We had a busy 4th of July weekend. We drove up to Bates City to Scott's parents house. We did the usual trip down to the creek, roasted hot dogs on the fire pit, played king of the stump and climbed on the firewood. Scott's parents live in a neighborhood in the country (some people may not think it's in the country, but if you see deer, hear wild turkeys and are surrounded by trees, that's the country to me). We saw deer, rabbits, spiders and a big black snake!

On the Fourth, We went out to Powell Gardens and let the boys cool off in the interactive fountains. Then Mick and Jackie came out to celebrate that night. The kids enjoyed riding their bikes and big wheels, and playing with the dump trucks outside. We shot off fireworks, not as much as others do, but the kids thought it was a good show. Favorites included "parachutes" that shot up straight in the air, exploded and then a parachute came down; "ladybugs" that spun around making a zipping noise and then shot up in the air (although we had a few defective ones that shot OUT instead of UP), and smoke bombs.

Saturday, the boys spent most of the day with Grammy and Grandpa at Burr Oaks, a nature center, while Scott and I went to lunch and a movie.