Thursday, July 21, 2016

Our Fourth of July

Daniel came back from Scout camp the Saturday before 4th of July, and it was awesome to be with him. He was surprised about the table. I had decided to do it while he was gone, so that he wouldn't be inconvenienced and also, so it could be a surprise. It was pretty fun. :)

We had some friends over for a dessert night on Sunday, which was really fun.

I started of the Holiday with a little run with Heather and her family and the Thompsons. We did a REALLY SLOW 5k; we kept having to stop and wait for people, transfer kids into and out of strollers and carriers, etc. So it really took us way longer than it should have, but we still had fun. And I had not really been running at all since my race, so it was nice to get back out there.

Daniel walked the girls over the bridge and met up with me after we were done, and we walked the rest of the way to watch the local parade. It's pretty close to where we live, so we just walked there and back. It's kind of a fun parade. The girls liked seeing the fire trucks and police cars and horses. They loved getting little flags and candies. The downside is that every float or car is so spaced out from the one before it and behind it that the parade takes more than 3x what it probably should. We burnt out after an hour and half, so we walked back before it was done.

We had a leisurely afternoon; I showered, the girls napped, Daniel went shopping, and I took a long nap. Then in the early evening, we headed over to the Fischer's house for a 4th of July BBQ and swimming. The Fischers have the coolest backyard! They have a decent-sized pool, an awesome playhouse that Andrew built, a big old trampoline, plenty of empty lawn, and a nice patio. I want their backyard!! The Delhoyos and Faucettes were there, and we had a good time swimming and eating and chatting. Camille and I had fun on their trampoline, I bounced pretty gently, and she flew all over the place and was giggling and having so much fun. I loved it!

After a while, we headed home. Since we still put the girls to bed early, we didn't do fireworks (although we put them down late enough that night, that we could've). Daniel is kind of over fireworks, and I guess I'm indifferent. Maybe when the girls are a little older and not so jumpy, we'll take them to some fireworks.

We had a pretty good Independence Day!

Daniel at Scout Camp

The Dunnihoos joined the party on Saturday, June 25th, and we spent the day altogether, cooped up in our little house. The kids played and watched tv, the adults napped and visited and made food. When Mark was done with his conference at Disneyland, he drove down to be with us and brought some truly delicious cheesecakes from Cheesecake Factory. We all played games that night and had a lot of fun together.

Unfortunately, Daniel was really, really busy that week. He was swamped at work, he was preparing for Scouts Camp, and he was working on a talk for that Sunday. He didn't get a lot of time to hang out and play with us, which made us both really sad.

His talk was super awesome (of course. Everything he does, he does well); he spoke on religious freedom (in preparation for 4th of July). We hung out as a family that day. Daniel and I worked on sewing a bunch of patches on some scout shirts that night. And then he left really, really early the next morning to spend the week at Scout Camp.

I think he had a good time. He spent a lot of time corralling boys and helping a special needs boy. But he got to do some pretty cool things. The camp was on Catalina Island, so they had snorkeling available, canoeing, biking, etc.

The girls and I stayed busy while he was gone. We did a day at Hurricane Harbor, we went to the pool, we did some shopping. The big thing that I worked on and spent my time on was giving our table and chairs a makeover. They were pretty beat up and old, and I wanted to spruce them up a bit. It was a hard and time-consuming project, but they look so good now! I gave the table top and chair tops a few coats of dark gel stain, finishing up with a rub on finish and a layer of wax. And then I hand painted the legs of the table and the legs and backs of the chairs with white chalk paint, and finished with a wax. I LOVE how they turned out! It was a tough project, but it was really rewarding, and it really looks nice, and makes our house look nicer.