The 4th of July

The 4th is one of my favorite holidays. I love the fireworks, the red white and blue, the barbecue, who doesn't love it? We make a big thing out of the 4th of July and this year was no different. 

We started the day off with some typical pool time with the neighbor kids and finished it off with some homemade Rocket Pops (strawberry daquiri mix, pina colada mix, blue gatorade. NON-alcoholic, don't judge!). 

Then we dressed up and got ready for our big 4th of July picnic that we host every year. I picked out the boys shirts and shorts, but they picked out the accessories. Including Cam's boots. 

 The barbecue was a big hit. The kids ran wild with other kids, there was tons of delicious unhealthy awesomeness, good company and a cornhole competition. Of course it wouldn't be a party without my kids being the center of attention, including Camden eating dog treats (and getting pissed when I took it away) and Calen continually losing his pants. 

...party hardy. 

I made "Roman Candles". Since personal fireworks are illegal in NJ, I had to make my own

 After the barbecue wound down, we packed up the car and drove a whopping ten blocks to the city beach, and put blankets and chairs down on the sand and waited until it got dark for the firework show. 

Beautiful Cape May at sunset, from the beach

Friends

And then of course, the fireworks show, shot off from a barge in the Atlantic. The big kids kept clapping at their favorite fireworks, and Camden was saying "WOW!!!! BOOM!!! WHOAAA" the whole time. it was terribly cute.

 I think the day was a grand success.
 

Patriotic Painting

It stopped raining for like, five minutes today. So we ran to the beach. It was actually a perfect time to go because the tide was slowly coming in, and there were calm tide pools the kids loved to play in.

Then after dinner, we decided to do a couple little 4th of July crafts. One I saw on Pinterest, and one I thought up (though I'm sure I'm not the first to do it). 

The first (the Pinterest project) was simple. Take blue and red poster paint, and squirt in overlapping circles on paper (I used paper plates because it's what we had). Then, take a Q-tip, start from the middle, and go outward in a curve in single lines. Pretty soon you have awesome looking fireworks. 

My fireworks

Calen's fireworks

Outdoor paint studio. Camden was already done painting at this point

For the next project we made flags. The boys (well I helped Cam) painted red stripes on paper, and then we painted their hands blue and put them in the upper corners of the flags. They turned out super cute. I might even put them in some sort of vintage frame next year. 

 

Break Radio Silence

Okay I know I haven't posted in like three days which must be some sort of Guinness World record. 

Hey, do you think that Guinness World record holders get a free lifetime of Guinness? Or like, one free pint? Maybe? 

Anyways. 

We've been stuck inside for like four days because of this ridiculous non-stop rain. I swear I live somewhere else, like Seattle or something. But the rain broke for half an hour today so we ran outside to get a quick water-play fix. 

Of course there wasn't time to set the pool up, so we settled on a water gun fight. 

After I told him to NOT shoot me because I had a camera...

 

He lost his pants mid fight. Not worth putting the gun down for, though.

Reunited

A year ago our family lost very dear friends (Calen's buddies Aiden and Matty, Camden's girlfriend Caroline, and their mom, my dear friend Ashley) moved away out of state. It was a big blow to us but we promised that as long as we were within a reasonable range, we would find a way to visit each other. They came to visit for the day this past November, but we haven't seen them since. 

Last year at Memorial day, right before they moved

Until today!

They now live just a couple hours away, so today they decided to spend the afternoon with us at our house. The kids played in the pool and Ashley and I had a nice chat in the shade - just like the good old days. 

Otter pop break!

ready to race into the pool

And of course our two families together means a quintessential trip to the local chow house Big Wave Burrito. 

The big boys Matty, Aiden and Calen. Friends forever

Chips are EXCITING

The ALMOST kiss. Like good moms we were threatening to spank them if they wouldn't kiss.

An Inside Outside Day

It was super muggy and the boys and I were pretty low energy no thanks to a head cold that was brought home, so we stayed inside for the day. But staying inside for the day, on a 90 degree beautiful summer day, doesn't actually mean staying inside the entire day. 

I have outside kids, what can I say. And, the Seattleite in me says "HELLO it's SUNNY it is required BY LAW to go outside at least once today."

Last night, I took Calen's Big Boots guys and threw them in two separate tupperware containers full of water, then put them in the freezer overnight. It created two big blocks of ice, with Big Boots guys "trapped" inside. 

This morning, I put the blocks on the back patio, and gave each of the boys a hammer (and positioned them 3 feet apart to protect from creating a violent and bloody hammer fight) and told them to "rescue" the guys. 

We did this last year (with an Iron Man guy) and it was fun and all, but this year it was a bigger hit. And the dogs loved being able to eat chunk after chunk after chunk of ice. 

Snack time for Chance and Juno

Later in the day during naptime, Calen and I went out in the back, filled up water balloons, placed them on the T-ball tee, and had him swing at them. While his accuracy isn't perfect so none of them exploded on contact, he did knock the tee down which made the balloon burst on the ground. It was fun for like 10 minutes and then he asked to go inside. I think he's the last of us to catch this cold. 

 

His face is amazing.

 

A Day In The Life

I thought it would be fun (for me) to do a "day in the life" type post. Mainly because I have nothing else to talk about. Basically every summer day is the same:

We wake up, have breakfast, and Calen does a Hooked On Phonics lesson. From then on, we're outside.....

..Playing sharks...

The moms set up camp in the shade...

Leave the pool for 10 minutes for a lunch break

Post-Lunch slip n slide race

Peeing outside with friends

Watching a blimp go by

Trying to drain the pool with a 2 year old inside that refuses to get out

Dinner on the back patio

Ending the day with a movie (Toy Story 2) in Green Lantern underwear

Sleeping through falling out of bed because we're so tired from swimming all day

Hanging everything to dry in preparation to do it all again tomorrow

Beach Life

By far the best thing about living here is the beach. Especially since it's a private beach and we don't have to share (except with other Coastie families, who we usually know anyways). 

And that's what spent the afternoon doing.

Climbing the dune to the beach

Daddy dug a hole

.....and caught a crab

And we ran into friends! These three were pretty impressed with the mud on their legs.

And then, always, there's Cam...being Cam...