4th of July!

Jenna: As you all know, Saturday meant time to celebrate the independence of our great country. And what better way to do that than eat a lot of food, drink a few beers, and watch things explode? We got up in time to make it to the fly over - an annual tradition where navy jets buzz La Porte's parade. Apparently the quality varies from year to year, and this was an unusually bad one. We saw the jets, but they only went by once instead of two or three times.

Rob and I, along with the rest of the family, headed to Marge and Paul's house for an afternoon BBQ. Later we stopped by Rob's friend Kristen's for more food, beer pong, and homage to Michael Jackson. Unfortunately it was raining most of the day, inhibiting outdoor activities and leaving us to wonder whether the annual La Porte fireworks would be cancelled. Luckily the weather cleared up around 8:30pm so Rob, Jason, Julie, Isaac and I loaded the back of the truck with blankets and chairs and headed to the grocery store parking lot to watch. There were a lot of hillbillies putting on their own displays around us, which which was no surprise considering the number of fireworks stores in Indiana. Isaac didn't like the loud bangs happening so close, but he enjoyed things once the real (and further away) fireworks got going.

Sunday was our last day in La Porte and also Isaac's 2nd birthday party. After sealing the back splash and mowing the lawn, we spent some time in the yard playing baseball. Rob said he was impressed with my batting skills! He may have just been being nice, but I did do better than the 2-year-old, so there's an accomplishment. Isaac's party started about 5pm, with skin dogs, brats, and strawberry crap on the menu. No one could believe I had never had strawberry crap before... (for my non-Midwestern friends it is layers of jello with strawberries, cool whip and cream cheese, then crushed pretzels underneath. Delicious!) Uncle Rob got Isaac squirt guns for his birthday, so we spent the last bit of the party soaking each other before packing up and hitting the road. The week went by so fast! Wish we could have stayed longer.