July 4th weekend!

Did we let a little rain spoil our fun this 4th of July weekend? No way! We both had Friday off work - for once - so we hopped in the car and drove down to Oliver winery to meet dad and mom and celebrate both dad's b-day (Happy Birthday Dad) and the 4th of July! Oliver was great. The girls explored the gardens, fountains, trails, and fed the koi. Barclay and I tasted some yummy wine, mom and dad sat outside and chilled with a loaf of french bread.



Then we headed to Four Winds on Lake Monroe for the night. After some chaos caused by bad staff at the hotel, we finally got into our room. We spent time at the little beach they had, and by the pool. It was really relaxing. Then that night we had dinner - paid for by the hotel :) Our plan was to hang out some more on Saturday morning, but it was raining, so we went over to Scholar's Bakehouse for coffee and breakfast.




From there, mom and dad headed off to Aunt Kate's and we came on home for a few hours. We went over to the Jacobi's for their 4th of July celebration. They have a hanger, so the party could stay in doors while it was raining. The girls did puzzles with grandma and grandpa, which kept them perfectly happy! Plus, they had chocolate cupcakes....so we had everything we needed! Once we had a mere sprinkling, no one cared anymore, and the party went outside. The kids LOOOOVVVVVEEED it. It was the perfect July 4th set up. You should see the parachutes of today. The firecracker let's off about 10 parachutes instead of 1, plus, they are not hot and on fire when you go to pick them up. As expected, the parachutes remain the favorite firework. Then John, his brother Tom, and some of the older kids put on a fabulous firework display which rivaled the professional shows. It was amazing! Addy fell asleep during the loudest fireworks. The pictures ended up out of order, but I'm too lazy to move them. The top ones should be down here!