Happy Fourth of July!

Yes, I know it is, technically, July 5th, but we had a busy weekend! The amazing thing is that we did 2 things which were very crowd-intensive, and I enjoyed myself both times! Bob's sister Ann and her husband Wally decided not to come up until Sunday after church, so we had more time to get ready, which was nice. Right as church was ending, another sister, Rose, called to say she would also like to come for a night. We had invited her before, but she didn't have her girls this weekend and didn't want to be around other kids because she was afraid she would be too sad. But she was with some friends up in Hagerstown, which isn't too far, so she thought she'd come by, and we were all so glad she did. Everyone got here around 3:00, and we went to Great Falls Park. It was packed with people! The falls are very nice though, and we walked to 3 overlooks to see them. It was so hot and humid--we all thought we were going to melt. The boys enjoyed climbing on all the rocks. It seemed like a nice park, but I don't think we'll make a habit of going Fourth of July weekend! We'll have to go back a less-crowded time and hike around. It's a really pretty area. I think it's pretty touristy, though, so maybe it's always packed. I laughed at some of the completely inappropriate footwear women were wearing to scramble around on these rocks to get to the first set of overlooks--little strappy sandals with spiky heels, etc. Yeah, not your real outdoorsy types!

We came back home, and Bob grilled steaks and hot dogs. Then all the adults stayed up late talking--my favorite part of having company! Rose left early the next morning but the rest of us slept in a little later. i put sop on the stove, then we went swimming for a little while. The day was overcast, so the water was appreciably cooler than it has been, so we didn't stay too terribly long. We came home, ate lunch, then the boys took naps while we got ready to go in to D.C. for the national fireworks. We went with (who else?!) our friends the L's, who had been last year. Let me tell you, this is NOT something we would ever have attempted on our own! We left a little after 5:00 to drive to Rosslyn, near the Iwo Jima Memorial. We wandered through the streets, trying to find parking. Thankfully Ed used to work down there, so he knew places to try. We saw a continual stream of people walking past us, which made me worry that we would have to park about 10 miles away and still have no place to sit! But my worrying was for naught, and we found great parking fairly close in the Hyatt underground parking garage. We trundled all our assorted picnicking supplies over to in front of the Netherlands Carillion, where there is a great view of all the Washington and Lincoln Memorials, as well as the Capitol. We found room for our blankets and had a nice picnic, trying to stay relatively cool. There was a "misting room" set up, which was a tent-like thing that sprayed you with a fine mist--sort of like being a vegetable in your grocery produce section. Very refreshing. After the sun set around 7:40, it got a lot more comfortable, although still plenty humid! Some of us went to look at the Arlington Cemetary, which is right next to where we were, and also to the Iwo Jima Memorial. I stayed behind and read a book, so the evening was very nice and relaxing for me! The firworks started at about 9:20 and lasted 25 minutes or so. They must have been so huge because they looked big to us and we were on the other side of the river! A very impressive display indeed, with lots of different types that we had never seen before. I guess D.C. gets all the new firework technology first! I was glad we were so far away though. It was not too loud where we were, but I know the little boys would have been scared by the noise if we would have been right under the fireworks by the Capitol. Afterwards, we and several thousand of our fellow Washington D.C.ers made our way back through Rosslyn, completely jamming the streets. When we left the parking garage, we found out the parking was free! Wow, our opinion of Hyatt just jumped a whole bunch! Bob did some creative driving manuevers to get us back onto the freeway, and we were home by 11:00. That was late, but the boys did fine, and it really was a lot of fun. Ed brought the kids these "glow sticks"--you bend them and then they glow different colors. You can connect them to make bracelets, necklaces, crowns, etc. They boys had a lot of fun playing with those, and then they wore them when it was all done so we could see them in the crowd. It was a great idea, and it kept them occupied quite well! Today will probably be a day of early naps and early bed though. We have had some crabbiness this morning, which is to be expected! Ann and Wally left this morning, so now we can really settle back in and get back into our normal routine. We did some math review this morning, and we'll keep on reviewing this week, then get back into school next week.