Fourth of July and summer stuff

 The fourth of July was pretty hot this year.  We went to the parade in the morning and set up our shade, it helped for those sitting in the chairs, but the curb was still hot.  The parade was not that great, and most of the candy was gone - which was ok by me, but maybe next year we will pass.

After the parade we had a quick picnic then went to the booths that they had set up.  We discovered a play area with bouncy houses, a petting zoo, and pony rides.  The kids played for a bit, but we were all hot and tired so we went home for some quiet time.  We had hamburgers and ate outside then did our few fireworks in the evening.  The sparklers were a different brand and actually burned a couple of us while they were going off - we didn't light very many because of this.  The boys loved the snaps the best.  The tanks were fun, but weren't that impressive.

A few other things we have been doing this summer:

Jump City in Westminster - the boys had a lot of fun and were very sweaty.  Doug was really sore the next day - I guess it's a bit of a work out.

 The girls had a blast having some much space to crawl - they always went in opposite directions.  I swear they did this on purpose.

A walk to our nearby park for some playing catch and baseball.

 We are fixing up our backyard a bit.  We removed all the bark from the borders of the yard and now we filled it in with dirt.  It only took us 3 days to fill it all in.  Doug did most, but I did do a few loads myself.  I mostly spread the dirt out.

The boys had a lot of fun playing in it and were actually sad when it was all gone. 

 Before:  (I will have to get some after shots - we haven't planted any plants yet)

 Check out our garden - I picked 7 zucchini today!  And we ate a few peas.

 It's always fun to gang up on dad with water guns!

 Something to do, hmmm?  Fold our Star Wars paper airplanes!  They had fun throwing them and just role playing with them.

Saturday outing to the Golden Ponds.  We discovered a small dam that made a fun waterfall.  The trip ended on a sad note with Chris tripping and getting some pretty good scrapes on his palm and elbow.  

 I checked out a book called: Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day.  It was a fun recipe to try.  You mix it up and put the dough in the fridge - no kneading.  Then just round up a loaf and let it rise for 40 minutes and bake.  My first loaf was a bit tricky with the baking.  Some cornmeal spilled in the oven and made my fire alarm go off.  You also bake it with water in the oven for the steam effect.  It makes the crust really crisp and yummy.