Fourth of July!

We have had a fun summer thus far. I went back to work on July 5th. I am working Monday through Thursday. I have been on a two week break from my classes, but those start up again today. In other words, back to the usual grind! I'm way behind on blogging. We've done all sorts of fun things. Here's an update on the fourth of July; which was VERY busy!

Per usual, our fourth of July celebrating began on the 3rd of July! We always participate in Julie's family Olympics. It's always a blast for the kids, and a great way for slightly inebriated parents to race against one another in foolish contests like the 3 legged race.

We always start the day at Leddy park for some swimming. As I'm sure you have heard, Lake Champlain reached extremely high flood levels this year, and at times was more than five feet above flood level. This has destroyed a lot of the beaches and local coastlines, Leddy Park included.
Being the responsible parents that we are, we ignored the warning signs and went for a swim on the beach.

Really what the issue was with the beach was the ability for people to get onto it. The water had come up so far this spring that it destroyed the path leading down to the beach. Therefore we had to jump down to get into the beach. Once on the sand we were really all set. Obviously though, we unfortunately had no way of bringing Wyatt onto the beach with us.

For some reason, people felt the need to add insult to injury with graffiti.

These trees show the color change where the water was. You can see where the lighter color is, that's how high the water came up.

Pretty amazing really.

Flood damage notwithstanding, the water was warm and nice!

Perfect bathing suit?
Yes; I think so.

We headed back to Julie's house to begin the annual family olympics.

We returned to Julie's house just moments before a downpour! We were all thankful that we made it inside before we got soaked again. Well, most of us were. Some of use are rowdy boys who play Frisbee in the rain!

The rain was also pouring into the screen porch; as illustrated by Kate:

The three legged race was our first game outside. This one is always amusing. It's possible that in years past, some people may have tried to cheat by picking up their tiny partners and running along. (I don't know who...!) This year, though, no cheating.

(The Grahams are too cool to smile...)

Next they played a water game.

The backyard was essentially one big puddle because of the earlier downpour.
Due to this, Aisling ("Gravity Girl") slipped and fell.

This set off Connor who would run and slide across the yard.
That kid will do anything for a laugh!

Next was the all time favorite; pie eating!

Of course, another favorite part of the family olympics is some good old fashioned snuggles!

There's also just good old fashioned playing!

Not to mention posing:

The next day, the fourth, our day started with myself and the three mini Frugolis walking in the town parade. Their dance teacher is opening her own dance studio right in Milton. We've decided to follow her to the new studio because 1) we really love her, and 2) it's a shade closer to our house. Anyway, she had some kids march in the parade to advertize.

Always the performer:

It was HOT. Aisling decided to ride in the truck.

Connor walked and handed out candy and cards. (Essentially walking the route more than once).
We decided to grab some ice cream after that hot walk!

Aisling discovered how big a medium can be!

Then we came home and jumped in the pool for a bit.

We headed to the fire works with some of our friends from Milton.

A few things were really great about this year's fireworks. The first was that we hung out with some new friends. Connor's dance class this year included a bunch of classmates that we have known forever, but never really hung out with. They are a blast, and it's so nice to have more friends added into our lives!

In addition to this, Connor was able to go off on his own with two of his friends. He and two friends were given a circumference within which they were allowed to play and watch the fireworks. They LOVED this new freedom and had a blast. It's so exciting that Connor is getting older. It's so much fun to watch him interact with his friends. It's obviously bittersweet because I miss my little baby boy, but he has great friends, and has been making great choices!

The only thing I did NOT like was the mosquetoes. This has been the buggiest summer in memory and it was pretty awful at the fireworks. Siobhan and I ended up sitting in the car.

All in all, the Fourth of July was, per usual, a blast!