4th of July

We really enjoy 4th of July around our house. Maybe it is because our anniversary is around the 4th so we always love an excuse to celebrate but we decided to pick up the family tradition again of going camping on the 4th. Boy is it a lot different with 2 kids compared to the trips that Abe and I took before Ethan came along. We decided to go some place close to home and only do 1 night since we were pretty sure it was going to be bad. And we were right but we'll talk about that later. Ethan was terribly excited because he had been camping with his dad in May and couldn't wait to go again. He told everyone we saw that he was going camping, and invited most of them to come along. I love his enthusiasm.

We stayed at a state park which was on a lake and the weather was perfect for camping. We did a lot of swimming and digging in the sand. And the kids probably would have stayed there all day if we hadn't made them leave. We also played at the park. walked around in the woods and watched the fireflies. And you will probably notice that Taylor and I refuse to do our hair while camping so we are looking a little rough.

The kids were excited to get to roast (and eat) marshmallows on graham crackers. I was glad I had gone through all the effort to make them when I saw how excited Ethan was to cook them over the fire.

Everything was going nicely until we got to bedtime. This is where any vacation is challenging but camping just takes it to a whole new level. While we were out doing on thing the campground filled up and though we started the day with lots of extra space around us by 9 we had tents on every side and VERY close. As our luck would have it the tent closest was a group of teenagers with one adult with them in another tent. As we tried to get the kids ready for bed they were talking REALLY loud and all the girls were laughing at everything the one guy said. Since we could hear every word they were saying it just got to be pretty aggravating. Of course, Ethan was hyped up on sweets and hearing other people talk convinced him that it was not time for bed. And as the language next door got worse and worse I could feel my blood pressure rising. We got Taylor to bed and then Ethan claimed he needed to go to the bathroom. That woke her up and she started to cry, REALLY LOUD. We got her calmed down and the kids next door were quiet so we thought we were in good shape. Then the neighbor started up again and woke Taylor up. Then they had the nerve to talk about how annoying her crying was and what they would do if it was their kid. Once again, I'm thinking they were just stupid enough not to know that we could hear everything, or maybe just annoying enough not to care. So then Ethan fell asleep and we finally let Taylor out of her crib and she just ran around like a crazy her for a while. It was after midnight by now and we were so tired. Our only salvation was the thought of how fun it would be when our kids got up early and we could annoy the neighbors by waking them up early. So you can imagine how aggravating it was when those same kids woke up before 6 am and were once again talking so loud that they woke up Ethan and Taylor. Not to say that we were getting any good sleep but I still wanted to kill them. We soon got up and started making breakfast and the neighbors continued to talk and the language got worse and worse. Finally I asked them to watch the language and they quieted down for a minute but then were back to talking foul. After another 5 minutes I asked told them that there were children around and they didn't need to hear that. Finally they stopped for good. Abe did tell me later than when I walked away they were talking about their rights to freedom of speech and the amendments. I'm so glad that I wasn't there to hear that or I might have lost it. Idiots really bother me. We did have another nice day at the lake and playing with the kids. The kids were so tired that they fell asleep after 1 minute in the car and slept the whole 2 hours home. It was a very peaceful drive.

Of course Saturday night we had already planned to eat at a friend's house and then watch the fireworks. The kids got a second wind and were pretty good even with the lack of sleep. I absolutely love fireworks so it was fun to enjoy them with the kids. Ethan has never been afraid of the noise and Taylor wasn't bothered either. She lost interest after a few minutes and was ready to go home but we stuck it out. The two late nights definitely made for a rough day at church but we survived our fun filled weekend. Now it is back to studying and work and all the un-fun things that our lives are filled with. We can't wait for this part of medical school to be over with.

Just because I want to put these other pictures in. This is "Kitty" a cat that has adopted our front porch as his home (well and inside our house when Ethan strategically leaves the door open just wide enough for Kitty to get in). The neighbors are cat people and have been feeding Kitty so he isn't going anywhere right now. Abe is NOT a cat person and neither am I but it is pretty cute to see the way Ethan and Taylor love that cat. To begin with Ethan would get sad every time we had to leave the house because he wanted Kitty to come with him. We are warned him that Kitty might leave one day and not come back. So every time he can't find Kitty he sits on the porch and makes everyone say "I wish Kitty were here" which is like a magic phrase that makes him appear. Ethan and Kitty have had a few altercations, in which Ethan is always the loser, but I'm 99% sure Ethan did something to Kitty to make him mad, like drag him by the tail. It makes Abe want to get Ethan a dog so bad cause he wants Kitty to follow him around but Kitty has a mind of his own. Ethan is ready for a pet but he is requesting one that doesn't poop and doesn't have claws. Since we have yet to find that kind of pet we are still petless.

This picture of Taylor is my favorite because she looks so big. She loves to chat on the phone with her dad. She usually hangs up on him at some point but she keeps chatting away. I was going to paint my toenails the other day so I let Taylor have hers painted too. She had never had that done before and she sat so still. She was so excited to show her toes off to everyone. Ethan wanted his done too and we explained that boys don't really paint their toes. After awhile he came back and asked if he got a boy color, like green, could he have his toes painted. He got over it eventually though, thankfully.