It's only the seventh and I'm already exhausted.  July has become Birthday Month for us.  But what Fun!!
I think the fourth should always be on a Saturday, if only to assure that we get the next day off for recovery.  But the next day is Vince's birthday.

Happy Birthday Vince!

I'm getting ahead of myself.

The fourth is not just the birthday of our Grand and Glorious Nation (the Best Darned Nation in the History of God's Green Earth, by the way) it is also Carolyn's birthday.  Carolyn is one of us, and in Josie's "Top five favorite cousins" pick.  Thanks to the timing of her birth, the 4th of July is Josie's favorite holiday, eeking out Christmas by a hair because the weather's better and she gets to sleep over at Carolyn's after the fire works.

The 4th has morphed into the only holiday where we have two full blown parties and they're the best kind of parties imaginable; I don't have to lift a finger for either of them.

This year's fun began early.  The skies were gray in the morning, as they have been for the better part of June.  June usually stinks around here and this year was worse than normal; cool, clammy and gray, yet none of the rain we desperately need.  Katie came over and we all hopped in the Audi and headed west, to Tim's place.

Half way to Lake Francis, someone complained of being hungry.  It seems no one remembered to eat any breakfast, all being distracted by dreams of porketta on the grill and many birthday cake options, but dinner at three seemed a long way off.  So we pulled into a restaurant right off the highway that had a drive through and ordered five butterburgers, two pops and an order of fries.  I must say it was the best hamburger I've ever had handed to me through the window of a car.

We out drove the clouds and by the time we reached Tim's, the skies were blue and the sun was just shy of hot.  Masses of Pivecs lounged beneath the trees on the lake shore, fished from the dock, swung in the hammock, and played with the babies.  There were almost enough babies to go around; Matt and Janelle brought the twins and I finally got to meet Coby, Tim and Mary Lou's first grandchild.

Coby and I bonded when he pooped all over me.

There were chips, dips and adult beverages by the lake with lots of reinforcements and supplements up at the house.  There were boat rides, swimming, tubing and later on, porketta with all the fixins.  We got lazy, drunk, sunburned and full.

We headed for home around six, stopping at a road side stand to buy fresh corn on the cob and ripe tomatoes.  About a half hour after we got home, we were joined by Dick, who just sold his house!  Congrats on that, Dick, even though I hate the idea of you moving permanently to Rochester.  Thank goodness for Jan, she'll keep you coming back to town. Jan,  Eric and Jen arrived just as it was getting dark.  They brought two big barrels of dip and lots of chips.  Before it was full dark, MJ, Kent and Annie arrived, bearing two half baked pizzas from Frankie's, the best pizza ever.  Kent appropriated the oven to oversee the final baking of his creations.  By the time the show was starting at Centennial Lakes, we were once again full of food and drink, with chairs parked all over the front hill, a blanket for Annie and MJ to roll around on and bug spray at the ready.  Since there hasn't been any rain, there were no mosquitoes which made it the best fireworks show EVER. 

There weren't as many fireworks in our own park as there have been in the past.  Our neighbors across the way seem to have packed it in, but it made little difference to us.  We had a blast and Annie thoroughly enjoyed being up after dark and watching the fireworks.  She thought we had all gone crazy and she was totally down with it.

Later, after the big show, we cleaned the kitchen and put away food to the sound of distant bottle rockets and snappers.  Katie looked at her phone and said "I'm supposed to go to an opening down on Lindale now.  I'm on the list.  I've never eaten so much in one day my whole life, not even Thanksgiving.  I don't want to go."  With that she sighed, and headed out.  That girl's a real trouper.

Now it's the seventh and we're still eating leftovers.  The chairs are still all in the front yard.  I may just leave them there all summer.  Today is Annie's birthday.  It's the fourth birthday celebration of the month for us. Before the end of July we'll have racked up birthdays for Dad, Lizzie, Jenna, Hattie, Alex, Josie and Meg.  Possibly Lauren too, I can't remember.  There's more, but I can't count the cousins who live out of town.

Oh, what the heck; "Happy Birthday, Tom and Sophie!"

That's a lot of chocolate cherry cake.

I love July.

 

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