On Thursday night we had our own little fish fry...just like we used to do when we spent the holiday at Mamo and Bapo's place on the lake. Fried Striper, fried potatoes and cornbread
On Friday afternoon, Barrett and I went to visit my friend
Amber. She was in town for the holiday with her girls, Hadley and Jillian. The kids got to play, and we all got to catch up. Then Barrett went to Aunt Kim's so I could go to lunch with my girlfriends.
Friday night Barrett had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's, while Justin and I had a night out with our friends Heidi and Mitch. We went to
The Looney Bin Comedy Club to see a hypnotist, and it was hilarious!! We were all too chicken to volunteer to be one of the hypnotized. I thought it was fascinating, and look forward to going again. This comedy club has a special drink called a Labotamy. I'm not sure what all was in it, but it was tasty! If you go, you must get one. After the show, we came back to town and went out to a local bar. It was pretty dead for after 11:00 p.m. on a Friday night...but the guys had fun playing shuffleboard, and we ran into a few people we knew. It was nice to have an evening of adult conversation and adult beverages with our friends...it's the latest we've stayed out in a long time!
On Saturday we celebrated the 4th with an annual tradition among my friends Megan and
Audra and their families. It started several years ago, when we were all newlyweds. We would pick-up dinner at Sonic and set up a picnic on the lawn out by the college. The college is where they have the community fireworks display. We'd go a couple hours early, so we could eat our dinner out on a blanket and then visit and play games until it was firework time. Megan's parents and some of their friends always have a spot close to us, and they bring homeade ice cream and all sorts of toppings, cookies and brownies! So sometime before the show, we walk down to get a treat.
Well, last year we all had babies {Lydia was 7 months, Barrett was 5 months, and Norah Kate was 4 months} so we took our Sonic out to Audra and Kane's. We put the babies to bed around 7:30 p.m. and sat out on their front lawn to try and see the firework display in town. We could see them, but they were tiny from our spot.
This year, we were still worried the babies might not make it to 9:30 to watch the fireworks. So we took our Sonic to the park for a picnic. It was a beautiful evening, and the kids had fun eating and playing together.
Megan, Audra and I had gotten together last week to decorate some festive shirts for the kids. Megan had seen the idea in Family Fun magazine. I used the edge of lasagna noodles to make fireworks on Barrett's shirt and shorts, and then ironed on some fabric stars. After our picnic, we got the kiddos together for a photo shoot in their 4th of July outfits. They looked so adorable!!!!
Barrett gave his friends a little holiday gift, and then they all gathered around a Sonic cup. They're addicted already, I guess.
After the picnic we all went our seperate ways, since we weren't sure how long the kids would stay awake. Justin and I took Barrett over to Todd and Kim's to hang out with family. We played basketball and then headed out to find a spot to watch the fireworks.
Grandpa Rusty brought his new little 4-wheeler for the kids to ride. Justin shot off some fireworks with Kylie and Emily, before the big show began. Barrett stayed awake for it all. He sat on Grandpa's lap and loved it...he's smile and point everytime a firework would light up in the sky.
Next year we hope to get back to our tradition of being right up under the fireworks. There's nothing like lying back on a blanket and having them right over your head. I think Barrett will really enjoy it next year. Happy 4th!
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