springdellgirl

Three Cheers for the RED, WHITE and BLUE


We had a great Fourth of July weekend. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was in the 90's and sunny. What better place to spend it than at the lake? We were joined by my mom, Ken, Stacey, John and their kids, Kelley, Elle and my Grandma.

The first night we had our traditional bonfire, green punch and s'mores. Stacey and John introduced us to s'mores made with Reese's Peanut Butter cups. Heavenly.

Ailey received a pair of antenna and a baton for her birthday from Stacey's family and pretty much looked like this all weekend.


It was wonderful to sit around the bonfire until late at night looking up at the stars and laughing with my sisters (we lasted longer than all the others.) It seemed like everyone was at the lake for the fourth and it looked so pretty seeing all the cabins lit up and bonfires on the beaches all around the lake.

The next morning we decorated the boat and got the kids in all their Fourth of July finery to participate in the boat parade.

Ailey as a little Miss Firecracker

Kameron as a cute Uncle Sam

Bryn wasn't thrilled about all the picture taking!!

Off they go

The this year the boat parade was the largest one I have ever seen. The rest of us cheered them on from the shore. Even my Grandma had a great time listening to our descriptions of the decorated boats that were passing by.

Reilly had us laughing as she was posing like George Washington crossing the Delaware with a big firecracker decoration in her hand as they passed by our dock.

Elle and Bryn slept through the whole parade. They loved being outside.

The rest of the day was spent in our swim suits enjoying the sun and the water. The water temperature was PERFECT.

River in her Fourth of July swimsuit

Reilly found an old swim suit of my mom's that she wore in the Miss Bonners Ferry pageant in the 60's and wore it most of the weekend.

Here she is doing her best "Bathing Beauty" pose

Here's Ailey's "Bathing Beauty" pose

Late that afternoon things took a sad turn for our lake community. There was a terrible boating/wave runner accident that took place two docks down (right in front of the house that was my great-grandparents.) A boat hit a wave runner and ran over the 30 year old man riding it. His leg was amputated from the shin down. It was very scary. Also awful...his leg was not recovered. I hope it doesn't wash up on our beach. He is lucky to be alive. The guy that was hit was a friend of co-workers of Tyler's. Thank goodness he is doing well. Scary stuff. There were so many boats and wave runners on the lake that day and most of the wave runners just cut right in front of the boats and are so annoying. I hope people will be more careful now.

By evening the festivities were once again in full swing. The kids had a blast fishing with John and Tyler. They caught quite a few fish. They went fishing the night before as well and their catch was stolen by a band of rascally raccoons.

We had a great fourth of July meal and the kids had fun decorating cupcakes. River sure enjoyed her's. :)

River and John

John and Tyler shot a bunch of fireworks off the dock for the kids and then the big fun began. Most of the family loaded up in the boat to watch the fireworks show from the middle of the lake. This year it was great as usual. The Canadians who stay at the resort down the beach from us bring lots of illegal fireworks...the great big good ones... and they are just as good as any town fireworks show. The rest of us watched from the dock. After the fireworks were over the fireworks began around here.

Tyler and John were given some "homemade" fireworks from our neighbor at the lake which against my wishes they had a fantastic time exploding. They are lucky they were both still in one piece as they blew up those stupid things. They would come running and laughing hysterically while the blast would shake the whole house. What is it with men and blowing things up? Needless to say they had a great time.

The next day we vacuumed out the dormitory upstairs in Lilac Lodge and now the cabin is all ready for all the family who will be coming and going for the rest of the summer. We enjoyed the water all day (missing leg and all) and headed home happy and exhausted.

Happy Fourth of July!! Hope it was great.