Sunday, July 5, 2009

A Happy 4th!!

My goodness! It was a day for sitting (lounging) around with family & friends at Granny's annual 4th of July cookout, swimming party & fireworks show!! Above is my nephew's son, Tucker, who just turned 2, but knows how to kick back!!
The morning started out with thunderstorms, lightning bolts & torrents of rain, but by 1:00 the sun had come out, the storms subsided & it was off to the pool. Above is Hank the Tank having a moment of total glee in the pool. With 3 little ones under the age of 5 one can only imagine the giggles & silliness that was had!
Tucker, Hank & Natalie, along with Uncle Nate, played and played in the pool. Natalie was the big winner in the swimming pool--she can swim without a life jacket and dive off the board. Tucker & Hank splased around in the whirlpool where they could walk around the step from side to side. I didn't get the picture of all the kids (30 and under) playing with the mega shooters Granny supplied. Boy, did we have fun and get wet. I've never heard so many happy laughs!!

Uncle Alex showed Hank the proper (???) stance for golfing---we only let him hit the used smoke bombs. Golf balls are toooo dangerous in large groups!! But Uncle Alex is Hank's "look up to" guy & the little smoke bomb holders were great for this!!!




And no visit to Granny & Grumps' house is complete without the golf cart ride. Natalie lives next door, but she'll jump at the chance to get on the cart with Hank & Grumps to drive to her house. Granny & Grumps live on a cul de sac, and golf cart rides around the area are one of the favorite pastimes!! Hank will to any time anyone gets on the cart & is happy with any length of ride!
Sof after all the swimming, we "dived" into hamburgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob, coleslaw, pasta salad, fresh tomatoes, apple dumplings, blackberry cobbler, chocolate cake, home churned ice cream, lemonade & iced tea. Yummy!! So much to eat it took the entire day & night!! Sounds like alot of food no? Well, there were around 20 people there --so alot of food was required!!! Oh, forgot to add the fruit pizza made with fresh strawberries & blueberries!! Even the corn was fresh! Love summer's bounty!!!
The sun finally went down, and the fireworks began. Everyone in the cul de sac had their own loot, so we got 4 times the show for one price!!! ha ha ha And several neighborhoods on acreages within the mile area were adding to the send off. Booms & blasts & colors galore!
Would you believe---we cleaned up the carport, took down all the folding chairs, moved all the food indoors, picked up all the trash, shut down the happening AND the rain began once again!! Just as we arrived at home--safe & sound!!! We didn't have to wash off the drive way on Sunday after all---
Hope you all had a joyous 4th---we sure did. Thank you Lord for our family with all their quirks and our friends. We are soooo blessed!!!