happy 5th of july!

because, of course, i completely forgot to even mention america's birthday yesterday. oops. hope you had a fun 4th, full of food and fireworks.

ours began with a dip in the newly scrubbed, perfectly chlorinated jacuzzi in the back yard. it's always been there, but we just never had time to mess with it, and finally the hub decided it was time. and after the fun the bean had in the pool last weekend, we figured it was a great way to get her more comfy in the water.


after we'd had our fill of waterplay, we all went inside and got ready. the bean got her bath early - which probably threw her off a bit, but relaxed her enough to take a nap. whee! and then it was off to the grandparents' for a barbecue.

somehow, i forgot to take pictures of dinner, which was delicious: grilled chicken and fish, green salad, grandma's homemade potato salad. i actually hate potato and macaroni salads, but gram's potato salad has some kind of crack in it that i can't get enough of. i was bummed when the hub's uncle beat me to calling dibs on the leftovers. damn, i'm salivating at the thought of it. oh, well.

but we had lots of dessert, including homemade ice cream lovingly hand-cranked by MIL and FIL. it was delicious, and there were lots of toppings for it. gramps decided to pile fresh strawberries and blueberries on his, topped with a mound of whipped cream, and it was quite the patriotic treat.


FIL, being quite aware of my distaste for fresh fruit, dipped into the candy bowl and chopped up some kit kats and chocolate kisses just for me. ah, how i love FIL. i scooped up some of that cold, creamy goodness, tossed some kit kats in the bowl, and went to town with the reddi-wip. heh.


the bean had a blast playing on the floor with various family members, showing off her crawling skillz and utilizing those clapping hands quite regularly. it's so funny - whenever she hears me (or anyone else) exclaim "yaaaay!" she's all over the hand-clapping. "yay" on command. yay!


she and her daddy stopped to smell the roses, and then it was an evening of chatting and laughing before we all went home. the bean waved "bye" to one of the grandmas as we left, which was cool - it's the first time she'd ever done that. i know, i know - it seems so stupid and silly to be excited over hand clapping and goodbye waving, but when they're things that have never happened before, it's pretty damn cool.


and we completely forgot about going somewhere to watch fireworks, but that's okay. maybe next year.

hope it's a fun holiday weekend for everyone!