Happy 4th of July

I don't know exactly how it happened, but it has become a tradition for us to buy these little firework chickens at the 4th of July.  We know they are incredibly underwhelming, but we have to get them every year!  Everyone stands around while we patiently wait for the chicken to lay its egg, which produces a few sparks and some smoke.

Then on to more fun fireworks!  The girls love poppers and sparklers.  Lyla is still a little skittish.  She burned herself two years ago with a sparkler and hasn't gotten over the fear of it yet.  I'm ok with that as she usually has little impulse control.  But she did manage to hold a sparkler or two very tentatively this year.

We shot some pretty fireworks too.  We usually buy some assortment so you never know what you're going to get!

We didn't go see a big fireworks show this year because we had to get up early and start the trek home the next morning.  But we had fun.  We sang the national anthem and celebrated America and shot fireworks.  So we did have a happy 4th.

*On the way home we had to stop at a Virginia rest area.  Did you know that "Virginia is for Lovers?"  Apparently it is.  Oh..kay.  What a strange slogan!?  We love you too Virginia, but we don't like the incredibly long time it takes to drive through you to get home.  

Mississippi

The girls actually went to Mississippi first on their trip, but Jason and I went there second, so the pictures were in that order.  The girls stayed with Mimi and Papaw for about two weeks.  I think they went swimming every day!  It reminds me of my summers, when I was at the pool everyday also!  They did lots of other things too like driving the golf cart - always a favorite.  They visited lots of family.  Helped in the garden and the wood shop.  Gwyn and Celee even got to try out the Decatur Family Medical Center where they got shots!  Gwyn had a pretty bad case of poison ivy (that she actually got in MD) and Celee got stung by a wasp.  Let me just say that compared to MD, the nurses in Decatur don't play.  There was no topical ointment or pills, it was straight to a shot in the hiney.  Ah, summer memories.

A friend of Mimi's has a large farm and teaches various lessons so the girls got to try out barrel racing!  They did pretty good.  I wouldn't mind having a barrel racer in the future!

Lyla loves a bubble bath!

When Jason, the girls and I got back to Miss, we had to go pick blueberries!  I can't resist!  We didn't get the huge hall we usually get, but I got enough to bring home and freeze.  So yummy!

While we were picking blueberries we got to hear something I'd never heard before.  We were all standing around talking to the property owner when we heard a pack of coyotes that apparently had taken down something.  It was so eery!  I've never heard a whole pack like that.  The dogs were going nuts too!

And finally the girls got to show us all the tricks they had perfected on the diving board!  They even tried flips!  I was pretty impressed.

Daddy had to show off his cannon ball. :)

I was super excited to get to see my cousin Wendy and her family while we were there. It was a short trip, but the girl got to swim with their cousins and eat watermelon.  Wendy swears her boys are trouble, but those faces will probably keep them out of too much trouble!  They are the cutest!

More cousins!  The girls got super silly making up songs and videos with Jeffery.  One day I may blackmail him with the song he sang and videoed.  I'll make sure that one gets kept until he's a teenager or a twenty-something.  Heehee!

They also played water war in the back yard.  It's always funny to me to see them (usually Gwyn) trying to create "rules" for this game.  There are no rules in Water War!  It's everyone for themselves and whoever can get the hose uses it!

Texas

The girls had a great time in Texas with Monty and Pop!  They just love spending time with their grandparents, but they also got to do a tun of really fun things!  They took a cooking class.  They made crafts.  They watched movies.  They went to the Caldwell Zoo.  Thankfully it was not oppressively hot while they were there.  Lyla loved that they got Luigi's that were bigger than the ones I can get in the store.  She usually fixated on whatever treat she gets at places.  ;)

They also got to swim in the lake in Monty's neighborhood.  There's a pool there too, so they would swim in the pool, then go jump in the lake. They even had a cousin over to join in the fun! And it looks like more Luigi's!

Then we got there!  OOOOhhhh I missed my girls!  It was so good to jump out of the car and hug on them!  They each had a million things to say all at the same time, but we did eventually get in the house and sit down to hear it all.  Later we got to go swimming too!

We also went to Kingdom Water Park for a day.  It is awesome to go to a water park with kids who are confident swimmers and who are tall enough to ride the things they want to ride on their own!  Lyla is especially excited to be able to ride things by herself.  They rode everything in the park, except the one straight down slide.  I don't care for that one either.  ;)

We all love a lazy river!  Particularly when there are no rules that require you to stay in your tube.

No Luigi's here, but they did have Dippin' Dots and Icees!  And the five of us back together!

Mimi and Papaw came!

We must like ice cream a lot.  We tried out The Cow while Mimi and Papaw were in town.  On the days I had to work, they met me in Westminster to try out various restaurants and things to do downtown.

We tried out The Cup, which has yummy coffee and teas.  The girls thought their hot chocolate was the best!

Gwyn and Celee got a little loopy at The Cup.  I don't really know what was so funny.  It was beyond my comprehension.

My parents were also able to bring my green truck up with them.  So many memories!  It's super nice to have a truck again too.  Who knows what I'll bring home now!

Harper's Ferry

     My parents got to come visit for a week in June.  I love to have family here!  We decided to take them to Harper's Ferry.  My girls so love it there!  They are of course River Rats, so this charming town nestled in the crook of two rivers intersecting is pretty cool.  And it's full of super cool history, so I'm enamored with it too.  We still haven't tubed or rafted there yet, but that's for a different trip.
     The girls could probably just play in the river all day.  The water on the Shenandoah side is so beautiful!  And this time they were finding lots of really neat shells.  The Potomac side is pretty too, but very rocky.  We picnicked and played in the water for a long time, then headed into the town.

I must say that after I snapped the picture of the three girls in front of the railroad tunnel, Lyla preceded to try to slide down the railing on the other side.  This actually made my heart jump and my stomach flip.  Gwyn and I both screamed and tried to grab at her.  I thought she was a gonner!  You can't tell from the picture, but it is quite a drop down onto rocks on the other side of the stairs.  Lyla is good at scaring us this way. Thankfully, no one was harmed that day.

We made the trek up the hill to Jefferson's rock.  It's neat to think we were standing where Thomas Jefferson stood looking out over the valley and said, "This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic."  The rock has worn away and is now held up by steel beams, but it's still cool to think Jefferson stood there.

I like how the window left in the ruins of the old church frame where the two rivers meet.  It's just kinda neat.  And we did get to go inside the Catholic Church on the hill too.

Our reward for climbing the hill was ice cream.  There are several ice cream shops in Harper's Ferry, but we always go to the basement one.  I can't think of the name of it, but they have great flavors!