Independence Day

Last week was a bit crazy with David out of town and lots of work to be done.  As the 4th of July fell on a Tuesday, we ended up with a 4 day weekend (a rare event only Thanksgiving can match) so we were looking forward to a relaxing weekend!

On Saturday, the boys were up early and clamoring for special breakfast (those breakfasts that don't fit into the schedule on our normal mornings).  They worked together to make peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes - delicious.

The rest of Saturday passed in a blur of grocery shopping, cleaning up, Despicable Me 3, BBQ with friends, and time at the park.

Sunday was supposed to be hot so we decided a beach day was in order.  We headed up to Wingaersheek in Gloucester, a great beach with rocks to climb, tidepools to explore, sandy stretches to build on.  We stopped to buy a sun shade and a few other supplies and then got stuck in traffic.  When we finally got there the parking area was full and they were turning people away.  Turns out others had the same idea for a hot day!

Not to give up, we decided we'd try Singing Beach which we hadn't been to in years.  Still crowded but David was able to drop all of us off and find a parking spot a 20 minute walk away.  The boys spent the afternoon on engineering feats as the tide slowly came back in while David, Mr. 14, and I played frisbee and read in our new shelter.  We even found a crazy sea millipede!

We arrived home for dinner and showers, more time at the park, and ice cream on the porch with our neighbors.

Monday we decided it was time to teach our 5 year old to ride a 2 wheel bike.  It was a year late due to our unfortunately park closing and unfortunately Mr. 5 had outgrown our starter bike in that time.  Not to worry, Craig's List to the rescue.  We found a new bike just the right size the next town over and David and Mr. 5 went on a Costco run and then picked it up.  And then it was off to the park.  He got the hang of it pretty quick and was quickly going 8-10 seconds on his own.  His record was 13 seconds!

One of the purchases at Costco were new shelves for the basement.  As David was moving things around down there he came across our kites.  It turns out we have some expert kite-flyers and Mr. 12 and Mr. 8 had a grand time and Mr. 5 played on the park with his neighborhood posse.

On to dinner (grilled pizza), dominoes, and star gazing.  We haven't even gotten to the actual 4th and have managed a pretty amazing weekend with plans to finish it off with fireworks.  Happy 4th!