The 4th... On the 15th...

Didn't mean to glance over our July 4th. I didn't get too many pictures, and things were a little crazy trying to get ready for our Seattle trip. However, we did manage to have several outings during the weekend and enjoyed spending time with friends.

Friday night we headed to Galveston to visit our friends, Joe and Angela, who were in from Ohio. They were staying with family at a beach house and invited us down for dinner. It was SOOOOO good to see them. Joel and I miss them terribly and WISH THEY WOULD MOVE BACK TO HOUSTON!!! We had a nice visit while the kids were entertained by Joe and Angela's niece and nephew. They were too cute. I wish I would have taken my camera. I think the last pictures I have of us with the Wilts was at their wedding! Plus, it was an absolutely beautiful sunset, and the kids were having so much fun playing together. Guess that just means they'll have to come down again soon! ;)

Saturday morning I took Carter to the Bellaire Festival. We missed the parade as everyone slept in from getting in so late the night before. I should have done a tad bit of research before we went. I figured I wouldn't need much money for anything, so we showed up with $1 to my name! You couldn't do ANYTHING without money or tickets. We stood in line for a snow cone (that was $1), and they ran out of ice 2 people ahead of us. I cashed in my dollar for 4 tickets, and we hit the petting zoo. It was packed with all kinds of critters, and Carter had a good time. We saw his friend Will while we were in there (pictured with Carter below). I took 2 seconds to take a picture of Will petting some llama-type animal, and I turned around to find that Carter had dumped out the entire bowl of feed. We quickly picked it up and left after we gobbed on about a gallon of hand sanitizer.


Off to Central Market and then home as Carter was starting to doze in the car. Great! Perfect timing for him to nap before we headed to Melissa and John's new house for a cookout. The Bop stayed in his room for hours - no nap. It was a risky move, but we went anyway. Great food and more time with friends. Carter played with Cooper and another little girl he just met. He threw a 'wet-noodle' tantrum when he couldn't go outside, so we figured it was time to head out. Of course, he had already secured the 'item of the day' at Cooper's (actually TWO items), and we couldn't leave without them - see below. He took them to bed that night, of course, but the balls were returned to Cooper - unharmed - the next day. (Notice Fake-face also made it to the party?)



Give me a minute to hop up on my soapbox again... Joel and I watched a special on TV that night about the American Revolution. America's story is such a fascinating one, and one that you can't learn about without noting the multiple miracles along the way (sad I don't know it as well as I should). It is very clear that God's hands shaped the foundation of this country we are fortunate enough to be a part of. I literally find it sickening that someone like Michael Jackson could monopolize the news for weeks while many fallen heroes pay the ultimate price for our country and go unmentioned forever. It's a sad state of affairs we find ourselves in today. I truly believe that we still live in the greatest country in the world - despite what many are doing to change that. I hope - for my children's sake - something changes in a big way before it all unravels.

Happy Birthday, America. And many more.


Back down from my soapbox.