4th of July Weekend

Mmm, where do I even begin with the holiday weekend?  Let's just start with.......we had Daddy around for THREE straight days!!  Oh, how lovely it was to have Carl around for an entire weekend, plus another day----bonus! 

Our weekend was splendid.  We spent a lot of time together as a family, and it was nothing short of amazing.

Saturday we hung out at home, and Carson helped me in the kitchen.  We made some goodies with the strawberries we picked at the patch recently!  We made some yummy strawberry jam, and it is so good.  And, since it made way too much for us to eat, we had fun dishing it out.  We delivered jars to family, friends, and our neighbors. 

I think one of my favorite things about Summer is fresh fruit.  Yum!  Carson loves Watermelon, so he dug right into the big container full of the juicy fresh pieces.  And, Carl helped me cut up a fresh pineapple.  I think that may be my favorite fresh fruit.

On Sunday, Carl and I got some alone time, while Carson had bonding time with G&G Brouwer.  We got the opportunity to go golfing with some friends of ours, and it was so much fun!  We both enjoy golfing, but obviously don't get to do it often.  So, it was a nice little treat for the both of us! 

On Sunday evening, we experienced Carson's first fireworks show with him!  I didn't really know how he would react to them....or if he would even make the show.  It was way past his bed time, and he was so good.  We went to a BBQ that evening, and Carl and I are still talking about how proud we are of our Wee Lad.  We were surrounded by strangers, no toys, no other kids to play with, it was past his bedtime by about 2 hours....and he didn't fuss a single bit.  That is the definition of a successful evening! 

The fireworks began and Carson was in awe of them.  He didn't take his eyes off the sky, and he was in a complete state of amazement.  He was smiling as the loud noises went off, and started laughing at the big colorful fireworks exploding in the air.  Like, laughing out loud, as if they were hilarious.  It was so funny.  I am so glad that he enjoyed them, and enjoyed himself during the evening.  His first experience was a huge success, and that makes me so happy.  We were there for about 4 hours, and we just can't get over how good he was! 

On Monday, we had another busy day full of family time.  That morning we had brunch at the Kalkwarf's, had some more fun just playing around, and had a blast with the sprinkler in the afternoon/evening.  Carson had so much fun playing in the water.  We weren't planning on getting wet, hence his regular clothes, but it was so much fun watching him laugh and play.  He was having a blast!  Carson also got this great idea to ride his 4-wheeler through the water.  It was so fun/funny to watch him ride through it, and start laughing hysterically as the cold water would hit him.  Frannie even came over just in time to catch Carson run through the sprinkler a few times!  Oh Carson, you are such a character!

 

Carl also decided that it is never too early to start teaching Carson about the game of golf.  He had the club, and he went around the yard hitting the golf ball.  It was pretty cute to watch, and he has really good hand-eye coordination!

And, to top off the wonderful weekend, we decided to treat ourselves with some malts.  What a great way to top off the long weekend, and prep us for the week ahead.  Carson thought he was pretty big stuff taking over Mommy's glass, and drinking it all.

We had such a great weekend.  It was so much fun spending time together as a family!  What a Wonderful 4th of July weekend, in the land of the free.