was such a nice way to recharge and reconnect.

 

 

We could not have asked for better weather for the 4th!  It's usually so hot and humid that you don't want to spend much time outside, but this year it was in the mid-70s and low-80s!  Amazing.  We got up early and headed to Fairfax for their annual Fourth of July parade.  I loved it, but I'm a sucker for a small town parade since the town I grew up in has a fantastic 4th of July parade every year.  Lucinda was really into it, too.  Malcolm wasn't quite so sure he liked all the people and loud noises, but he did like the fire trucks and the marching bands, and the Shiners riding around in little go carts really won him over.  It was such a fun way to spend the morning together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the parade was winding down we headed out to grab lunch and then head home for a bit of quiet time.  The previous weekend, while Matt took Lucinda to get a haircut, Malcolm and I ran some errands.  When we stopped at Michaels, I let Malcolm pick out a "craft" for him and Lucinda to do together over the long weekend.  He chose two birdhouses, paint and stickers so they could decorate them for the backyard.  They had a blast painting these things, and did a great job!

 

 

While the birdhouses were drying, Lucinda and I ran out to pick up some food to throw on the grill for dinner and a few small fireworks.  While we were at the store, an older lady in front of us at the register dropped her wallet and all the change spilled out.  Lucinda squatted down there immediately, picked it all up, and handed it back to the lady so sweetly.  The nice lady thanked her for being such a great helper, and gave her a dollar.  She was so proud of having earned that dollar!  Fortunatley, our grocery store is right next to a Dollar Store, so we popped in there and I blew her mind by telling her she could buy anything in the store with that dollar.  She picked this balloon on the display immediately inside the door (pretty much the first thing she saw) and couldn't wait to get home to tell daddy about this amazing thing that had happened to her.

 

 

After dinner, we had fun in the backyard with sparklers and pop-its, and lit a couple of ground flower fireworks on the driveway before it was off to bed for the little llamas.  I have pictures of that, but they're stuck on the home computer for now -- I'll add them later.

 

The rest of the weekend was lovely and relaxing - we went to the pool, went out to eat a lot, spent time with friends, worked in the yard and played outside a lot. It was just what we all needed!