Good ol Murphey

And that title should be read with the most sarcasm that you can muster. Isn't it Murphey's Law that says if something can go wrong, it will? Well, if not, then it's some other law and that really screws up the title, but that would go along with the whole things going wrong deal...

Tonight, we noticed that our dehumidifier, that we'd moved upstairs last night to help dry the floor, is not working. Christopher emptied it last night, but when he checked it tonight, it was bone dry after being on all day. And the hygrometer we set out says it's 70% humidity in there, so I know there's moisture. Keith is lending us his in the morning so that we don't have to run out and buy a new one... yet.

So let's look at the list of things that have gone wrong in the past week:
Kate's bed broke
Floor continues to not dry properly
The ear plug issue
A/C going out in the car
Dehumidifier going bad

As for the floor, I'm about to lose it. The more I talk to people, the more they are concerned. I think the only people who think it's OK, are my in-laws, who insist it's fine, and if not, we can refinish it next year... Uh, NO! Christopher tried to move the fan onto the floor tonight and hit a wet spot that chipped off. Ugh! So as the current plan entails, they hope to move furniture up Saturday morning. We've tried that plan 3 times already and all three times failed. I think I'll call Minwax again. I'm ready to just strip it down and start anew.

And all the fans we moved in today... they are so loud that it sounds like a flipping air field. I tried to cook fried rice for lunch and couldn't hear my rice frying. It was a bit disoncerting. I already have mild hearing loss, but this gave me a taste of what it's going to be like when my hearing gets worse. Not a pleasant feeling.

Frustrated

Right now, I'm frustrated. So frustrated that I'm blogging in the middle of the afternoon because I need to get this off my chest. I'm NOT a happy camper...

WE picked up P's ear plugs today and went swimming. Three times he got out of the pool because water was getting inside his ear canals. After the third time, he was so frustrated and upset that he refused to get back in. I called the audiologist and she thinks we're just not getting them in 100% correctly and wants us to try again. I'm going to have him try in the tub tonight, and we'll swim again tomorrow. If they don't work, we'll have to go back and have him re-fitted., which will take another two weeks to get them in. School starts in 3 weeks and then we won't even be swimming much at all. Argh!

Our floors are STILL not dry. There are places where it's bubbling up through the cracks between the boards and it is still as wet as can be. I'm afraid we're going to have to strip it down and start over. I'm NOT pleased with them at all. I just walked through and saw tons of cat scratches all over from that *&*&@$ cat. The same cat that walked through it while wet. And these are recent scratches, from when we've been able to walk through. Our floor looks like $#!+. NEVER, EVER use Minwax High Build polyurethane for wood floors. DON'T. You WON'T be happy.

Update:

I've calmed down since this afternoon although I'm still reeling with everything that seems to be going on right now. We're going to wait some more on the floors and see what happens Saturday. We set up the dehumidifier near the dining room entrance and will get a powerful fan to put by the living room entrance tomorrow. Hopefully that will take care of it. I am SO tired of this. Keith and Dee came by tonight to help us with our flooring concerns and Dee said that we should just move everything back in, and then in a year, if we decide it needs refinished, we can do it then. HECK NO! If we're going to refinish it, we'll do it while all the furniture is already downstairs! I'm sure as heck NOT going to go through this again next year! We'll see what Saturday brings...

We didn't make it back to the pool tonight to test out the plugs, nor did we try them in the tub as it was past bedtime when Grammy and Pa-pa left, so I wasn't going to make bath time any longer than necessary.

Earlier this afternoon, I kept thinking, "Man, I could use a good drink," and I don't even drink! If we even had any alcohol in the house, I might have been tempted. I drowned my frustrations in a bowl of Snickers ice cream instead.

Fun times...

Because we don't get enough excitement around here:

Preston woke with an ear infection (again...)

Kate woke up with vomiting and diarrhea because she snuck some chocolate at my mom's last night. Eight months in and she still won't accept that milk makes her sick every time.

I ran out of gas mowing over the hill and only had enough in the can to make it back up to the garage.

I'm STILL finding tacky spots on that darned floor.

Yes, fun times, fun times...

Mowing incident

As stated in my previous post, I had a mowing incident 4 years ago that has prevented me from being able to mow again. I remember it like yesterday...

Christopher had just had surgery and was unable to mow the yard. He asked if I would do it, and I gladly did. I did really well and enjoyed my time without kiddos. I did manage to get the mower (it's a rider) stuck/high centered in the ditch out front, much to the amusement of the neighbor who just stood and watched me. Maybe he was going to help me out before I managed to do it myself. When I was finished, I parked the mower out back, hosed it off and left it to dry.

Later in the afternoon, while Preston napped, I went out to put the mower back in the shed. Christopher had told me that I'd have to go really fast to get it up the 4 inches from the top of the ramp to the shed door. I got on, approached the ramp, sped up and bam. I hit the shed with the tires but did not make it up into it. I rolled backward, put it in 5th gear and tried again. CRASH! I made it into the shed that time! But I also crashed through a wooden cabinet at the back of the shed. If that cabinet hadn't been there, I would have driven right through. The cabinet was demolished. The doors were split and caved in so that they couldn't be opened. The grill and headlights on the mower were busted.

I didn't know what to do. I sat out back on the deck for quite a while before I called Christopher out to see the damage. Surprisingly, he wasn't angry. He really couldn't believe that I'd done something like that. Really, what was there to do? So, because of that day, I haven't been able to mow. I've driven the mower to pull the wagon after bad storms, but not to mow. He claims that I miss too many spots and that's why he won't let me mow, but I know it's because he's afraid. And really, if you went out to our shed and saw that beast of a mower with it's broken grill and headlights and perpetually flat tires that must be aired up before it can be used, you'd wonder how much more damage could I possibly cause?

Busy day

After picking more than 10 pounds of tomatoes this weekend, I was ready early this morning to can. Seriously, I don't think I belong in this age. What other 31 year old cans? Anyway, I got all my tomatoes that I wanted to can whole and got them ready. I thought I had enough for 4 jars. I only had enough for two. Slightly discouraged at that prospect and all the work I went through just to get them ready for the canner, I decided I'd go ahead and juice the rest of the maters, planning on canning it tomorrow. Well, with a still hot canner, I figured it was worth my while to go ahead and can the juice today, so I did. My whole maters didn't quite turn out as expected. I think there's too much head space even though I was careful to make sure I had the 1/2 in. before I canned. I'll have to check with Grandma Lou on those. My juice turned out really well and I have 6 quarts ready for the cabinet. Christopher is wanting some more habanero pickles, so I'm looking for a recipe so I can make some with all of my pickles. As much as I like canning, I'm sure thankful for air conditioning! How on Earth did they manage before a/c?

We headed out to mom's early today with intentions of working on my buffet and weeding my garden. Mom was next door mowing Granny and Pa's yard and when she came over to greet us, I took over the mowing. I mowed roughly half of their property (5 acres) and said that I'd be back tomorrow to finish. G & P will be glad to come home Thursday and have a mowed yard. I really enjoy mowing. I beg Christopher to let me mow, but after the mowing incident, he has refused. Sigh. Gotta find the mp3 player and load some songs on it to mow by.

Still waiting

We are STILL waiting on the floor to dry. Five days and counting. Christopher was more than a tad frustrated tonight that it wasn't ready, and was sure that we'd have to strip it down to the bare wood and redo it all. I called Minwax and they told us to give it a few more days. The high build poly is thicker, and if it gets applied too thickly, and the humidity is high, then it can take a "very long time to dry." Nice. It was reassuring to hear that it can take this long, although she said that if it doesn't get better, we will have to strip it all. Nice. Luckily, there are more and more good spots each day that don't make marks. Hopefully by Wednesday they will be 100% ready!

It is HOT here. Sooooooo hot! Tomorrow is supposed to reach 100 degrees. Sigh. But I would much rather have the heat of summer than winter! But what could make the heat even worse? The a/c quitting in the car. Sigh. The a/c went out in the Explorer Sunday. It went to the shop Tuesday and had a can of stop leak and a can of freon added and came back home as chilly as could be. Well, today, it started going out again. If I drive long enough, a tiny bit of "cool" air comes out, but it is a far cry from cold. Keith looked at it today and thinks it's most likely the compressor, which will cost around $400-600 to fix. We don't want to put that kind of money in a 12 year old car. He said he could put a can of freon in it each week to last us through the rest of summer and then we'll definitely have to trade it off before next summer. As much as I HATE that beast, I LOVE not having two car payments. I'll gladly drive it until next spring to stave that off as long as possible.

With summer comes the bounty of the garden. I have blackberries coming out my ears. I made jam yesterday and there's still so many. It's crazy! Granny and Pa are in VA for 10 days and I've been tending to the garden, which means I have to take everything home that's ripe or else it will rot. I came home with a whole mess of tomatoes tonight and more will be ready in a few days. Looks like I'll be breaking out the canner and making some juice. What else do you do with more than 10 pounds of tomatoes?

Delays

I was so excited to begin moving everything back into our living and dining room today. We were up bright and early to get ready. Christopher brought in the trim to nail up and while I was vacuuming up some paint scraps, I noticed a smudge. A minute later, Christopher noticed a BIG smudge. The poly wasn't dry and the top coat was sliding off of the bottom coat. Sheer panic went through as thoughts of having to strip the entire floor back to the bare wood flooded my mind. We quickly abandoned all ideas of moving in and decided that no one was to walk there. It's a big disappointment. Luckily, I think we will be able to sand the really bad spot that Christopher made with his knee once it's totally dry and add some poly. Unfortunately, it's right as you walk into our dining room from the kitchen, so it's right there. So instead of us being back in our newly refurbished living room, we're back in our overcrowded basement (see above).
Here is our living room before. Looking back, it seems like forever since it's been like this. It's only been a week. Do I miss that pink carpet? Not a bit!
Here's the dining room and the massive wood pile that's occupied that room since April. Can you see why I was so glad to see it go?
That's 400 sq. feet of solid red oak.
Nonni thought that this was his personal wood pile. He claimed this as his space the day it came inside and has spent many hours sitting and sleeping on it. We joked that he would really miss it once it was gone.
Day 1. The carpet come up ad they find the subfloor underneath in good condition.
This is what was accomplished at the end of day 1.
Day 2. Much more is laid. Wood now covers the entire dining room and half of the living room.
Day 3. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the entire floor down and unstained. This was at the end of day 3. The flood was laid, sanded, and had it's first coat of stain.
Remember me saying that Nonni walked through the rooms right after the poly was put on? This is him after his bath, and banished to the laundry room.
And here you go... the finished product. I wish I could show you the rooms with the furniture, but that will have to wait. Overall, I'm pleased with our new floors. SOOOOOOO much better than pink carpet! I know I will love this for years to come!

Way too busy

This weekend was something else. I am SO glad that it is over. I was pretty stressed out!

Continuing with the floor saga... I left off last time with the floor being completely laid and we'd put on a coat of stain. Well, we woke up Saturday morning to find that the floor did not look like we'd hoped. Being novice floor stainers, we made a mess. Christopher had wiped in circles, and there were big swirls everywhere. Our rags were wet by the time we got to the living room, so the entire LR was about 2 shades darker than the dining room. So we had to restain it that morning. Luckily, Keith and Dee had come over to take the kids for the day so we could do polyurethane, and Keith helped stain the floor correctly. So that put a significant delay in floor plans. I had a photo shoot at 10:00 and was 10 minutes late because of the floor ordeal. Luckily, Jess understood. Unfortunately, it started raining 10 minutes into it, and we had to relocate and set up the backdrop on their front porch. It went great, though and I got SO many great shots of the girls! We met back up later that afternoon at the state house to take their family pics, and it was nice outside this time!

We had dinner at the Depot for Grandma Shirley and Kendra's birthdays. We had a good time and I was impressed despite having heard so many negative reviews. I'll definitely go back! We all went out to Shirley's house afterward for cake and the kids had so much fun playing with Sarah and Gracie. After the party, the kids went to stay with Keith and Dee for the night so that we could finally do the poly. Keith came in and helped us and we got that tackled rather quickly. Unfortunately, we forgot to put the baby gates back up, and our worst fear came true. Nonni walked through the living room, all around the the dining room and out through the kitchen. We found him on the stairs comvered with poly and little footprints all over the tile and stairs. Seriously? I grabbed the cat and Christopher used some mineral spirits to clean his paws and then he went straight to the bathtub. He was then promptly banished to the laundry room until this morning. And please heed my advice if you ever poly your floors- find a place to stay overnight. You will be glad you did!

Sunday morning was my nephew Cooper's baptism, so we had to be at church at 9:30. We still needed to do our 2nd coat of poly so that we can move back in Wednesday when Christopher is off, so I dropped the kids off at my mom's after church and ran back home to help Christopher before the party started. I managed to make it back in time before lunch! We spent the rest of the day enjoying being with family and celebrating little Cooper. He is SUCH a little ham! The kids and I ended up staying at mom's last night because it was still too stinky here. It had been 11 years since I'd stayed there and it was kind of nice.

We returned home today and we've been getting back into normal routine. Had way too much laundry to catch up on and everything else, but I'm glad that the floor is 100% DONE! As soon as furniture is moved back in, I will share photos. I am so pleased!

Day 3

What a whirlwind day! Granny and Pa watched the kids today so that we could work on the floor. They all had a great time! On the homefront, though, not much fun was had. Sigh...

It was my job to sand. I'm not a sander, but considering how much Christopher worked actually laying the floor, it was the least I could do. They have me a hand sander. Yes, a hand sander. I knew that wasn't going to work too well, but decided to humor Christopher. Finally, after it not working at all, and Keith telling him that we'd be at it ALL day, I decided to go to Menards to rent a big sander. I got it back home and ready to go and it wasn't working like it should. When we rented it to do the upstairs 3 years ago, I did the entire floor myself with ease. This time, I could not control it all. Christopher ended up doing the entire floor.

The guys finished up with all of the laying around 3:15 and I was SO excited! Once it was all sanded, it looked SO nice! I picked up the kids and Keith took them to their house because they had plans to go see a puppet show with Jessica and Reid. Then Christopher and I set to staining the floor, which only took an hour with both of us. I then had to take the sander back to Effingham so that I don't have to do it tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll start on the polyurethane!

The rest of the weekend will be super busy and I don't know where I'll find time to do everything!

Day 2

Some great progress was made on the floor today! I'm really pleased with how it looks already! There is only a little left to lay, and hopefully it is done by 11:30 so that we don't have to rent the nailer for another day! I have to start sanding it in the morning (what is already done) and I'm not too thrilled. Not sure how I got myself into that one. I vaguely remember saying that I would sand it. I guess it's the least I can do.

We went and saw Despicable Me tonight and it was really good! There were so many really funny parts that I found myself laughing out loud many times. The kids really liked it, too!

Day 1

Today was day one of laying the oak floor. I'll tell you upfront that I'm saving the pics for a big before and after post once it's all done. Suspension... The guys started bright and early and before we left for Mattoon, they had the carpet and padding out of the living room. Seeing the underside of that carpet made me VERY glad that it's gone! It could have been a LOT worse, but with Preston's allergies, I don't want any risks. By the time we got back they were nailing the planks down. So far they don't have a lot done, but the hope to finish tomorrow. It looks nice already and I can't wait to stain and finish it! The nailing process is LOUD. I knew it would be, but holy cow... Tomorrow I plan to go up and work on my dresser just to get us away from the noise. I don't want to cause even more hearing loss than I already have!

We got Preston's ear plug molds made this morning. It was an interesting process and I so wish I had my camera with me! They had to shove cotton attached to strings way into his ears and it was just strange to see him sitting there with them hanging out! That was probably the worst of it because it was a bit painful. Then she mixed some putty up and used a syringe to fill his ear canal and outer ear. The audiologist let the kids have the extra and when it hardened, it was like a bouncy ball, and my kids are all about bouncy balls! Preston chose green, blue and red as his colors, so they will be pretty bright! They should be in in about 2 weeks and I can't wait!

We had planned to have our weekly picnic in Mattoon at the lake. I did a mapquest and knew exactly how to get there, searched restaurants and saw that they had a Burger King (the only safe place to eat with their allergies). We were set! Well, we get out of his appointment and go to find BK. Well... we found it, but it was just some hole in the wall diner named Burger King. So we decided to drive over to Charleston and see if they had a BK. The kids saw a neat park once we got there and wanted to have the picnic there instead since it was getting late and they were hungry. No BK in Charleston. By this time I was a bit frazzled. I suggested that we just go to Wal-mart, get something there and go to the park, but they had their hearts set on BK, so we had no choice but to drive on back to Effingham (a 30 minute drive). We got their BK, I got my Jimmy Johns, and went back to the same park that we've already had our picnic at twice. Today made three times and I do NOT want to go back! It was too hot to play (mid 90's and humid), so we just went on to Menards and then home. I was SO glad to get out of that car! So our neat little picnic at a new place got screwed up, and hopefully we won't be going back to Mattoon any time soon, so we missed our opportunity. I better start planning for next week!

All packed up

Everything in the living room and dining room (except furniture) has been packed up and moved to the basement. It's strange looking in there and seeing it so bare. It's even more strange seeing everything down here in the basement. Our "den" is now surrounded with boxes of dvd's, bar stools and living room decorations. Keith will be here at 8:00 tomorrow to start moving the furniture down and it's out with the pink carpet! That means that I have to have the kids up and fed by 8, so that they can move the dining table out. We have to be on the road to Mattoon by 9:30, so we'll be out of their hair for a few hours.

I can't tell you how excited I am! Nonni is going to miss his wood pile. He's been perched on it since April (we think he likes the wood smell) and we joke that he thinks we got it just for him. Poor thing isn't going to know what to do when it's gone! I just wish we knew how we're going to keep him out of there while the polyurethane is drying. We have baby gates to block the doorways, and while Zipper is too fat and old to jump over them, Nonni will bound over them in an instant. He's the epitome of the curious cat!

Weekend Roundup

Well, the kids finally recovered from their stomach bug. Preston had it pretty rough. I was sure he'd end up in the ER, but thankfully he woke up yesterday morning feeling MUCH better! He still didn't eat much yesterday, which is very unlike him, but he's back to his normal self today. That pretty much sums up our weekend right there! We did go up to mom's early today so that I could start stripping the buffet that I found at a garage sale for $10. Let's just say that whatever kind of paint they put on there is invincible to paint stripper and we had to abandon the stripping in favor of sanding. It sat for over 2 hours and nothing happened. Sigh. I'll be going back up tomorrow to sand it.

We have a pretty busy week coming up. I have a much needed hair appointment Tuesday. The grays are starting to become blinding in the sunlight. It's bad! But the BIG even this week is that Wednesday, our pink carpet is coming up, and the oak is going down! YES! I am so excited! I've been counting the days each day! The kids and I are going to start moving the small stuff out Tuesday so that the guys can move the heavy stuff Wed. morning and get to work. Preston also has his audiology appt. Wed. morning, which is an hour away, so the kids and I will be out of the house and we plan to have our weekly picnic while we're there. Gotta look online for a park and see what restaurants they have around there so I don't have to pack a lunch. Thursday we're going to see Dispicable Me. I'm still debating wether or not to go to Decatur that morning. It will keep us out of the house during the big floor laying event. Gotta find some other things to keep us busy too. I can't wait, though!

Yuck

Yesterday afternoon, shortly before 3:00, Preston came down with a stomach bug. Nice... If there's one thing I HATE, it's stomach bugs. I had hopes that it was an isolated incident, but nooooo, that wasn't to be. Then, if one vomitting child isn't bad enough, Kate started in at 7:30. Trust me when I say that it wasn't a very pleasant night. I got very little sleep. If one of them wasn't calling for me, the other was. Around 3:00 a.m., they both settled down until Preston was up at 6:00 needing a bath.

Preston also had an audiology appt. today to fit him for his ear plugs, but that had to be cancelled. I was pretty disappointed because it's already going to take 2 weeks before they're ready. He needs them now. When I called the cancel/reschedule, it was going to be another 2 weeks before they could get him in, so I had to call Mattoon to get him in next week. I'm not really looking forward to driving an hour to Mattoon again, but if it gets those plugs sooner, I'll gladly do it. So that's our plan for Wednesday.

Both kids were parked on the couch the entire day, and surprisingly, it worked out well. Kate wanted to eat shortly after waking up, and she kept everything down (yay!). She ate all day long and has felt much better. Preston, the poor guy... He hasn't felt like eating anything at all, and it's been a struggle to get him to eat. He will only drink water, so we've been trying to push sugary foods for some energy- popsicles, Mr. Misty, animal crackers, pretzels, even candy and spoons of sugar. He won't eat, and because of it, he still feels rotten. I"m starting to worry about dehydration and don't want to spend our Saturday in the hospital. Please pray that he makes it without dehydration!

I got to thinking today about how God works in mysterious ways. We were supposed to go on vacation with Christopher's family this week, but decided back in March, not to go. The last time we passed on a trip with them, I felt a lot of resentment because I REALLY wanted to go. This time, I felt peace about not going. Now I know why. God knew the kids would be sick this week, and he kept us home for that reason. I can't even begin to imagine being in Branson with two sick kids, and am SO thankful we're here at home! Now, He could have been a little more compassionate and sent something like an ear infection or a nasty cold- anything but a stomach bug!

Little boys

When I was pregnant with Preston, I was planning for a girl. Even though I'd had a feeling he was a boy since the day we'd found out I was expecting, I was planning for a girl. I really liked the idea of a sister for Kate. I had totes upon totes of dresses and clothes to re-use. I was ready.

My first ultrasound had other plans for me. I was 15 weeks along and it was clear that he was a boy. In denial, because technically, it was still a tad early, I still figured he was a girl. Five weeks later, though, another ultrasound confirmed that he was indeed a boy. I didn't know what to think. It wasn't that I didn't want a son, but I didn't know what to do with a boy. I was used to bows and ponytails, dresses and shoes, Barbies and horses. I couldn't picture baseball, dinosaurs, trucks and roughhousing.

Being clear that he was a boy, we did shift in our thinking. We abandoned Claire and tackled the endless array of boy names. People started buying boy things, although I didn't dare take off any tags. I just couldn't shake the boy thing, even though I already loved my little boy more than I could imagine. When I had another ultrasound at 28 weeks, it was clear once again that Preston was all boy. It wasn't a fluke. With only 6 weeks until his arrival, I had to start preparing for a boy.

We had some family visiting during this time, and my cousin, a mom of two boys, said something that changed me forever. She simply said, "Little boys love their mommas." I hadn't thought of that. I knew my baby would love me, but I pictured a little boy not wanting to cuddle, but instead gravitating toward his daddy. After that, I was ready to meet my little man.

The day Preston was born was like no other. I was so excited to meet him, so glad that he was here and that he was perfect. Little boys love their mommas. I had a little boy! A son! He wasn't like Kate. He was his own little person, completely opposite of her as I'd expected. And it didn't take long for me to realize that little boys DO love their mommas. As months and years passed, it was clear that Preston and I had a different bond than Kate and I have. While it seemed that Kate deemed me more of a friend and super-cool horse playing (like with toys horses) mom, Preston loved me with every bit of his being. He always wanted to cuddle. He always smothered me with sloppy kisses and asked me to marry him on a daily basis. He loved his momma.

I don't know why it is that pregnancy causes such crazy thoughts of fear and worry. All of that fear was unnecessary. Now, whenever someone is expecting their first boy, I always tell them the same thing... "Little boys love their mommas."

Rough shape

Poor Preston is an accident looking for a place to happen. Seriously. Some days I wonder why these things always happen to him. Maybe it's because he's a boy?

Friday night he burned his hand on a hot sparkler.

Saturday he stuck his walking stick in his mouth, immediately tripped, and skinned the under-side of his tongue.

Saturday night, his glow stick leaked it's mysterious glowing liquid, which he got on his face and burned him. Luckily, it didn't leave any burn marks, but he did look a bit funny with random patches of glow on his fingers and face.

Sunday, he went head over heels (literally) down the hill when he tripped. When he stood up (screaming bloody murder), the way his shirt (and arm) was hanging, I thought he had dislocated his shoulder. His shoulder was pretty skinned up and bruised, and he has scratches on his face, but otherwise is fine. After that incident, we went inside. I wasn't up for any more injuries.

Fourth of July weekend

Our busy weekend started Friday afternoon. Since Christopher's family is leaving for vacation in the morning, we all got together then. The kids got to swim, play, catch frogs and crickets, and best of all, watch fireworks!
They always start them waaaaay too early (notice it's not dark). Here, all four kids shot their hands to their ears at the exact same time. It was so funny! The kids got to do sparklers, which terrify me to no end after stepping on one, once. I tried so hard not to let my fear get in the way, and they had so much fun. But, wouldn't you know, Preston dropped his, didn't hear me telling me not to pick it up, did so, and burned his finger. It wasn't a bad burn, thankfully, and he never cried.
Saturday afternoon, we went out to the lake. Dad's side of the family was camping so we joined them for the afternoon. Kate got to go tubing, which is her absolute favorite lake activity.
There was a lot of swimming, too. Kate looked like a drowned rat by the end of the night!
Saturday was also the town's big fireworks show, so we all went out on the boat to watch. I've watched that display every year, but this was our first year to watch from the water. It was neat! By the time dad got the boat back to the lake lot, it was after 10:00 and the kids were exhausted! They got off the boat and ran up to the car so fast that we didn't get to say good-bye to everyone! It was a late night, but worth every minute and they enjoyed their day so much!

As for the actual fourth, it was pretty low-key. We spent the afternoon at Granny and Pa's just hanging out. It was too hot and humid for much outdoors. I can hear our neighbors outside doing fireworks, and that's the extent of fireworks today.

Remembering Cohen