4th

July 4th, 1776
The day the Declaration of Independence was signed.
So how did we spend that day some 233 years later???
Well it involved....



FIREWORKS.

On a large scale. on a barge pushed out into the middle of the lake.



And on a small scale in our yard.





A BOAT PARADE. With boats of all shapes, colors and sizes.



Some with questionable seaworthiness.




Lots of patriotism and flag waving.


With just a touch of the daredevil.



How was your 4th?

Busy Doing Nothing

The weekend's over and I'm exhausted.
Exhausted from doing ...well...nothing.
Here's a smapshot of our weekend.



Up at the cabin we were treated to a spectacular water display put on by our local fire department. They were down at the lake testing all their hoses and equipment shooting these great plumes of water a couple of hundred feet up into the air. You can see my kids down on the dock...they said it felt like rain falling on them. I was quite impressed with the eco friendliness of these firemen...what a great idea to pull up at the local lake to do this testing rather than waste hundreds a gallons of water testing somewhere else. Good thinking guys.



After all that excitement we took the kids into town for an ice cream. There's this neat little icecream parlor that is essentially unchanged from the way it was 50 years ago. Owens in Newport. For $2.00 you can get an ice cream nearly as large as a child's head.



This picture was taken AFTER he was half way through.



After polishing off those mammoth ice creams a wander through the tiny little local pet store was in order. Ah yes, hamsters, kittens, a cute little bunny rabbit, a tiger, a puppy...
Hang on, back up there....a TIGER???????
True...this is Lilly. She lives at the pet store after being rescued from a group of animal smugglers. The pet store owners are in the process of trying to raise money to build Lilly an outdoor enclosure that seems far more suitable for such a beautiful creature like Lilly. I must say though my heart skipped a beat when I came face to face with her...she really is a massive animal. AND she was growling...which kind of made me go weak at the knees. I apologize for the quality of the picture but this is about as close as I was going to get to her.

Memorial Day

As anyone with children knows a vacation...even a weekend away...is like organizing a military maneuver. Over the Memorial day weekend we headed up to the cabin...we only stayed for 2 days but we looked as if we were going for 6 months. Here are some photos from our weekend....I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful spring weekend with your family and friends.

HVD

Nothing says it like a candy covered cookie!

Halloween Adventures

The weather was wonderfully mild last night as we ventured out with some friends to take the kids trick or treating.
I really thought I'd take a whole lot of pictures. I had this idea of getting the kids and their friends to pose under this giant inflatable haunted arch that we have outside our front porch but in hindsight I can see this was doomed to failure. They let me snap off a few quick photos at the door and then they were all off running in all directions. We spent most of the time herding them to the side of the road and avoiding oncoming traffic.

My friend Dana challenged me early in the night to a photo dual. After lying on someone's cold, damp lawn to get this picture of Jack I conceded defeat in preference to not catching pneumonia.

Even hubby got into the Halloween spirit..(pardon the pun!!!) and dressed as a biker. He had been to the Halloween store for some accessories and picked up some plastic "bling" and tattoo sleeves. He was disappointed to find out from the children that bikers don't wear bling...he might have to save that for next year and be a rapper. My eight year old son has taken possession of the tattoo sleeves remarking that they are the coolest thing he has ever seen. I am thinking that this does not bode well for his teenage years.
Finally after it was all over it was time to sort through their candy stash. While the others were sorting according to what candy was their favorite my five year old was color coding his candy. Sometimes the mind of a 5 year old can be boggling! Happy Halloween.