Fourth of July

This 496th post should have been made yesterday. But certain 'shortcuts' taken after the fireworks show backfired, making us not get home until nearly midnight. I'm not naming any names here. But the person who chose the shortcuts is also the same person who has not yet noticed my new haircut. He obviously has problems with 'cuts'.

Anywho.

We had a great 4th of July! We even started early, on the 2nd, by putting up our new flag. I've been wanting to for several years now but only just got around to it. (What?! I've been busy!) The boys love the flag. We now have to check on it every morning from the office window. And we have to count all the flags we see on the way to anywhere.


We had problems with trying to grab the flag, hit it, pull it off, etc. A brief but thorough discussion ensued, including (but not limited to): how respecting our flag shows respect for our country; our country is The United States of America; we live in the USA; yes, we also live in Indiana; Indiana is a state in our country; our flag represents our country; yes, the flag has stars on it and 13 stripes for the 13 original colonies; yes, we had to fight a war against the British and we won; no, they did not use guns like in Halo or Call of Duty; and finally , just don't hit the flag anymore, okay?! Because I said so.

The Crooks invited us over for a 4th of July barbecue at their home. (Spencer was WAY excited and asked every day this week when we were going to "Sam's birthday party", "Sam's party", "Sam's fireworks", etc. I think he was a little confused.) I would have a picture of Ginger and Loren, but kept forgetting to take a picture of them. But here's good ol' Sam!


I know Ginger lurrves these potato bites (a Pampered Chef recipe), so I made them especially for her. Because that's the kind of friend I am.


Mmm... one bite of those makes you proud to be an American.


I also knew that I would win Mother of the Year if I bought this huge canister of cheese balls from Sam's Club. (I've always wanted to!) Only about five inches worth were eaten, so we left them with the Crooks. Because that's also the kind of friend I am.


At the Crooks we feasted on yummy hot dogs (with awesome homemade zucchini relish - yum!), frog eye salad (courtesy of the fabulous Kayli), Jell-o fluff (made by Heidi, who really needs to start a blog all about her yummy cooking), and chips and salsa (by Marci, who should also start a blog!).

The kids swam, played, harassed a kidnapped turtle named Scratchy (ask Ginger), and ran around as if they had crazy bees in their head. In other words, a grand time was had by all. A few other highlights:

Spencer became a badmitton champion.

Spiderman and other various superheroes came to the rescue while the kids were on the tramp. (Can't you see him wrestling the bad guys there?)

Josh wanted to play badmitton, but Daddy didn't want to share yet.

Josh convinced daddy to share. (And by 'convince' I mean whined long enough to drive daddy insane.)

Everyone had to run for cover, because Josh swings a racket like he throws a ball - with deadly and accurate force.

We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. It's been so long since I had s'mores!

Joshie started fading at s'more time. (This did not stop him from eating two s'mores. It just meant he was tired in between bites.)

The weather was perfect, the food was great, and, most importantly, the company was wonderful. Thanks for the fun evening, Ginger and Loren!

After the party we went over to Purdue for the fireworks show. By the time we parked the car and hiked up to the field the boys were getting pretty tired and cranky - until I pulled out the Oreos. (A little family tradition - it's not a fireworks show without America's favorite cookie!) We munched on cookies, wished we had milk, and ooohed and ahhhed over the fireworks. (I think fireworks are so much better with little kids because they get so genuinely excited about them. Josh kept saying "Fireworks went BOOM!" and "Fireworks eat the dookies" all day.)

I didn't get any pictures during the fireworks, but I did get these ones in the car during the aforementioned shortcuts. I'm pretty sure Josh ate at least ten cookies, and most of them ended up on his face and hair.
A very happy Fourth!