Bittersweet Independence Day Weekend

It sneaks up on me now.
I don't even know it's happening until I'm crying for no reason & Donna says "I know whats going on."
Only then do I realize it's 2 days before my Dad's birthday, which is July 4th, & I'm ultra emotional without even realizing it.
Funny how these things start to sneak up on you subconsciously when you think you finally have a hold on your emotions & grief.

Although everything about The 4th of July reminds me of my Dad, we still had a good weekend, visiting family, working on projects, & of course celebrating our country's independence.

We started the weekend relaxing, sort of. We ran some errands Saturday, caught up the laundry & relaxed the rest of the day.

Sunday we got up & headed to Donna's parents bright & early. It's a 3 hour drive on back roads that is not the least amount of fun but we make the most of it. I packed the slip n slide & the boys' scooters so they had plenty to do while we were there visiting. We went out for lunch soon after we arrived. After that Donna's Dad needed some helping clearing some brush from the yard, so while she helped him, the boys played on their slip n slide. In between taking tractor rides of course. They played inside & outside most of the afternoon while we visited & caught up with all the going on of Donna's Mom & Dad. They seem to be doing good. Staying inside most of time in our wonderful FL heat. We left about dinnertime to head back home, stopping for happy meals on the way & then dog food when Eason started dry heaving. That pup cannot go much past a mealtime without getting sick, I guess most of us can't really.

Monday, Donna had to go into work for a few minutes just to get timecards entered. Garren & Caden wanted to tag along but Kellan was not interested in getting back in the car. My sister & her family came over in the afternoon for a BBQ. My sister had a patient up in our neck of the woods so she went to see them & we put my BIL to work while the kids all played.

 I've wanted to put up a pallet wall since we moved into the house. Donna was not on board until we stayed in the cabin last month. Suddenly she liked the idea of a wood, cabin like wall. I wasn't on board with the pine cabin look but we came to happy compromise with a weathered cedar wall planking kit we found at one of the big box stores. We have rearranged the furniture in the house for about the 15th time since moving in a year & a half ago but I think we have finally figured it out & are happy with it. Two women with two different style ideas is a pain in the tail!

We ended the night with watching fireworks in our neighborhood. Kellan & Caden are not fans of the 'booms' so they mostly watch from a window but our neighbors throughout our neighborhood put on a pretty good show. Good enough to not feel the need to fight the crowds at the beach. Our neighbors across the street invited the boys over to light some fireworks (sparklers really while the grown ups lit the good stuff) Garren was the only one that stayed. After a few distant booms, Caden & Kellan headed for cover.

And we cross off #20 on the Summer Bucket List...

1. Grow a vegetable garden

2. Pick Blueberries

3. Go to Kennedy Space Center, aka see space rockets

4. Climb mountains

5. FIND sharks teeth!!!

6. Go bowling

7. Make the dye shirts

8. Go to a drive in theater

9. Make fancy bird/fairy houses

10. Take a family vacation

11. Go fishing 

12. Ride water slides

13. Go camping

14. Hang out with our triplet BFFs!!!
15. Check out 2 new State Parks
16. Make paper mache' planets

17. Discover a new beach
18. Go hiking
19. Go to the waterpark
20. See fireworks