Independence Weekend!

Time to catch up.
Last Thursday, we drove down to the Lake of the Ozarks to spend the weekend with Nana and Papa, Uncle Bill and Aunt Cheri, and Mackenzie.  On our way to the lake, we stopped in Platte City to drop off dinner for a friend, Leah Johnson, who is on bedrest (they will find out in about a week whether the baby's lungs are mature, and she can go ahead and deliver), then met David and Jana (with Lincoln and Emmy, of course) for lunch at Planet Sub (Cole loves Planet Sub-go figure) in Blue Springs.  It is always so nice to get together with them, and the kids have a great time talking and playing.  Somehow, Cole had stayed awake until this point in our trip, so we were hoping for a long nap to get us the rest of the way to the lake.  Well, he fell asleep (along with Jax) just outside of KC, but there was construction in Sedalia, so they both woke up, and we had to entertain the rest of the way.  Thankfully, Jax is helpful in this regard.  We got to the lake at about 4pm, and the boys immediately set about playing with Nana and Papa-one of their favorite pasttimes.  Connie and I took a quick trip over to the mall and stopped in BabyGap and Coach.  That night, Papa took Jax on a night boat ride-he was so excited to ride the boat, he couldn't wait until the next day.

Friday, July 1st.
We had a lazy morning, punctuated by Cole's nap, and then headed out on the boat before noon.  Jackson could not wait to jump in the water, and Cole hated his lifejacket at first, but did pretty well considering how uncomfortable it looks.  Cole really liked getting in the water (just being dipped up to his shoulders was his favorite), but he also loved pushing buttons on the boat and opening and closing all the doors. Ah, the things that amuse a 1-year-old.  Cole would even sit in one of the floaty cushions by himself.  He looked so cute and funny, lounging in the lake.   After about 2 hours, Cole was ready to go in, so he and Nana went back to the condo. Jackson, on the other hand, did no lounging. He is a go-kid when it comes to being on the boat.  I am pretty sure he jumped off the boat 100 times, and that is probably a conservative estimate.  We tied up to another boat and Jax and a couple of other kids had jumping contests and were playing catch off the boat.  We came in about 5:30pm.  TJ and I went to Transformers 3 in Laurie, the little town closest to the condo.  When we got back the kids were asleep, so the adults played some Catch Phrase, and the girls won, of course. 

Saturday, July 2nd.
Waiting for Cole's nap to end again!  Then, out to the boat.  Cole did not last as long today. Only about an hour and a half.  I came back to the condo with him, and they headed back out on the lake.  Cole and I had a fun day watching boats and looking out on the lake.  He had acted tired on the boat, but he was not interested in taking a nap, so we played a lot.  The crew came in a little after 6, and I went to the pool for some quiet time.  We had dinner, laid around for a bit, then a few people went on another boat ride-prompted by Jax, of course.  They got to see a great fireworks display, and got home at about 10pm.  Somehow, Jax has morphed into this little night owl.  He has been staying up until 10:00 for the last week or so, and still going strong.

Sunday, July 3rd.
The dreaded drive home.  It went better than expected.  Cole fell asleep before we were on the road five minutes.  We stopped at, you guessed it, Planet Sub, on the way home to eat.  More entertaining for the last hour or more.  When we got home, the neighborhood was getting fired up for their big Independence Day celebration.  It started at the Smith's house at about 5:30.  They have a pool in their backyard and are kind enough to let everyone come over to swim.  Then over to Culver's for dinner-Potluck style.  Yummy!  At this point, I took the kids out to my parents house for the night.  We were told it would be unlikely our children would get any sleep here at home.  Then back over to our side of the neighborhood for fireworks.  Ryan and Jeana came over to watch, too.  It was an awesome fireworks show, lasting about 40 minutes, NONSTOP.  There were about 50-75 people in Thrasher's driveway to watch it.  Then, social time.  I came in at about 11:30, and TJ came in sometime after midnight. 

Monday, July 4th. Independence Day.
I went out to pick up the boys in Easton about 9:30.
Jackson rode his bike in a bike parade at 10 over in Twelve Oaks, then back home for nap.  After nap, we had lunch and headed to Moila Country Club Pool.  After about an hour, TJ finished his golf round and took Cole home, and Jackson and I stayed at the pool playing games and playing with friends.  Ireland Robertson, Alex, and Jackson Camp were there and he had a great time.  Last year, Jax won Biggest Splash.  This year he was too busy going down the slide and playing to be bothered with games.  We finally came home around 4:30.  After a little down time, Jax headed over to Robertson's to swim until time for more fireworks.  With Cole in bed at 8:30, we all enjoyed fireworks until about 10 and everybody headed in for bed.

What an amazing, outstanding, exhausting, fun weekend.
Excited to repeat it every year.  What a great neighborhood we have chosen to live in.

While the spirit of neighborliness was important
on the frontier because neighbors were so few,
it is even more important now because our
neighbors are so many.  ~Lady Bird Johnson