Happy Birthday America!

What a fun Fourth of July we had!? We baked, ate, and visited to our hearts content! Sunday night; we had an after dinner treat of homemade ice cream, pound cake, and cookies to kick off the festivities. We rode down the road in the back of Uncle Steve's truck to watch the fireworks that a local church displayed that night. We pulled off on the side of the road and sat with about 50 other people on the back of tailgates and in lawn chairs. It doesn't get much more All-American than that! ha

Monday, we started the day with the famous Carthage parade. It was SO H.O.T. Other than that though, we all had a great time. Ceilidh loved running for candy, and Graeme was enthralled with the fire trucks. We ate some pizza, and then tried to rest our bodies (and stomachs! wink) for Suzanne's first attempt at a Low Country Boil. She definitely hit a home-run! You can't really go wrong when you are combining sausage, corn, potatoes, and shrimp in one dish. ha It was fun to have everyone together one last time before Caitlin becomes a resident in another city for the year. Sadly, the fireworks were canceled on Monday; but at least we were able to see some on Sunday evening. I can't believe July 4th has already come and gone for 2011. This year is zooming by, and I know the next four months will for us as well! Happy Birthday America!

"Tada!" She was very proud of the snicker doodles she helped make!

Susanna's amazing pound cake!

This is for you Alicia! They are not NEARLY as beautiful as yours, but they were pretty tasty!

Homemade ice cream!

Thrilled with life at the moment!

Two beautiful sisters

I have to say, I take a mighty good picture! wink

Randy doing one of the things he does best; being "Pops!"

Me: "Graeme, smile!" ha

Daddy getting good snuggle time with a SLEEPY boy!

Waiting for the parade to start

I have one good-looking and patriotic husband!

Ready to jump at the first sign of candy! ha

Helping set the table for the Low Country Boil!

Oh Yea!

Enjoying the slight cool-down before the massive storm that interrupted fireworks. (frown)

The finished product! Suzanne did a great job with her first LCB preparation. My daddy would have been proud!

Playing a few rounds of Corn Hole with the boards that Randy T. made. I can't wait to post a picture of the finished product as they will be sporting Wake and ECU colors!

Graeme wanted in on the action!

A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. "Where did it go?" ha

Don't you just wish you could squeeze the tar out of this kid?! ha I mean really.... he is so cute!

Susanna has blossomed into quite the baker these days. She made very festive personal sized blueberry and strawberry cheesecakes. Oh man were they good!

Apparently they were playing "out of space" people! ha

Graeme getting hugged by "P-nix!"

I am trying to do better about getting more pictures with the original two! (Even though we do have a tag-along for the next couple of months! ha)

The "big kids"

I'm so glad Steve decided to celebrate with us some this 4th!

One VERY sleepy boy.... again! ha

Playing on a rocking horse that was his daddy's only a short 29 years ago!

This is what you find while making your bed, and Ceilidh runs into to tell you "Graeme has gasoline all over him!" Obviously I knew he didn't have gasoline all over him, but I was intrigued. Well, I sure did find a new place to store the Vaseline after I found him with a good coating on his face and hands! ha