{phfr} - 4th of July Weekend Edition

{pretty happy funny real}

capturing the context of contentment in everyday life

Over the 4th of July weekend I took 300+ pictures.  Every one captured the context of contentment of my everyday life.  I can't organize these into {pretty happy funny real} categories because each picture can fit into multiple categories.  I'm just sharing, in no particular order, them here for a look at our weekend filled with boating, tubing, kneeboarding, parade watching, flag waving, BMX racing, Heart & Sole racing, and lots of eating.  By the time the fireworks rolled around Monday night, I was so tired of packing snacks I went on strike.  Warren picked up the slack and brought along a few water bottles, cashew crumbs, and nearly dehydrated carrot sticks.  Funny thing is, every morsel got eaten.

Happy Independence Day, America!

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter

Weekend Wrap-up

So, the weekend to celebrate our Freedom is over. Thank You to all the Veterans out there who do your part in protecting our freedoms. May God Bless You abundantly! And what a weekend it was. We started it with a Fun Run for the middle three. It looks like Lou is getting into her running mindset.

Then we did a little Tilt-a-Whirling. After all the running and spinning we took 5 very tired kids home. Once home, however, they perked up just enough to light off a small package of fireworks.

On the Fourth, Grace headed over to the stable to ready the minis for a walk in the parade. Girls, glitter paint, patriotic colored rubberbands, 3 mini horses, a laundry basket of candy to throw. The morning was adding up to a ton of fun. Little J had a fun time waiting for the parade to start. And BTW, he says dada, guh-guh, and a very breathy key. Yeah for the consonant sounds. You can bet there was a round of clapping and cheering for those milestones.

My Superman had a great idea for staking out our spot along the parade route. We put our chairs out the night before. I have to admit I figured they'd get stolen or at least moved. Lots of bars line the parade route in small town Pittsville, WI. But our faith in people was restored when we showed up to find our chairs still there in the morning. Or maybe that says something about the quality of our chairs. In the morning he packed a cooler of drinks and bag of snacks for the wait. Not just pop and chips, but he threw in some grapes and cheese sticks as well. What a guy! I love him.

The girls, looking pretty tired, after a long walk with the minis. Then they had to walk all the way back to the beginning of the route to trailer up the minis and head home.

Lots of candy thrown at the parade. This is a traditional old time parade where candy is tossed to the kids. Sometimes they get hit in the head. Sometimes the candy busts into a package of crumbs. Sometimes you even get hit with water ballons. Definitely need to stay on guard.

In between the parade and fireworks I made 12 quarts of rhubarb juice. Yum!

Off to the fireworks to meet up with DH's brother, his wife and little boy. We played catch, rollerbladed, threw beanbags, lit sparklers...all just to pass time until the fireworks began. Little Ray, who isn't so little anymore, 5 days till he's 5, snapped pictures of DH, Little J and I. Pretty good job, I think.

Sunday rolled around and we slept in a little (till 8am) and went to late church. Stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few last minute items for Grace's trip and then packed and did dishes most of the afternoon. Here she is all ready for the Boundary Waters for 5 days. How she's going to carry that pack along with a canoe over her head on a 1/4 mile portage, I'll never know.

Now for the week to begin so I can relax...NOT! I have 1 minute to officially post my Weekend Wrap-up before it's not the weekend anymore. I hope all of you had a terrific Independence Day weekend and I'll be back before too long to share what I know about encouraging sitting in a baby with Down syndrome.