Is Today the Last Day of the 4th of July Daddy?

That's the question Cory asked Ted when he tucked him into bed Monday night. To say that we've had a fun weekend would be an understatement. I think for all of us it was an incredible weekend spent together as a family and enjoying some of the fun of summertime.

We started the weekend on Friday with pancakes--not the usual fare for our weekday breakfasts. Lucy arranges her pancakes in the most unusual way. Ted had the day off, and we enjoyed being able to spend a whole day with him, even if we spent most of it at home with an errand or two thrown in for good measure. We ended the evening with a movie using Netflix's instant play feature on our Wii. Love that.

Saturday morning we started the day with a bike ride to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. YUM! The kids spent the day with their friends on slip n' slides and in kiddie pools in the circle. Ted took the little two to the big pool for an hour or so as well. That night we went to Fuddruckers for dinner, and had a most awesome meal out, which anyone with several young kids knows isn't always the case.

On the 4th we started the day at church. Afterwards we went to the Coast Guard Station for a USO celebration. We watched the USS Constitution head out to the Harbor Islands and we enjoyed a yummy lunch and some crafts and games for the kids.

We came home, and Ted set up the ice rink tarp as a giant slip n slide. The kids had a blast.

All day, Riley had been asking us whether she would be able to stay up and watch the fireworks on TV. At about 7:00 we decided to go into Boston and watch their big firework show. This spontaneous decision was a little unusual for us--the planners that we are. Suffice it to say, that the experience deserves its own blog entry, so I'll tease you with this picture and we'll come back for more of the story later.

On Monday we headed north about an hour to go to a beach in Gloucester, MA. We had to drag the kids out of bed; they were so exhausted from the night before. But they had a fantastic day in the ocean and sand.

We ended the weekend with a neighborhood BBQ, a Circle wide game of Capture the Flag, and lots of happy memories.