Independence Day

 Most of our weeks are pretty unadventurous, and this was no exception. Andrew helped me wash the windows, inside and out. He swam most mornings. We went to the park and the library. The kids had friends over and went to friends' houses. Typical summer stuff.

Oh, and I got my edits! This is really only exciting to me (I'd been waiting for nearly four months), as it means making real progress on the process of turning my novel into a real book. (If you don't see me mid-August, you'll know why).

Things got much more exciting at the end of the week, when the cousins came to town. Matt and Laurie came up from Texas for the fourth, and it's been fun for my kids to get reacquainted with cousins they don't see nearly as often as we'd like.

Saturday morning, we went to the local parade. The weather was beautiful: overcast and mild for July. But the parade route had changed in the 3-4 years since we'd been, so we ended up arriving later than we'd expected and walking farther than we'd planned to find a place to sit. But it all worked out.

Here's the kids in their fourth wear (including shorts and skirts made by my mom).

Is it disrespectful that I snapped a picture of the kids waiting for the color guard to arrive? (They weren't in front of us yet, so I hope not!)

The kids' favorite part of the parade was easily all the candy that got thrown. Our least favorite part was the endless train of baseball teams, all of whom had buckets of water and sprayers and felt the need to spray the audience incessantly. (The plan was probably a good one when they expected the fourth to be hot--as it wasn't, the water got annoying really fast. In fact, that's why we left!)

After the parade we gathered at our favorite spot (The "Cow") for some fries and drinks, before heading back to Bubby and Poppy's house for some games. I took Oliver home for a nap, so I'm not sure what shenanigans happened in our absence. But we did have a nice dinner of sandwiches, salad, chips, and fruit. (Turns out, Oliver really likes Fritos. That's all he had for dinner. Oh, and maybe a few grapes).

Dinner and games again tonight: tostadas, fruit, refried beans, chips and salsa, and oatmeal cake (a family favorite).

One of my dear friends from State College (Jana Emmer) stopped by Friday night with her sisters, and it was a treat to see her. She's still as smart and pretty as always.

So, a good week. Even if we did have hail for a few minutes this afternoon.