Fourth of July Fun

Thanks to Mark's first cousin Mollie and her husband, Roger, we always spend the Fourth of July on Lake Mitchell. Mark's immediate family and Mollie's family have always been close. When they were all growing up, they lived on the same street. We are always together on Christmas Day night for dinner (along with a few other folks) and then Mollie always invites us for the Fourth. Mark and I are almost always the first to arrive. This year, I helped for a few minutes in the kitchen when we first arrived and then went outside to sun bathe!! We all play for a while and then come in to eat a feast. Everyone brings something so we have a ton of food.

That is Nancy on the left (Mollie's sister - also I am married to Mark because Nancy invited him on a canoe trip many many years ago - I knew Nancy before I knew Mark!!) Mark is serving something onto his plate. You can see Mollie on his right. Grace is in the background and George is sort of blurry. Laura's friend Dustin was invited this year. Mollie is always so gracious to let us bring folks along.

I love getting together because it is so multi-generational. At this gathering, Grace was the youngest (she is in middle school) and I guess Aunt Mary is the oldest. Aunt Mary and Susie (my mother-in-law whom I call "grandmother") are sister-in-laws. Aunt Mary was married to Susie's brother, Uncle Billy. Just last week, someone was asking me to tell them once again how we are all related.

Nancy's three girls always bake some fun treats. I loved their cupcakes made into a flag. They did a great job.

I think I caught Aunt Mary with food in her mouth but I still think this is a sweet picture of the sister-in-laws. They both have on their red, white and blue.

There is a great sunroom where many of us spend time. There is a ceiling fan so when you get too hot outside, you can come in and cool off a little. The older ones (not in this picture) usually sit in this room because they can see all of us down on the water and they have the pretty view.

These girls are so much alike - Laura and Lydia. They like a lot of the same things and even though quite a few years separate them, they have always had a sweet friendship in addition to being related!!

I walked out on the boathouse and saw Laura and Dustin reading. Laura is reading The Hobbit which I find really interesting. The Hobbit is not usually the kind of book she reads. Maybe Dustin is broadening her horizons.

They have built this wonderful screened in porch on top of the boathouse. We had not been outside playing but an hour or so and Laura came in bleeding. When they were little there was no screened in porch and it was a right of passage for everyone to jump off the top of the boathouse - even I have jumped off - ONCE - but I've done it!! Laura was going to jump and there is just a tiny tin ledge and she was perched out there and George came up behind her like he was going to push her in and she jumped . . .and caught her foot on that corrugated tin and sliced it open. Since we were surrounded by medical folks (two doctors and a nurse), she was in good hands. They determined that she didn't need stitches but she did have to get a tetanus shot on Tuesday.

Later in the day, I was sun bathing and a horse fly landed on my leg and bit me . . .and my skin reacted in a weird way. It made a huge red raised place on my leg (that has not totally cleared up). I was going to the dermatologist anyway last week so I asked him to look at it and he gave me some prescription steroid cream samples which helped tremendously. I was sitting in a beach chair on the little pier reading a book when he bit me. As I slapped him away, he pulled off my leg and blood ran down my leg. Nancy (nurse) was in the water on a noodle and she yelled, "Put your diet coke on it." I even questioned this. I said, "Put my diet coke on it?" She said, "Yes." So I opened my diet coke and poured some on my leg and she started laughing. She said, "No. I meant put the cold can against the bite!!" I said, "Well, I thought that sounded weird to pour Diet Coke on a sting/bite but I thought that you would know what to do since you are a nurse." When I told the story to Laura, she said, "And people wonder why I am the way I am." I know this is not nearly as funny to you as it was to me but even typing it, I am chuckling again.

I thought that since we didn't have any little kids . . .no one would need band-aids and first aid. Wrong!

I came on back home with Laura and Dustin but Mark stayed a few hours longer. He just felt that Mollie had done so much work to get ready for us that he needed to stay with his family. We had beautiful weather all day at the lake, but while we were driving home it started raining and rained all the way. When Laura and Dustin dropped me off, I took a quick shower and changed clothes and drove to our friend's house. We ate dinner together - wonderful grilled burgers and all sorts of sides and dessert (I took the dessert that is made with ice cream sandwiches and cool whip and chocolate syrup and caramel syrup). Then we all walked up to the crest to watch Thunder on the Mountain - the local fireworks show. It had rained a good bit that afternoon but it stopped just in time for the fireworks. I don't know why . . .but I love fireworks.

The Fourth of July was spent with family and good friends and it was such a great day. I am happy to live in a country where we are free to live and worship and I am thankful for the men and women who have fought for that freedom. My daddy was a SeaBee and I am thankful for him and wish I could tell him!!

Here is a picture of the fireworks and you can see the little (though he is really big) statue of Vulcan just to the left.

It was a good day!!