Endless summer nights, Ode to a rainy Sunday

Happy 4th of July!

Yesterday was a perfect summer day.

We started with Luke's birthday party. No pinata injuries; a successful party!

Aachoo~'scuse me. So who wanted that first piece of cake?

PS This is the ugliest cake in history. It was supposed to be Batman and it cracked all over the place so it was renamed "The Blob" cake. Luke was not amused at  having a Blob themed party.

Then, we were invited to a cookout at a friends house. They had a huge bouncehouse for the kids,who emerged from the bouncehouse periodically red faced and sweaty for a drink of water. We had cold drinks, great conversations, and tons of delicious food. The weather was hot, humid and just right for a summer cookout.

We headed straight from the cookout to go see fireworks. Since we are often in the country in Wisconsin for the 4th, we haven't gotten to go to a real fireworks show in a few years, so I was really anxious to go. We headed to a nearby town we'd never been to, and followed the crowd. We threw out our blanket on the hill, surrounded by dozens of other families doing the exact same thing, and listened to music while we waited. The night couldn't have been more perfect. The warm breeze blew on our faces, the kids were exhausted and laid on the blanket with their glowsticks, and the patriotic songs they played made me realize that I really couldn't ask for more, and life is so very, very good. The fireworks were awesome, the kids were amazed, and I felt so happy. It really felt like we were in the heart of America.

Today I was thankful for a rainy Sunday. Because, well, if it's not raining, there's just so much work that needs done outside.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love that we have what we have. As they say, "I love it to death, but..."

Have you ever noticed that when someone is telling a story, and they say, "Don't get me wrong, I love her to death, BUT....", they are almost NEVER talking about someone they really DO love to death. It's just padding words to soften what they are going to say after the BUT... But I digress......

BUT, there is always lots of mowing/weeding/transplanting/log cutting/stick pick upping to do all of the time, and you are never caught up. So, it is really nice every now and then to just have a really rainy day that gives you just the excuse that you need to sit inside all day. So, we went to see Toy Story 3 (SO CUTE!), read the newspaper, played Lincoln Logs, cars, farm, and laid on the couch. We had a nice dinner and watched the end of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

It was a great weekend.