Fourth of July

We found a parade to go to on Monday. I was excited, because they actually threw out candy! The Memorial Day parades around here don't throw out candy anymore, because it's "dangerous." This is a picture of the loot. I told Jonathan that growing up, we--each of us, individually--always got twice as much candy at the Steeleville Fourth of July parade. Anyway, I was excited, and Benjamin quickly became excited once he realized they were throwing candy, and he would get to keep it and eat it! The parade itself was mainly a bunch of tractors and a few fire trucks--Paul was excited about that. After the parade, we went to the beach, along with half of the state, I'm sure! We came home and Jonathan grilled us fish for supper. It was a very nice family day. =)

Cardinals game at Camden Yards

Thursday we made the drive down to Baltimore to see the Cardinals play. It was Paul's first game, Benjamin's second.

At the game with Katie and Mr. A, friends from church. Katie is moving to St. Louis now, though, where she'll be teaching. This was our last get-together before her move.

Go Cardinals!

It was a late night, but the boys did pretty good, all things considered. (Benjamin did not really fall asleep, by the way.)

Cardinals won!

Fort McHenry

Friday, we visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore. We got to help out with the flag changing.

Beach shots

Here are some pictures of the beach we went to on the Chesapeake Bay.

Welcome Baby Bo!

My sister, Rachel, had her baby! We are very excited to welcome our new nephew/cousin into the family. Bo Austin was born on Monday at 12:17 a.m. He was 9 lb, 13 oz, and 21 inches long. Can you imagine how big he might have been, had she not been induced?! We are excited to meet and hold Bo in a few weeks!

School's out

School is finally out here in New England. Benjamin's last day was Thursday, a week ago. He started out his summer vacation with a sore throat/high fever virus that Paul had passed on to him. Paul had it the middle of the week, and Benjamin came down with it on Friday. Benjamin slept for 17 hours in a 24-hour period! Paul, however, decided to continue his routine of getting up at 5:30, and also thought one 45-minute nap would suffice. Consequently, Benjamin got better much faster than Paul!

Thankfully, both boys are better this week. We've enjoyed a trip to the beach, the park, and the bike trail, between the rainy weather. We also made the decision to finally re-do the kitchen. I say finally, because we've been talking about it since we moved in five years ago. So, we've made the first of many trips (I'm sure) to Home Depot. We got a great deal on kitchen cabinets and a new fridge. There are several people from church who are going to help us out with the project. Thank goodness for their generosity!

Benjamin with his preschool teachers on graduation day. He's not going to kindergarten next year, (I am so not ready! I'm glad he's only four!) but his class sang at graduation.

Father's Day gift to Dad and Grandpas. Paul colored the paper that went around the pencil holder. Benjamin put the letters on--they spell out "Pencils." And I put together a notepad with different pictures for each Dad.

Guess what Paul's favorite song is?

I wonder why!