Fourth Day of July

You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.” – John Adams in a letter to his wife Abigail, April 26 1777

For the beauty of the earth.
Our day ended with fireworks.
And started parading in a nearby small town.
How stunningly beautiful my kids are.
Sean, our best friend. Love that boy.
Flowers for Mama.
Red, white, and blue.
Early arrival insured an excellent view of the parade, in the SHADE.Waiting for the action. Trey said, "Where's the caprade?"Here they come.
Closer now.
Gracious, who is that driving?
Yep, that's our Lindsey girl.A little bit of everything in the parade.Sharing the loot. They were quite organized.On the way back, we bummed a ride to the farm.
Who passes up a free wagon ride when you know the driver?Slow and steady wins the race.
Micah got a front row seat.Trey's turn.Did I mention it was hot?Braided.
Thanks for the ride girls.
If you stop at the farm, you must go see the piglets.
Our annual tradition is to go to Calumet for chicken barbecue,
an outdoor brass concert,
topped off with an ice cream sundae.
I have no idea what he is doing.
We share the fourth of July with Bob's mother and his brother, Tom.
Very special.
Hanging out in the hammock.
We also said good-bye to Grandma Marcia and Grandpa Jere
and sent them on their way.
We had a wonderful visit.
Back to work tomorrow.

By the way, all my photos are unedited.
Sometimes I get lucky.
And some day I will learn how to photoshop.

Good Girls and Naughty Boys

Today was work day.

Work.

All day.

After I got off the computer at 10:00 am.

That's the truth.

Clean up the yard day.

Rake out the pebbles from under the rabbit hutches.

What goes in....must come out.

And another rite of passage has occurred.

Kloey is 11 and she asked to learn how to do this:
We decided she was ready.

Then she ran out of gas.
The rest of the story isn't so pretty.

Can you guess what nature of crime is depicted here?
Quite an art project, wouldn't you say?

What happens when a certain someone leaves a sharpie laying around?

And two little boys find it?

Instant art.....on the car.

Not good.

All over the car and windows.

Not good at all.

One of the culprits.
I ask you, does he even look remotely remorseful?

Little stinker.

Field Trips

We ventured out to visit fun places in Vermont.
A few cute apples in the bunch.
Having fun yet?
Another basket of apples.
Apple cider doughnuts. Delicious.
Free samples? Yes sir-ree.
A little cream, a little milk, and a whole lot of sugar.
Every good field trip involves a playground.The whole gang.
Granddaughter and Grandmother
Sisters.
Father and son.
My brother and nephew.
Even Grandpas like to color.
Cousins.

Down By the Bay

Vacations Are For:

Hot coffee on a misty, moist-y morning.
Eating PW Cinnamon Rolls
Talking about how God works in our lives.
Lots of cinnamon rolls.Fishing
Playing on the beach
Getting wet
Eating real bacon
Catching your first fish
Being silly
Snagging lots of little fish
Fathers and sons
Ice cream
And brain freeze
Canoeing
Napping
Hanging out on the porch
What we didn't do:
Watch cable TV. Not sure what is happening in the world.
Very little organized/mandatory fun. My kids love to play.