This & That

Earlier in the week we went to visit my mom and deliver some flowers to my grandparents' and great aunt's graves. It's important to me that my children remember my grandparents and aunt. Even if their own memories of them fade, I want them to hear the stories of our family and be reminded of exactly what their lives meant to all of us because of the legacy they left us. While we were at the cemetery we visited the WWII memorial and talked a little about the sacrifices so many people made for us. The kids found my grandpa's name, and then Danielle decided to count all the people who died (just in that county). They at least pretended to be interested. I'm sure it all meant more to me than it did to them, but I was glad we stopped.

We had a wonderful 4th of July. Danielle's baton group tossed candy in the local parade Monday afternoon. It was just too hot to march and twirl. (The girl holding her head said Danielle hit her with a piece of candy when she threw one to Ron. Danielle said she didn't.) Tyler opted not to ride with the Cub Scouts and watched the parade with us instead.

Does anyone else feel like lecturing the folks who don't bother to stand when the honor guard walks by with the American flag?!

Danielle's baton group performed around 8pm that evening. This was her last performance for the season. They will probably start back up in October and begin working on a routine for our town's Christmas celebration. Baton has been a great experience, but it will be nice to take a little break from everything for a few weeks. (This picture is from the video clip, so it's a little blurry.)

We spent our afternoon/evening hanging out with some of our neighbor friends. (Danielle and I snuck out for an hour for her baton performance.) It was a very nice evening. We all have children who are around the same ages. The people who hosted organized games for the 16 or so kids. We ended our evening by sharing sparklers and glow sticks while we waited for the fireworks to start. It was a very nice day - one that left you feeling all warm and fuzzy when it was over. I can see why the 4th of July is Tyler's favorite holiday.

Here is our summer harvest so far. Danielle planted some beans in a cup at school. At the end of the year she brought them home and we replanted them. All of the sprouts died off except one, which has provided us with a total of 4 green beans so far. Tyler won't eat them, but Danielle loves them - raw of course. (My children won't eat cooked veggies.)

This is Tyler's week to stay with Grandma & Grandpa. He couldn't wait for his much needed "break from the family".

Danielle and Clara caught lightening bugs together tonight. Clara can jump a lot higher than Danielle, so she catches more. The drawback is that most of the ones she catches don't survive. (It's kind of cool to see her teeth light up, though.)