Happy 4th of July!

Well, the below picture of swing was the last of my 9 days of ANTI-VACATION HONEY-DO's. We accomplished many projects over the past week. Fixing some small sheet rock and painting in the dog room, installing several new lights in the house/garage, repainting and fabricating work on the boat, putting in a peep hole on the front door and new weather stripping just to name a few.

Luke received this swing from Jenn's friends Will, Julie and their son Aiden for his 1st B-day. As you can see he is becoming quite the helper for daddy. I hope the vinyl sheeting holds him, he's only 23lbs.

We had fantastic 4th of July. All Jenn's family was present except for Angie's husband who took his yearly trip to Daytona for the NASCAR race. It was hot, but not as hot as we have seen it this summer. Our friends Mike and Kathy came up from Lake Placid, FL to join us as well.

Luke's confidence was tested tonight as we all were bombarded by fireworks from all around our neighborhood. There is no reason to go to a fancy firework show and fight big-city traffic when 1/2 the neighborhood has their own backyard show. Robbie really took advantage of his 3D goggles and how sporty he is, isn't he. Poor guy can't even find a girl to watch the fireworks with with those spec's.

Luke didn't quite know what to think about all the loud noises and sparkling lights.

Fireworks! What's a 4th of July in FL without your own display in a wagon? Jenn's dad, Robbie and I headed down the street near the ponds and set up our show. It went very well and the =applause heard was more of enjoyment and appreciation than of the 50+ mortars and 10 repeaters, and the 1-72 shot repeater launched:) Luke and Baron made it through most of the aerial display, but after a long day in the sun it was time to tuck them in.

Of course the 4th of July or any holiday anymore isn't a holiday without good food. Jenn made her Flag Cake and I made an Ice cream Sandwhich Dessert. We cooked "real" hamburgers, hotdogs and brats as well as Ben's Dad's broccoli salad recipe and Ben's famous beans. We had our fair share of chilled beverages and a little Sweet Lucy from the bottle.

Luke had his first quasi-major accident the next day by running full-steam into the entertainment center's trimmed corner and cut his eyelid, head and cheek all at the same time. We were all at high alert at that point and Dr. Z and J took matters into their own hands. After some quick thinking and attention (and two freezy pops) Luke calmed down and was back after Baron within minutes. Even today Luke has a couple of solid marks on him and a slight black eye. He is doing well and it has not slowed him down one bit. It looks much better in this photo than it really was.