Weekend of July 4th!

What a blast. We spent a lot of time with family. Brian, Austin, Keziah and I left for the river Friday morning. We arrived in time to eat some lunch and put Kezzie down for a nap. Every time Kezzie needed to take a nap or go to bed she did so well. We had a box fan that we set up in the camper and we would just put it on high to drownd out any noise around her. I brought all her comforts from home and we set up her pack-n-play in the back of mom and dad's camper. She slept so good. Even Saturday, when fireworks were going off all around us, she continued to sleep. I was so amazed at how well she did! Even in the morning with the sun shinning in, she stayed asleep. Both mornings she slept until 7 or 8 am. Sunday morning I rolled over and checked on her (her bed was in between Brian and my bed) and I was just getting comfortable and opened my eyes one last time before dozing off and all the sudden she was there, staring right at me! It was really cute! Austin played a lot with my cousins. My aunt Cindy and Uncle Perry along with their four kids were there also. The oldest, Joshua is 3 years older then Austin and the second oldest, Alicia is just 6 months older then Austin. The three of them along with Josh's younger siblings, get a long really well. They swim, canoe, and dig for shells and creatures. Austin also does a lot of fishing off the dock. I hardly see him when we are there. We do a lot of sitting by the campfire after dark and roasting marshmallows and talking about nonsense! Kezzie spent most of her time digging in the rocks and putting them in buckets or in someones hands. She also found an old squirt gun and got a kick out of squirting people with it. It was easier for her to squeeze the trigger with her thumb though so she often ended up just getting herself in the face! Brian did a lot of relaxing in the chair and reading a magazine. Him and Keith did take a break from 'roughing it' and went to a local bar for a couple drinks. Austin got to go out in the boat with one of my other Uncles (Gary) and they ended up catching a lot of fish. When they got back Gary taught Austin and Joshua how to clean them. I can't believe how much Austin is growing up. I grew up watching my dad clean fish on that same table (see picture) and now my son is doing the same (sniffle sniffle!). We pass the time by going on a lot of walks and just sitting around talking and relaxing. It's so incredible to be there with family and to be able to spend so much time with them. My grandma Smith was up there too but she keeps herself pretty busy doing her own things! On Saturday, it rained in the morning so we all hovered under the canopy of my parents' camper and listened to the rain fall around us. That is until the canopy got a leak in the middle and we had to come up with a solution of stacking some coolers on top of each other and standing a broom on top to make the water run away from the hole (see picture). That's what you do when there isn't a 2x4 anywhere to be found! Kezzie really enjoyed seeing all the boats and water and did a lot of pointing! I would have loved to take her out in the water to swim but it never got quite hot enough! Sunday we woke and ate a big breakfast and started packing things up to go home. Before we got in the car though we went for a quick boat ride. Kezzie hadn't been out in a boat since last year so I wanted to take her out. Dad, mom, Austin, Kez and myself went. Austin and Kezzie loved hanging over the side and sticking their hands in the water. Kezzie sat next to grandma most of the time and I caught a cute picture of her itching her nose because the wind was tickling it! She didn't know what to think of it all but I definitely think we have another camper on our hands! Maybe if I have enough kids we can form an alliance against Brian and go live on the river!! Just kidding! We love you honey...even if you aren't one of us!!