July 4th

Spent the 4th of July with Terry, Sara and my nieces and nephews. They were on their annual trip north, and were in Fulton, MD, spending two days with Sara's aunt.

We went up, brought Goldie, and had an incredible time.

Except for breaking two of the kids. But more on that later.

Here's Elizabeth, who's growing up gorgeous. A bit of drama, but what 7 year old isn't?

And Patrick, the jokster, trying desperately to get Goldie to play with him.

Sara's aunt has a tremendous back yard, lots of trees, a creek, a gazebo... add that to the 81 degree, no humidity weather, and it was just heaven. Goldie didn't complain much.

Late in the afternoon, we decided to play kickball. Teams kept changing, mostly because Francis wanted to always be kicking, and wasn't so much interested in playing the field.

Notice the size of the ball. It's about half the size of the kids. The first time Elizabeth was up to kick, Mike got the ball and threw it (underhand!) to get her out at first. It rams into her side, knocks her flat out. Lots of tears, and we were down one player.

Another time Francis was up to kick, Mike again caught the ball, and threw it to get him out. It hits him in the stomach and Francis rolls over the front of the ball, letting his chin take the blunt of the fall onto the ground.

There was the start of tears on that one, but with shouts from Mike and Terry to shake it off, he was back in the game.

Not for long. After that fall, we created a new rule that Mike wasn't allowed to throw the ball to get the kids out. He had to tap them. So Francis kicks, Mike gets the ball, and they are both running to second. Francis decides to slide into second...

... and breaks his toe.

Evidently, kids are kinda breakable.

After an exhausting day outside, and the biggest meal ever, courtesy of the Amish Market, we were zonked.

While we laid watching a movie, Elizabeth was hard at work on a loose tooth. She was sure she could get it to come out.

[Warning: this next picture, if looked at closely, is kinda graphic.]

And, indeed, she broke it loose after about an hour of wiggling it, just a little bit. She was really proud of herself, and was formulating the plan for the evening.

Me: "What do you think the Tooth Fairy is going to bring you?"

Elizabeth: "I'm not sure. But at least a note."

Me: "A note? What's the note going to say?"

Elizabeth: "I don't know yet. I don't know yet what I'm going to ask her."

Me: quizzical look

Elizabeth: "Last time I lost a tooth, I asked the Tooth Fairy about her castle. And she wrote me back. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to ask her, but I think it'll be about the cycle."

Me: "The cycle?"

Elizabeth: "Yeah, the cycle of tooth fairies. How long each gets to be tooth fairy before there's another one. And how long this one has been Tooth Fairy, so how long she has left."

Like, duh.

There was a little bit more snuggling:

And then we hit the road. We wanted to be back across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge before the DC fireworks were over. But as we crossed the brand, spankin' new bridge, we thought a lot people had a fantastic idea. We pulled off of Route 1, parked in Old Town, and walked up on the bridge. From there, not only could you see the DC fireworks, straight down the Potomac to the Washington Monument, but you had a 360 degree view of numerous Maryland and Virginia cities all setting off fireworks at the same time!

I don't think these pictures do it any justice, but here ya go:

Quite a Fourth!