* July 2, 2012
We started our Independence Day week off with a bang! Ha! Monday night, for a big, multi-family, combined FHE we set off fireworks at the Colemans house. In true Pacific Northwest fashion, it was freezing!! In fact, we got a little sprinkling at the end. No worries, we all bundled up and the kiddos all had a blast.
* July 3, 2012
Piano recital... See post below. And then {
awesome hubby and daddy that he is!} Sean insisted that Ethan and I get fireworks to take with us down to Oregon, even though he wouldn't be able to enjoy them himself.
* July 4, 2012
Sean had to work {
ALL DAY and the rest of the week!!} so Ethan and I headed down to Oregon to spend some time with my family and also my aunt, uncle and cousins who were in town from Utah. First up, a big family BBQ lunch where I was in charge of dessert. Check out this little beauty...
My friend's
amazing lemon bar recipe baked in a tart pan and fresh raspberries and blueberries to make the start design. The raspberries, especially, were delicious with the tart/sweet lemon bars.
And then the rest of the spread... With burgers and hot dogs fresh off the grill outside.
It was so great to see and chat with family and spend some time with my cousins, Niki and Sarah, that I don't get to see very often!
Later, after everyone had left and it had gotten dark, we broke out the fireworks!! Including the legal ones from Washington... which may not be quite so legal in Oregon!
Let me tell you, that "100 SHOT" one was a total dud!! But we loved the "Mighty Python" one, which we almost didn't get - Sean picked it out, though, so he gets all the credit! Besides the Roman Candles (which freaked my family out because everyone we know just holds them in their hand!) and the artillery shells, the rest were good ol', stay-on-the-ground fountain fireworks.
And, of course, some sparklers. Growing up, we always did morning glories, but in the last couple years I've discovered I really like just the plain gold sparklers.
* July 5, 2012
Ethan and I stuck around in Oregon for a few days and on Thursday we went to the lake w/ Lizzy... and her friends. Nothing like the 14-year age difference between us to make me feel really old!! The teeny-boppers hung around at the dock and my Mom, Ethan and I lounged in the sun on the shore. [
Tragic side story: We found out when we got there that earlier in the day there had been a drowning. I think the kid had jumped in, but hit his head on the way down, so never resurfaced. He was finally found 54 feet down, about 5 hours after he had jumped.]
Ethan stuck a toe in the water to test it out...
Yep! It was a little chilly!!
Better warm up in the sun with the Doritos chip bag that's as big as he is!
And then spend a good chunk of time balancing on the log near us. {I apologize for the musical stylings of P!NK in the background we may have been rocking out to!}
Bum shot!!
Digging in the sand.
Back at my parents' house we had my aunt and cousins over to play games for a while. And then I had to attempt this layered, patriotic drink. A little trickier than I thought it'd be, but we got it to work!
* July 6, 2012
Christine's 24th Birthday!!
On Friday we kept it pretty laid back, slept in and had a leisurely morning. We went and saw the movie Brave. Yeah... That was kind of a mistake!! *Spoiler alert!* As soon as a certain family member turned into a bear (which is pretty close to the beginning of the movie) Ethan was done. He really, really didn't like that this family member had been changed. I don't think the huge bear scared him so much as the idea of this family member being changed into the bear. Like, it really bothered him. It was all I could do to keep him in the theater for the whole movie!
* July 7, 2012
After some errands and hanging out with my family for one more day, Ethan and I headed home to Washington and to finally see Sean, who we had missed a lot!
