Holiday-ee Celebray-eet

Summah summah summah tah-ime...sing writing.  The weather has been just so sweet.  Today was too much.  So fantastic.  Upper seventies (by us at least), sunny and slightly breezy.  We hit the bikes twice today - once west to Riverside Park and the bike trail behind it to the Lake and then east in the evening to Lake Park where we were delighted to see a kids' 'band' starting right as we were cruising by!

So yes, holiday - the fourth of July!  So fun.  Graham had a solo visit with Nana and Papa starting Wednesday and we headed up to EC Friday to retrieve him and hang out for a couple days.  We swam in Jones' pool - Happy Birthday Karen, swam and boated lakeside, went to the Stone Barn - an eden about an hour from EC where they make pizzas and serve them in...the Stone Barn.  Succulent place.  We celebrated Mary (Nana's) birthday there!  Yahooooo!

Drove back w/o a hitch on Sunday and bbq'd with the Schuurmans - fantastic, did the 4th of July parade up Newberry into Lake Park for ice cream and games, went to the Blanchard's extravaganza of a party.  Ann.  I'm in awe - the attendance, fare, kids' games, decor, beverages, participation, the waterslide, I mean - hard to believe.  Talented woman.

Jason was back to the grind at 4:30am Tuesday to catch a flight for two nights in SLC.  My Mom came to hang out for a night.  Graham and Nanny are two peas in a pod.  Nanny needed a little rest after playing with Graham 110% for hours and I tried to keep the kiddos subdued but Graham insisted first on bringing a fan in and positioned just right by the bed for Nanny, then he brought her some water, then brought some ice for it, then brought her an extra blanket followed by a hand picked petite bouquet of flowers.  True love.  What a love bug. A little gentleman - chivalry is not dead.

Estelle is full-on walking now.  She eats like a sumo-wrestler and somehow remains a peanut so far.  She (and Graham) loves a bike ride, checking out the backyard and park and has little conversations now full of inflection.  What a blessing.  I still call her my baby even though she's been a toddler for a while now - I suppose I will forever maybe!  Graham's still my baby, too.  Two angels from heaven.  Thank you Jesus.

And whoa, now this is outdated...7/12/11 today...and there's nothing about food - here - a lot of grilling and a lot of lettuce and pea pods from the garden!