July 4th 2009

July 4th holiday brought us back to the water. We had a little stay-cation at Joel and Stacy's lake house. Benjamin did not sleep through this one as we stayed overnight and enjoyed both the evening of July 3rd and the morning of July 4th. It was hot again and great to be at the lake. Andy & Kathryn Rouse along with their dear friend Sarah Malone came out to see us for a while on the 4th.


Benjamin is nearly 9 months old now and is moving headlong into the world of solids. He's recently taken to Cheerios like a duck to water. His dexterity is great, and we are amazed at his willingness to eat just about anything. Ok, so spinach isn't his favorite, but I think it's an acquired taste anyway.

It's probably not a true staycation if you have to do work and go into the office while you're supposed to be on holiday, but such are things with Apollo. Considering some guys were going to spend the entire July 4th in the office, Drew got off light by doing a couple hours of work on Friday night. Then he and Jasper drove over to Apollo on Saturday morning to drop off the documents and brought back coffee.

The true nectar of the gods ... coffee was a MUCH needed jolt for both Drew and me on Saturday morning. Poor Benjamin is cutting another tooth and was up & crying multiple times through the night. I think this is tooth #5 - top left.

Jasper loves this pogo swing.
Drew and Jasper are in the water in this shot, and you can see the boat speeding past is pulling multiple inflatables. We saw three police boats over the course of our stay. Jasper thought it was GREAT!

We had multiple water entertainment options at the lake house. Jasper loves slip 'n slides of all varieties, and this one does not disappoint. Sarah Malone was a slippin' and sliding buddy of his.

Not to be outdone, Benjamin made haste into the pool. I'm not sure if he was heading for the firetruck or the ball. His crawling skills were impressive, though.

How beautiful is this????

Making a 4th of July flag cake is tradition in my family. We have been together for the 4th for the last 8 years, but this year we are all celebrating apart. So I found these cute flag cake shirts at Target for all the women. We each wore them on the day. And we each made our own cake. I got Jasper to decorate it with me at lunch. At first he didn't know what to think of it.

but he thought eating the fruit was a great bonus.

I think he's wondering, "are your stripes straight, mommy?"

I sectioned off the stars for him to do with blueberries. Here he's getting started.

look at that focus!

oops! he got a little frosting on his fingers while placing some blueberries.

"yummmm!"

"mmmmm that's good stuff!"

"I think I'll go back for more!"

"Oh, did you catch that? I'll have to be trickier next time."

yes, those are finger holes from Jasper's frosting dipping.

We're quite proud of our final product.

... and Jasper's going back for more frosting. Who doesn't love real cream cheese frosting?

After lunch and cake both boys napped while Drew and I packed up and tried to soak in as much peace as we could. Benjamin woke up before Jasper and got to enjoy some alone daddy time under the big willow.

He won't wear sunglasses all the time like Jasper does, but at least Benjamin keeps this hat on for the most part.

The lake house is a one bedroom building. The boys got to share the bedroom, and we parents bunked on our futon in the living room. Jasper is sleeping like a king and looks so peaceful, doesn't he? He was worn out from all the playing and cake decorating. It was a great time!