Independence Day!

Even though there was the threat of rain the whole day we did manage to get in our family 4th picnic before the bottom dropped out. It was really cool because it was one of the few times that my very small family is together all at once. Toby brought a few "kid's fireworks" for the kids and we ate hamburgers, hot dogs, and of course watermelon. When it was time to leave the girls had not had enough of each other so Megan and Elenora came home with us. With 3 girls in the backseat on the way home, Toby and I realized why we did not have more than 1 child together. :-) Later on Charlie (Toby's brother) came over and we grilled again and shot off some more fireworks after the rain finally passed over.

Tuesday

Just another errand day for us. Since Summer has been spending so much time in the backyard pool this year I decided that she needed some new pool toys. (I call pool time P.E. so she doesn't think she is just getting something for nothing.) Our first stop was Wal-Mart and we didn't find what we were looking for there so off we went to Toys R Us. Thank goodness we didn't spend as much time as we normally do in Wally World because about an hour after we left some kind of tornado hit down on top of the building. It did some pretty extensive damage, not to mention wounded some people and scared the poop out of some others. Summer has a bad enough fear of storms, this would have sent her over the edge! Since it was storming we didn't get to test out the new pool toy as we intended and did our usual stuck in the house routine and watched movies and played games.

Canoeing

Toby has been wanting to go canoeing for awhile now and since it was such a beautiful day that's where our destination for the day was. I was a little worried about how Summer would react to it considering the last time we went canoeing she didn't seem to be real crazy about it. She doesn't like the unsturdiness of the boat. I guess, that was just a passing phase though because she had a blast. Her favorite part was getting out of the canoe and "pushing" us along. The temperature was high so the cold water felt great too. After canoeing, we stopped by a fireworks stand and purchases some "kid oriented" fireworks. Toby knows exactly what to buy and what Summer likes........fireworks are something I don't like being a part of, but they love them.

Field Trip

We had both boys, Toby and Lucas, off today so I decided that I wanted to show them the new 5 Rivers museum. Summer and I had went there for Earthfest back in April and we found it to be pretty impressive. Lucas has also just recently bought him a kayak and I thought he might find it a good place to launch. When we got there we discovered they were closed on Sundays. I always find that a strange thing for a place like that to be closed on a Sunday, considering the weekends are when the majority of people have off to do family activities. So we decided to trek across the street to Meaher Park. It was hot as fire out there but nature was very active. We saw very large grasshoppers, alligators, crabs, birds, and the fish were jumping and flitting around all over the place.

Water Fun

We had a great day today. They have been few and far between lately so we were very grateful for the day. Summer got up earlier than normal today so I decided to take advantage and take her to ride her bike. She loves to ride her bike but we don't have a yard that equips bike riding and walking around the block while letting her ride her bike is like taking your life (and hers) in your hands. But since it was extra early I knew that the traffic would be sparse. I did some much needed walking while she rode her bike and when we got back we took a dip in the pool....perfect after some physical excersion. We were planning on trying out the library special for the day but my brother called and asked us to meet up with them at Chickasabogue. Sounded like a much better idea to us than the library special! We got there about 2:00 and all of us had a blast splashing around in the water. I was really aggravated with myself because I meant to bring my camera and I totally forgot. My brother managed to remember to bring his (probably because it was a brand new purchase on one of their many shopping sprees) so maybe I will have some pics to post later.

Wedneday

Even though my brother is in town we have only seen him twice. We went out to eat last night.......Chinese, yuck. There are not many "shopping holes" in Viet Nam so when they come to America Diep keeps them in Walmart, the mall and Target. My brother makes a joke and says they just vacation here every year for the shopping. We were going to go canoeing Monday but there was a threat of rain so we decided to make it another day. I have been having an itch lately to vacation too.......or just an urge to get out of Mobile for a little while. We know we are going to move but we just havn't decided if we want to stay in Mobile or move more westward. I'm really tiring of Mobile. I have lived here all my life and we have exhausted every activity that there is here....which isn't all that much. With homeschooling I just feel the desire to move near a larger more cultured city with plenty of educational options. We don't have any close friends here and the only family I have here are my brother and my dad. My dad still gets around well and loves to travel so he told me he would come visit if we moved and I'm sure my brother would visit and vice versa. Mobile just doesn't seem very homey anymore.....maybe it's the neighborhood atmosphere I am in.

Family Time

We finally got to see my brother on Sunday. It was nice to see him again and catch up on family happenings and chit-chat. Here is a picture of him, Diep, Megan and Summer.