The Fourth of July

Most of the family arrived on the morning of the 4th. Aaron was the only person not present, as he came in early on the 5th.

I got up early and made the long drive to Boston to pick up my mom and two young brothers. My dad hung out in Boston for about an hour to pick up Ben and Kari and the kids.

We were finally all together around noon. Josh and I took off for a short trip to Vermont. It is only about 2o minutes from my sisters house and worth the trip. The small part of Vermont that I saw was really quaint and quirky. Loved it.

So the plan for the 4th were pretty typical. BBQ and Fireworks. We immediately put the boys to work shucking corn. They loved it! Joachim and Levi hit it off and it was really fun having a boy around Levi. (On Josh's side of the family we only have girls. Of course, that could change in about 1-4 weeks! And then again in January!)

The weather was perfect for swimming! Here is John with Joachim. And Josh with Levi. Levi was a semi-fan with the water. He liked it in theory. After he was in for about five minutes, he wanted out. That five minutes satisfied him for the entire day!

Claire is an entirely different story. She LOVED the water. I am going to have to splurge and get her swimming lessons.

While some people were swimming and catching up, some sat inside and watched movies. This person shall remain nameless.

Then came the best part of the 4th of July: Fireworks.

Paul was a total pro at setting them up and lighting the fireworks. He put on such a great show! None of my firework pictures turned out, but I got some great ones of Levi with sparklers.

The whole day was fabulous! The only bad thing, is that Josh and I had to get up at 3:00 the following morning so that he could catch his 6:30 plane to Seattle. He missed Claire and Levi so much! He says that he missed me too...