Fourth of July, 2020

We had a good day celebrating the 4th of July. It was completely different than the past many years, but it was a good change. We were ready for new ways to celebrate. 

We did miss the bike parade and hanging out with the a Rutledges, so we took the Rutledges our traditional dessert. I used brownies this year instead of chocolate cake because I don’t like how soggy the cake becomes. 

The best part of fireworks is the bucket of safety water if you ask Levi. 

Augustine and Lewis enjoyed the party poppers than Grandma Kathleen brought over. 

Once you’re wet from playing in the safety water EVERY BIT OF TRASH sticks to you. You’re a huge mess to clean up before nap, so your mom just gives you a shower. 



Elias was unsure about all of it. He wanted to like the party poppers and pull the string himself, but it was just a bit too intimidating. Grandma helped. 



Smoke bombs, snakes, and parachutes. 

I decided a fun lunch was in order. I made a fun layered drink. 

The traditional dessert in mini form. 

Pigs in a blanket and fresh fruits and veggies. It was delicious!

Elias came inside the house when I finished putting  Levi down and was acting very strange. I finally figured out that despite our warnings his curiosity got the best of him and he pinched the tip of the punk and had burn blisters on his thumb and pointer finger on his right hand. We spent the rest of the day keeping his pain under control.







After lunch we watched our good friends Grant and Regina get married in South Dakota. We were supposed to be at their wedding with Logan reading at their wedding Mass, but we canceled due to the pandemic. We were super bummed but glad we could at least watch from afar. 

We sent a picture to them of our family “at“ their wedding.

As usual everybody was burnt out on fun by the end of the day, except for Augustine and I. He’s always my diehard buddy on the Fourth of July. Logan stayed home and did bedtime so Augustine and I could go to some friends house and watch their fireworks at a distance. We had such a great time! We definitely hope to go back again next year!

They even helped Augustine and I stay true to our promise to Logan that we would stay socially distanced.

Before they were mandatory...

This guy has been wearing masks for yard work for a long time. Thanks for the Pandy mask Grqndma Kathleen! He has so many good masks in his collection. :)

We Ran Away, Part 5

We Ran Away, Part 4

The cabins were comfort despite it being fairly hot outside. 



Jeremy piled all our bikes in his truck and hauled them up to SD! The kids could ride freely within our sight from the cabins, and they also went on some rides with Lisa and Jeremy. 
 
Of course, we got some shoe flinging in at the park! I won for distance I think and Thomas won for “you couldn’t do that again if you tried!” His shoe went in the air and perfectly down the slide! I have it captured on slow motion video!





One afternoon the kids were looking for something to do while the adults relaxed, so I suggested they gather stuff for nature soup. They had a lot of fun, including putting their soup on the grills. 



Elias played the longest cooking his soup. 




Beth said it was delicious. 

He played with a used teabag and was sure it looked like a dead bird. 
One of the big boys took Lewis on the trail and they came back with tiny plums (we think?) so he made some soup out of them. 


Aunt Beth surprised Elias with a new mower at the cabins so he mowed a LOT. He thought he could get the extensive grounds 1/2 mowed by the time we left. He gave it his best effort. 

Augustine is a great big brother and always happy to help babysit for short amounts of time. 

Levi got a sink bath because he was fussy for about an hour one night. He did so well on the trip!

Uncle Jeremy lit up the fire pit for s’mores on the last night. It was way hotter outside than the other days so I didn’t partake. I packed for the journey home instead. 



So glad we could all be together and forget the worries of the world for a few days. It was so refreshing  and fun to be together again!