4th of July

It didn't take us too long to settle back in at home after our big international adventure. The 4th of July this year fell on a Thursday, and I have decided it's my favorite day for this holiday. I wish it could always be on a Thursday, like Thanksgiving! Since Boomer already gets Friday off, it meant we got to enjoy a four-day weekend together. As we usually do for the 4th, we went to visit Boomer's parents at Lake Tillery. Boomer's siblings weren't able to make the trip to the lake this year, and so it was just the six of us. Along the way to the lake, we stopped for breakfast at a charming southern restaurant in Asheboro called The Table. The kids loved adding their own designs to the chalkboard there. When we arrived at the lake, there was lots of swimming, fishing, and even paddle boating. The kids collected lots of candy from the parade, and they got lots of spoiling from Granny and Paw Paw. We spent the night and stayed for most of the day on Friday before returning home to Kernersville. It was a relaxing two days, and I am hopeful that we can fit in another lake visit before summer ends. 

We didn't get to see fireworks at the lake (we opted for an early bedtime instead) but we did catch fireworks after the Dash game on Saturday evening. We went with our friends the Schmidts and the Ellisons. The Schmidts were passing through from Florida on their way to a vacation in Virginia, and it was great to spend a few hours with them. The Dash won the game in an exciting walk-off finish 6-4 in the bottom of the 9th. With the lake, baseball, hot dogs, and fireworks, our 4th of July felt complete. 

On the weekdays surrounding July 4th, the kids and I continued our summer adventures: trips to the library, baseball in the yard, forts in the living room, the YMCA pool, play dates with friends, writing to our mailman (and getting a response!), and the Science Center. The kids also got to help the Houston boys with their lemonade stand. It was a core childhood experience for sure. 

We enjoyed having Boomer with us today for another fun Friday. We went to Pulliams in Winston-Salem for hot dogs and BBQ. The butter buns and red hot dogs were delicious. After lunch, we went to Urban Air, and the kids jumped for over 3 hours! They loved the trampolines, the battle beam, the ball pit, and the obstacle courses. They probably spent the most time playing dodgeball, and I was quite impressed how they held their own with some of the older kids. Afterwards, we took Daddy to Cupcake Cuties for ice cream and cheesecake. The kids and I went earlier in the summer, and they were begging to go back. We always love ending the week with an adventure with Daddy. Now that we have crossed over July 4th, it is hard not to count down the remaining days of summer. We have about three weeks left, and we are going to soak it up as much as we can!