4th of July Weekend

We couldn't have asked for a nicer weekend!  Absolutely no rain and warm temperatures!  Although, having no rain required the need for watering the plants and garden (for the first time this season actually).  I'm not complaining!  On Friday, Hailey & I ran some errands in the morning and early afternoon while we waited for her pool water to warm up.  It was pretty overcast for most of the day, so the water didn't get as warm as it could have, but Hailey didn't seem to mind...especially with temperatures in the upper 80's.  As I sat there watching her play in the pool, it reminded me of the endless hours of swimming I did (along with my siblings and cousins) as a child over at my grandparents' house.  They lived in a condominium complex with a shared pool.  My grandfather took on the job of pool maintenance, probably because his family used it the most!  You can't beat cooling off in water on a hot summer day!  

  Warming up to the slightly cool water.

Avoiding the splash from going down the slide.

Having fun at my grandparents' pool.  If you only knew how many tries it took to get all of us on this float...the picture was probably snapped just in time before we fell off again. :-)  My cousin Allison is in front, then my sister Stacy, me, my brother Vince, and my cousin Matt.  My youngest sister, Stephanie, is the baby at the side of the pool with my grandmother.

My grandmother and me.  This was probably when I was a freshman in high school (and probably 7 seven years later after the above picture was taken).  This pool got many years of good use!

When I was looking for the above two pictures, I also found this one of my parents' garden.  I know another picture exists of my grandparents' garden, but I could not find it.  I wish I had as much room to grow as big a garden as both my parents and grandparents have grown, but I'm grateful to at least have what I have now!

 My dad out checking how everything is growing.

On Saturday, my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces came over for lunch.  We had Natalie & Emily try out the pool, but the water was probably just a little too cold.  They cried two seconds after we put their feet in. :-)

  Emily trying the water.

Natalie's turn.

On Sunday, I finished another scrapbook page (that makes 6 done and probably 20 to go) before we headed over to my cousin's house for a holiday party.  Many houses on my cousin's street have parties that coincide with the town's festivities at a park across the street.  So, there was lots going on!  My cousin's neighbor sets up a jump house in my cousin's front yard (because her yard it the most level) and then sits and monitors the use.  He was great about letting kids of the same size jump together for a certain period of time and then letting another group in.  No arguments, no injuries, no misuse.  It was great!  We stayed about 5 hours and then headed back home.  We didn't stay for the fireworks since they were so late and it's an hour ride between our two houses.  However, it was pretty neat on the drive home, because we got to see several fireworks going off on either side of the highway as we probably passed several towns' celebrations.  We even saw the Chicago skyline with fireworks going off in the distance...very neat!  Once we got home, we did sparklers and snappers in the driveway with Hailey.

 Looking festive!

With her cousin, Julia, who is 8 months older.  They were two peas in a pod the whole party and grateful to have each other to play with as they were the youngest two girls there.

Jumping in the jump house.

 3 generations...my grandfather, myself, and Hailey.

 A family picture (even though Hailey's being silly!).

This was the park across the street...we were able to watch all of these hot air balloons (plus several more!) launch.

An aperture setting on my camera created this neat effect!

 Loving the sparklers!

This past Wednesday, Hailey's school went on a field trip to a nearby park.  Here were some pictures we received from that trip:

  Riding the bus (first time!) with her friend, Madison.

Having a fun time at the park!

Hailey & some of her classmates relaxing with her favorite teacher, Miss Mandy.

A Hailey funny from the weekend...Hailey asked Brian if he could help her get some game pieces that had fallen into the back part of the couch.  She said, "I can't reach them because they are too far back in the couch and my head is too big to get in there." :-)