4th of July

Warning: there are way too many pictures in this post for most non-family members and even too many for some family members! We had a fun 4th, and I thought I'd share the highlights.

WALK: We started the day doing the community two-mile walk with my mom--yes, she did the walk after she had just completed her 8K!






BADMINTON: We had a fun badminton tournament in our backyard. My mom and dad dominated for a while, and then Brishen and Kenn had a winning streak.

PHOTO SHOOT: Basia is trying to take after her Aunt Robin, the photographer. She staged and took some photos. She was very specific about the pose for this picture, from the tilt of the heads to the chainsaw prop.

BIRTHDAY: Since the family was all together, we took the opportunity to celebrate my mom's birthday. Today is her actual birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! Oh, and about the cake. Saralyn, my sister, ordered a cake from a local bakery. They called her yesterday morning to tell her that their kitchen caught fire and they wouldn't be able to make the cake. Saralyn ended up making the cake herself. We love the ultra-modern tilt. She was a bit embarrassed, but we have seen such cakes on Ace of Cakes. People pay extra for tilty cakes these days!

CHARADES: We played a bit of charades, not because anyone actually likes charades but because we were waiting for it to get dark and no one wanted to get up and do much of anything.

This would be my mom laughing after we were all finally told the title of the book she was trying to get us to guess--The Enigma of Numbers. She chose that title on her own, and you should have seen her acting it out. It was quite entertaining!

PUSH-UPS: I guess we got over our laziness (some of us, anyway) because after charades, we had a push-up contest. It kind of reminds me of the "feats of strength" for Festivus, which all Seinfeld fans would know about. There are those of us who are quite strong and others who just won't try. I won't divulge the names of all those who didn't rise from their chairs during this contest, but one particular fellow claims to have more muscle in his little pinky than in our whole bodies combined.

MIKE'S TRICK: As if we weren't doing enough strange things while waiting for it to get dark enough for fireworks, my dad gave us another challenge. This was another challenge that some of us were really good at (that would be me) and others were quite a bit more entertaining in their struggles (that would be Jon--video to follow).

MOVIE TIME: It finally got dark, and what do you do when it gets dark on the 4th of July?? If you are Basia and have some serious loud noise issues, you stay home with Mom and watch a movie, paint your nails, and eat popcorn.

FIREWORKS: If you are anyone else in the family, you head outside to shoot off your own fireworks until it is time to go watch the city fireworks display.