Another Great Fourth

As I sit here watching the FIFA Women's World Cup final, with the US up 4-1 against Japan right now, I'd say it was a pretty good 4th of July weekend.  We ate good food.  We had some good times.  We enjoyed our three-day weekend.

And with several of the SCOTUS rulings and change of heart about the Confederate flag, we're feeling a little better about the US (though Charleston and the burning of several black churches means we have a long way still to go.)  At least right now, until the mudslinging of the elections ramps up.

On Friday, which Mama had off, after a morning all together (the kids played video games with Mama while I finished my doodled prayer flags and hung them in the tree), I took the kids to a friend's house for the Friday Night Dance Party, which is a weekly gathering of families, many from our first church.  The kids played badminton, or as they called it "chaosminton" because they had more than one shuttlecock, and swam in the pool.  That is when they weren't eating.  There was a table full of tasty treats:  "kiddy crack," which is a butter-cinnamon-sugar mix spread on graham crackers; s'mores, some with regular chocolate and some with peanut butter cups, which were incredible; and lots of grapes, cherries, bell peppers, chips, pretzels, and dips.  I like hanging out with old friends and new; I like that the kids are making new friends.  We're hoping to go most Fridays.  We got home and spent the evening watching the new season of "How to Train Your Dragon" on Netflix.

Saturday was our big eating day:

• We tried our fermented raspberry shrub and it was lovely!  SO tangy and refreshing, but we did add some more sugar because it was too tart even for Mama.  But Bud said it was awesome, better even than what we've had at City Tavern.
• We had hot dogs for lunch.  We only have those about once a year.  With potato chips!
• Midday, Sis and I made a heavenly moist chocolate cake from the NYTimes.  A pretty easy cake with a tangy and not too sweet sour cream-melted chocolate chip frosting.
  
• We had muffalettas for dinner. Mmmmm!  

When we weren't cooking or eating, we watched Independence Day.  For a 20-something year-old movie, it held up pretty well in pacing and special effects.  While we watched, I finished crocheting the cowl I might wear for my "Outlander" cosplay at ComicCon.  I'd made a different one but wasn't totally pleased, so I started another which I like much better.

That evening we switched between the Macy's fireworks in NYC and the Capitol Fourth.  Neither was very good, or even good.  We liked maybe two songs--Kelly Clarkson's "Heartbeat Song" and the 1812 Overture and some of the other patriotic songs.    About halfway through the live broadcast, we went outside to watch all the crazy (illegal) fireworks being shot high overhead all around us.  We lit our own sparklers and waved them around.  Our neighbor Miss K and her kids, our yard boy and our babysitter, came over to get some chocolate cake and danced around with sparklers with us.  Miss K said that we made it feel like the 4th of July for her.  After they left, we watched the rest of the fireworks, which we'd recorded while we were outside.

Today was lazier, though we still ate well:  we had homemade strawberry soda ice cream, take-out Mexican food for lunch, and hamburgers for dinner.  YUM!  Otherwise, the kids learned some computer coding using MIT's Scratch program.  I made another crocheted mandala and starched it (well, stiffened it with glue and water.)  Now, Sis is reading her current favorite book series, 39 Clues, while I type this post.  We're all watching soccer.  The score in the 73rd minute is 5-2, still US.

UPDATE:  USWNT won!!!  And we were all very happy here, especially for Abby Wambach.

Summer Fun: Birthday Weekend

You know we like to do birthdays up big around here.  This year's was no exception.

Friday:  Celebrations started very early, with kiddos piling into our room at 6 a.m. to open presents.  We had said it was okay because we had to squeeze it in before Sis headed off to camp.  And so they were thrilled with all their Minecraft, Lego, arts and crafts, and Doctor Who presents.  They also got early calls from both sets of grandparents.

Eyeing a friend's watch for 8:12, on the bus, Sis told her friends she just turned nine.  At home, Bud had me watching the clock so I could wish him a happy birthday right at 8:13.

While Sis was at camp winning a first-place ribbon in horseback riding, Bud had a day full of doing whatever he wanted, which mainly included building his new Minecraft Legos, playing Minecraft on the computer, watching "Phineas and Ferb", staying in his pajamas, and eating in the living room in front of tv.  I offered him lunch out, but he preferred to stay home for leftovers so he didn't have to get dressed.  He spoke to both Lambeth, who kindly called from England with Mrs. Lambeth, and to Aunt Banana, who is home with ten-day old Cousin Banana (still working on the nickname).

Mama brought home Carvel Fudgy the Whale cake and special apple pie as their birthday treats, as per request, which we ate hurriedly between Sis getting home from camp and Bud heading out to kung fu (lucky boy also got a little sushi as a post-kung fu snack!)  It was just that kind of busy birthday.  They squeezed in a little more playtime before a late bedime.

Saturday:  Our usual Saturday activities were in full swing--ice skating, an extra historic house family workshop, and even haircuts, plus a special graduation party for the young man up the street.  In between, we got pizza from the new brick oven place in town--really very good--and a movie, Jurassic Park.  We stayed out until almost 10 p.m. at the graduation party, having started at 4!  Sis especially liked swimming in the pool, while Bud enjoyed ping pong.  And of course, all of the older kids hanging around.  I talked with a lot of our neighbors.  It was delightful--beautiful weather and no mosquitoes (only a few pesky June bugs!)

Sunday:  Today we celebrated birthday with Ma and Gong, who drove up for the day.  They took the kids to lunch at their favorite Chinese place and then went on a shopping spree--at the bookstore!  Afterwards, we watched the World Cup final and, while I was rooting for Messi and Argentina, we weren't too disappointed by the final score (besides, it was such a boring game second half that we had lost some interest.)  It was fun to watch with Gong, who having grown up in Thailand has played a lot of soccer and knows all the rules, strategies, etc.  He was even the goalie!  (Interesting man, Gong--he's played soccer, been in the army, served as a monk, and became an accountant!)  Ma and Gong then headed back to the city while we settled in to watch the rest of Jurassic Park, or as Bud called it, Cretaceous Park.

We're heading to bed now, the end of a great weekend.  Happy birthday, kiddos!