It was the quietest 4th of July we have had in years! For the last many years... maybe 8... we have spent the 4th of July surrounded by our best friends at a cabin. We have cooked together, played hard on the water together, and shot off way too many fireworks together. Joshua is not quite ready for that much excitement - or that many dogs =) ! So we had a quiet family 4th this year camped by one of our favorite lakes.
How did the 7 of us fill our time?
Kids are so creative! The older kids played soccer volleyball on the 4-wheeler trailer for an hour one night. They were way too silly!
Chad and Joshua had some amazing bonding time on the 4-wheeler. No joke here, Joshua LOVED the 4-wheeler and since Chad was the only one able to give him rides, Daddy has a larger piece of Joshua's heart right now.
Jamison gave Joshua Gebeyehu this truck. The interesting thing about Joshua playing with it was that every time he used it he would pretend Mitin and Abebe were in it. He would call out "Bye Mitin! Bye Abebe!" and then ask each of us to repeat his good-bye. This game happened over and over. Equally interesting is that by the end of the weekend he began calling himself Joshua more and more frequently. I have to wonder if his toddler brain is processing that he really did say good-bye to these most special Ethiopian guardians/friends.
We have had lots of rain this summer so the grass in the fields is tall and green.
Joshua keeps getting braver with Riley. With Sierra's encouragement he sat on our sleepy dog. It was a very good time to try as Riley was totally exhausted from running and swimming. However, Riley has changed so much since Joshua came home. He is so careful for Joshua. He has never bumped him over or kissed all over his face. He will trot up to Joshua and make a wide path around him if Joshua acts afraid. It is really amazing!
Sierra loves Riley so much! They had a good cuddle on the tube.
Jamison made some type of weapon. Boys will be boys and I adore this one!
Joshua trying to wait patiently for another ride. He would see Chad and run to the 4-wheeler and yell, "Hey Daddy! C'mon! Daddy! Daddy! C'mon!" How do you resist that cuteness or those beautiful, penetrating eyes?
Brenna was determined to fish with Daddy. She has never been interested before and this weekend, she was on a mission!
Mission accomplished... Brenna's first fish! Oh, she was so proud! She even insisted Chad wake her up early this morning to go again. AND she caught her second fish! Pretty good especially since Daddy only caught one all weekend!
We did shoot off fireworks. Jamison loves that so much! Joshua thought they were pretty and had no fear, but it got late and he eventually asked to go into the camper for his milk. AKA get ready for bed! He loves to sleep in the camper because he gets to sleep with mamma and Daddy.
That's it folks! I hope you enjoyed your long weekend, too.
