Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Fire-flies and Fireworks


This weekend was a fun Fouth of July at our house. It's always a good time whenever any of our kids come home...the Columbus bunch came and it was a great-good time!  Our little town has a hot air balloon festival each year and the balloons come from all over. 
Tim & Joni brought Cooper  for the Ballonfest race, a 5k that they both ran in.  They did well and I realized watching them just how fit they are!!

   
Chelsea and Bryden also ran in the 1 mile fun run before the "real" race began.

The patriotic group that led the race...

Son, Tim, (middle-in grey) getting ready to start.

After the race, Cooper and I went back to the house.  I need a dose of Cooper every now and then to make me smile and this does it!

He has discovered the wonders of the creek...a great "boy-toy"!


At noon, we had a birthday picnic/celebration for Tim whose birthday is Thursday.  As I walked out the door with the cake,  it slid off the plate into a plant.  Would we miss an opportunity to celebrate (or eat cake! )??  Absolutely NOT!  We ate the "good" side up! Lol!

Then, as it got blisteringly hot, we headed to the hot air field where they have food concessions and games.  Bryden is starting to wilt...

~but not Cooper!  Never does this child lose energy! Joni took these pics of his many faces.  I think she did a wonderful job!
Coming down one of the rides.


In the evening, my cousin's daughter, Deidre and new husband Jake stopped on their way back to Washington, DC.  They are both in the military (Airforce and Marines) and this kind of holiday makes us stop to think why we are grateful to those who serve. They just got married last week too and had very little time together before resuming work.   

Bryden took a huge shine to Jake!

Cooper & Bryden had so much fun playing together before Tim came in from the dark and took Cooper back out to show him the fireflies!  I tried to get a pic but it was too dark.  It was like a magical show....thousands of them, it looked like Christmas against the pine trees!  I wonder if there are an extraordinary lot of them this year?  I've never seen it like that!  Had it not been for the skeeters, I'd have stayed out for a longer time! Last night, we went to see the fireworks and it was even more entertaining  than that.

In the morning Cooper was the first one up.  I heard him and found him looking at my blog book.  He loved looking at pictures of himself when he was younger, so I told him stories about those times.  It made me glad for saving the memories like this. 

Then we toasted  (he said "Cheers!") over breakfast to a good day.  I hope all of you had one too!!!!

15 comments:

Stacy said...

sorry you lost your cake! I'm glad you got to eat some of it anyhow!

Darlene said...

Oh my, Cooper and Bryden are so adorable. It sounds as if you really had a great 4th of July. It was certainly colorful. It really is nice to have family come. I always appreciate it so much when any of my family is here.

We actually had a very quiet holiday. I didn't do much of anything but sit in my chair. I'll be so glad when I get just a little bit of energy back.

And I can't beleve you dropped your cake in the bushes. I am sure we would have eaten it too, had something like that happen to us.

Hope the rest of your summer will be great!

A Tale of Two Cities said...

So much fun and family time crammed full in such a short amount of time--lucky you!

I'm curious about your blog book--I've never talked o someone who actually made a book from their blog, although I knew it was possible....

Cro Magnon said...

I do hope someone was there to film the cake disaster!

It's good to see that you're allowed to be proud of your country. Over in the UK, the hanging of our national flag is now almost forbidden (for fear of upsetting the immigrants). Strange world!

yaya said...

Cute pics of those fast growing grandkiddos! Glad you had a nice holiday. I think next year you and I should run in that race...hahahahahaha! I just fell off my chair laughing! Chelsea's patio looks really nice too!

Anonymous said...

Lovely family photos. I'm sure you must love having the children around. All the best to the young couple. Deirdre and Jake - glad you included that shot - every blessing to them and you all.

Pierre BOYER said...

Great day !
Enjoy !

Pierre

Kerri said...

So glad you were able to still make good use of your cake...dropping it sounds like something I would do!

I think you should take Yaya up on her offer for next year! I ran my first 5k when I was 40...just to say I did it, b/c running isn't my thing!

karen said...

What a fun day with your family! I think we would have scooped the cake up too! The very first time I saw fireflies was in Ohio a few years back. They are beautiful, and had I been a child I would have imagined they were fairies. How lucky you are to have such beautiful surroundings!

Susan Anderson said...

You've got a great family!

And I love those patriotic runners.

=)

PS. So funny about the cake...

Julia said...

Hi Donna, sorry about the cake but you are such a celebrating trooper. I'm glad that you could salvage part of the cake.

Your photos are so professionally done and always interesting. Thanks for sharing your love of your grandkids with us. It's so very special. JB

Wanda..... said...

The cake mishap will always be a fun story for the family gatherings! Glad you ate it!

Jennifer said...

Oh Donna! I love seeing your family together! the best of times. Small town America celebrating the 4th is so great! Best wishes to the newlyweds too!
Time for some rest! Jennifer aka Gigi

Deb Shucka said...

Funny about the cake! What a wonderful time this sounds like. I just might be in love with Cooper and that sweet impish face.

Jeanne Henriques said...

Love all your photos Donna, pure joy! You are so lucky to have such a wonderful family....your grandchildren are so adorable! Love the patriotic swimmers too...great shot!

Best wishes Donna for a lovely weekend...

Jeanne xxx