The One About 4th of July Weekend

   Here are some pics from the 4th of July weekend.  On Saturday morning, the boys and I went to the park to play before it got hot.  Then we ran out to the farm to visit Grandma Rita and Aunt Judy.  I haven't talked about Aunt Judy on the blog before, but she is going through chemotherapy right now.  She is staying very positive, and we are all praying for her to fight this.  She has a long road ahead of her, but she has that Funk determination (Ernie calls it bullheadedness).  Every time we go to visit Grandma Rita, the boys jump right on her walker.  It's one of those walkers with the seat, so one of them rides and the other pushes.  It's pretty cute, and it keeps them occupied so I can talk to Grandma.  Of course, they also have to get in the hall closet to pull out Crocodile Dentist.  They love that game!  Afterwards, we drove to the field and rode with Ernie in the sprayer.  There were huge water holes in Frank's field, so Gavin was hoping we would get stuck.  Fortunately, he didn't get his wish. 
    We took the boys to Big Bang Boom on Saturday night.  We took Ernie out to Whiskey Creek beforehand, and realized it has been months and months since we have all been out to eat together as a family, at someplace other than DW's Pub.  The boys had fun breaking open the peanuts.  Afterwards we hit some firework places so Ernie could stock up for the weekend.  What is it about fireworks and men?  He claims the fireworks were for Gavin, but I know better.  :)  He was like a kid in a candy store.  At Skyview, we sat right down by the lake for the fireworks show.  Asher kept trying to catch fireflies, which were everywhere.  It was a beautiful show. 
   On Sunday morning, we did some yardwork and cleaned out the garage.  The boys enjoyed playing on the 4-wheeler and eating popsicles.

    In the afternoon, we lounged at home and took naps to make up for being out so late the night before.  Asher even took a 4-hour nap.  On Sunday night we had family over to grill burgers and shoot off some fireworks.  Gavin insisted we have a birthday cake for Ernie's birthday.  On Saturday, Ernie bought this sky lantern like the king and queen light for the missing princess in the movie Tangled.  That was really pretty! 

                                                       Happy 32nd birthday, Daddy!

   On Monday morning, Ernie and I had to be at the Community Center by 6:00 a.m. to work at the baseball fundraiser breakfast.  We raised $1500 for the baseball program.  We then took the boys to check out the mud volleyball tournament.  This was the first year for it, and it was awesome!  The kids played in the dirt until a game was over, and then swarmed into the mud and water between games and until the next teams kicked them out.  Gavin was covered in mud!  Congratulations to my cousins (Kray, Chase, & Riley) for winning the 16-team tournament! 
    We ended the night with the BBQ and fun at the park.  The boys bounced in the bouncey castles and rode the kiddie train.  Asher and I rode in the front with the driver, since he wanted to ride so badly, but I didn't trust him to stay in his car.  We answered endless questions about his swollen eye.  I have never said the word "mosquito" so many times in my life.  It was really tiring, and made me think we should have just stayed home.  Oh well, the boys had fun playing with their friends.  When we got home, surprise! suprise! Ernie thought we needed to go buy even more fireworks to light off.  :) 
   It was so nice to have Ernie home for 2 full days.  The boys had a great time playing with their Daddy and lighting off fireworks.  Me....I think I gained 5 lbs over the weekend, but my tan looks fabulous!