House Hunting : The Emotional Roller Coaster

Ok, so I am freaking out right now.  Yesterday we walked through a house that I fell in love with. It is BEAUTIFUL and HUGE, but in our price range which is just crazy.  It's on a quiet street in a neighborhood not too far from Jacob's school.  It seemed like a long shot, but we put our offer in anyway.  I cannot stop dreaming about this house!  So today, our agent said that there is only one other offer in but that the lady at the bank really wants to work with us to get our offer accepted. There are still some other things that would have to fall into place, but our long shot offer now seems like a possibility.  I don't know what to do other than pray, which I know is the best thing to do.  I just have my hopes up and I don't want to be totally disappointed.    Now we just wait and see, which is so hard.   I'll update as we hear more.

AIRPORT FUN

Micah loves airplanes.  He is a huge fan of the cartoon Jay Jay the Jet Plane and he sleeps with some sort of airplane every night (sometimes it's a little metal airplane....sometimes it's a cute little green airplane named Snuffy that Daddy made out of legos).    He also carries around a little airplane with him wherever he goes.  So today was an exciting day in the life of Micah.  He got to go to the real airport!  Tim flew to San Diego this weekend for a conference.  We decided to park and walk in with Tim when we dropped him off and Micah was just amazed at all that he saw.  He got to see giant "Snuffy and Jay Jays"  and he got to ride up and down a big escalator.  He said he wanted to "go inside of a little Jay Jay."  Here are some super cute pics of Micah's exciting day.

Lake Tahoe Retreat

Tim and I spent Tue - Thurs of this week in beautiful Lake Tahoe.  Every year we get to go on a "pastors and wives" retreat and stay at The Embassy Suites Hotel.  We went with Nate and Carmen and had a great time hanging out with them.  We are so thankful that God brought us to Emmaus!  We also got to sleep in and eat a yummy buffet breakfast both mornings.  We had the whole afternoon free on Wed, so we went out to lunch, walked around the little shops near our hotel, and went to see a movie (and of course got a huge tub of popcorn with extra butter -  our favorite)!  Tim and I had so much fun together -  it was refreshing to get away from the daily routine and talk, laugh, relax.  I am so thankful for Tim.  He is a great husband and I love that our relationship continues to grow and deepen.  As wonderful as it is to get away, it is always great to come home.  We were greeted by two very excited little boys screaming, "Mommy and Daddy are home!" over and over.  We have a great little family!

Tooth #2 and a cutie little brother

Jacob lost his 2nd tooth tonight, once agian while brushing his teeth.  This time we were ready for it and it did not go down the drain.  He asked me to post a pic on our blog as I was putting him to bed, so here is my cute little toothless boy.  He was so excited to put another tooth under his pillow.  He actually put himself to bed early tonight!  

I also had to add a pic of Micah because he wanted a picture taken of him too after he saw Jacob getting his taken.  He kept touching his teeth tonight as if he might loose one at any moment. So cute.  I love my two little guys.  

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Carob Cookies

I am always looking for yummy gluten free, sugar free recipes.  I found a really good one today and altered it a little bit.  They turned out so good I had to post the recipe.  My mom really loved them too.   

Recipe

1/2 cup brown rice flour

5 T barley flour

1/2 cup + 1 T carob powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t sea salt

1/2 cup + 1 T honey

1/4 cup + 2 T veg oil

1 cup crunch peanut butter (natural with no added sugar)

1/2 t pure vanilla extract

1/8 - 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut (optional)

mix wet ingredients together.  mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.  combine ingredients.  stir in coconut (optional).  bake at 350 degrees for 8-11 minutes until cookies are set.  leave on cookie sheet for 2 minutes.  transfer to cooling rack.  enjoy.

Daddy Love

Tim and Jacob were both so tired last night that they fell asleep on the couch together before 8:00pm.  They were so cute and cozy that I had to capture the moment.  There is nothing better than a good snuggle on the couch.

Halloween

Friday was orange and black day at Jacob's school.  It was also Halloween, so Tim bought some orange and blue (they were out of black) hairspray and did Jacob's hair for school.  He loved having crazy hair!  One of my favorite things about Jacob is that he gets so excited about all the little things in life.  He is full of joy and enthusiasm.  He is such a fun kid!

For some reason, the orange hairspray looked a bit pink...but Jacob didn't care.  Micah thought brother's hair was funny!
All dressed up in costume.  Jacob was a skeleton pirate and Micah was a doggie.  This was not Micah's original costume.  He was supposed to be Buzz Lightyear, but refused to wear his costume.  I think he might have been afraid of it.  Finally I pulled out all of the costumes we have from previous Halloweens and he reluctantly settled on Jacob's old doggie costume. Micah sure has a mind of his own.  
Our church put on a Great Pumpkin Festival and the boys got to play lots of carnival games and watched "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"  on a big screen.  They had a blast.
Micah and Kyri -two cute little puppy dogs.  "Woof ... Woof"
Tim and I even dressed up.  A butterfly fairy and a monk - nice!
All in all, a good day.  Tim's favorite part of the day...he and a bunch of people went to Chipotle at 9:58pm and put foil on themselves (like a burrito) to get free burritos or bowls.  He was so excited about his free meal...we are totally addicted to Chipotle!!!

Jack-O-Lantern Cucumber

I cut into a cucumber last night and had a good laugh.  It totally looked like a face.  It even has two little front teeth!  It was so weird that I had to take a picture.  

THE PUMPKIN FARM

"I went to the Pumpkin Patch with my class.  We had so much fun!  We went on a train ride and we went to the pig show and we had apple cider and played on this little wood thing, and then we went on this little train car and we jumped in the hay and had lunch.  I went on a hay ride then got my pumpkin.   I got my pumpkin from the ground.  The best part of my day was going to pick my pumpkin."  - Jacob

REUNION WEEKEND

Saturday morning cartoons at the hotel...breakfast at Black Bear diner...a walk across the Sundial Bridge...reunion lunch at Simpson...catching up with old friends...bounce houses...showing the kids where we met and went to college...showing Jacob his first home...dinner at Chipotle (again)...Jacob and Micah running around a giant field waving glowsticks with all of our friends kids...a cozy family snuggle under the stars waiting for the fireworks to start....fireworks!?! (they couldn't have 4th of July fireworks this year because of the fires, so they did them this weekend instead)...watching the fireworks through the eyes of a 6 year old and a 2 year old...hanging out by the fire pit at Sea and Bannings house and making smores...laughing with friends...visiting our Redding church, Risen King, on Sunday morning...lunch at Discovery Village with lots of friends...definitely a weekend to remember!

celebrating the completion of Forest and Stacie's adoption paperwork...now they just have to wait to get a call to go get their sweet little baby in Ethiopia
the girls...best friends since freshmen year of college...Dana...Amy...Stacie...Me 
reunion lunch at Simpson...Stacie...Forest...Dana...Me...Tim
Amy (my roomate for 6 years)...Jill and her sweet little Abby
hanging out waiting for the fireworks show to start (so glad my mom came with us)
SeaJay...Dana...Me
Our little family...notice all the glow sticks (thanks so much Aims)
Family Pic with Sara, Ari, and Braden (we are so glad you found us in the dark Sara)
smores by the fire pit in SeaJay and Banning's amazing backyard 

10 YEARS

We are in Redding this weekend for our 10 year Simpson College (now University) reunion.   Last night we met our best friends at Chipotle (Yummy Yummy)!  It was so fun to see everyone and to watch all of our kids running around and playing together.  I love my friends and am so thankful that after 10 years we still have really close friendships.  After dinner we took my mom and the boys back to the hotel.  We are staying at the Red Lion, which holds special memories for me.  When I arrived at Simpson, my Junior Year, our dorm was not completed.  A ton of us were put up in the Red Lion hotel for over a month which was so much fun...maid service, room service, best friends to hang out with...what more could a college girl ask for!  Anyway, we got my mom and the boys settled in and headed over to Sea Jay's house to hang out with everyone.  First we had to make a quick stop at Discovery Village (our favorite hang out spot when we lived here).  Tim got a coffee and as we were leaving we ran into a bunch of other Simpson Alumni.  It was fun to catch up.  We made our way to Sea's house and while to girls chatted and caught up, our husbands did what all grown men love to do...played video games on the Wii.  It was getting late so we decided we should go back and go to bed, but we wanted to take a drive through Simpson on our way and reminisce about the good ol' days.  We saw that something was going on in the gym and thought we'd check it out.  We ended up staying until midnight and watching the current students put on an "Air Bands"  show.  We could not help feeling like it was just yesterday that we were the ones doing all of this crazy stuff.  The school has changed so much though!  Curfew is only effective for freshmen!!!  It  seem like the "no spaghetti strap" rule is no longer in place and some of the air band music was a litte questionable.  Interresting.  When Tim and I drove away we both agreed that our college experience was one of the most formidable and exciting times of our lives.  Ten years have flown by and it seems like just yesterday that this cute bleach blond transfer student walked up to me in the parking lot and said, "I've seen you all over the place, but I haven't met you yet."   Who would have known that 10 years and 2 kids later we would be back at the place we met, feeling like no time has passed.  I wonder what the next 10 years will hold.

Fire Station Playgroup

                                                        squirting water was the best part
                                          sitting on a giant boot in the firefighters "home"
                                                                    ring, ring, ring
                                                          Aaron's driving the truck
                                                                           Group Picture

Thursday was such an exciting day in Micah's little life.  Our playgroup got to take a tour of the Lincoln Fire Station and it was so so fun.   Micah and all of his little friends got to climb in fire trucks, squirt water out of the big hose and knock over cones, ring the bell on an old fashioned fire truck, and see where the fire fighters live when they are on duty.   The kids loved every minute of the morning!  I am so thankful that Micah has a group of friends from church that he gets to play with every week and that I have wonderful mommies to spend time with.  

MY HERO

Tim came home tonight and saved the day!!!  He dug into the yucky sink pipe and miraculously found Jacob's tiny tooth.  He is totally my hero!

Toothless

Tonight I was brushing Jacob's teeth and I heard a strange little noise.  I looked at Jacob and his mouth was bleeding.  All of a sudden I realized that the little sound I heard was Jacob's first tooth falling into the sink and that to my horror...it went down the drain.  I felt awful!!!  His first tooth and we lost it.  I think I was a little bit more bummed than Jacob.  He actually handled it pretty well.  We decided to just write a note to the tooth fairy and put it under his pillow.  He wrote a note that said, "Dear Tooth Fairy, My tooth fell out when I was brushing my teeth, but it went down the drain.  Love, Jacob."  He was so excited to finally have a missing tooth.  He has the cutest little smile with one gap on the bottom :)  I love my Jacob.  This is just a reminder of how quickly he is growing up.  He seems so big to me sometimes, but I am really thankful that he still loves to snuggle and is not embarrassed to give hugs and kisses to Tim and I.  It is a blessing to be Jacob's mommy.

The Latest...

I am really behind on blogging...so here is the latest with our family in no particular order...

• Jacob's tooth is so loose tonight that it is about to fall out (he is so excited about his first loose tooth)
• we went house hunting again today and are about to put offers on 2 more houses (we were denied on 2 out of 3 of the other ones we made offers on...we are still waiting to hear back about the 3rd)
• Micah and I went to the Pumpkin Farm this week with his little playgroup and had a wonderful time (he got a cute little metal school bus that he has been taking everywhere and even sleeping with)
• Micah learned how to pedal on his trike and is now riding all over the place on his own
• Tim is working like crazy to finish up two online courses that he is taking to maintain his pastoral license 
• My naturopathic dr said that I can retake the food allergy test and that she thinks my allergies may be gone by now or at least not as severe.  (I made the yummiest sugar and gluten free banana blueberry muffins this morning)
• My progesterone is low, so I have to take some herbs to help balance me out  ( I still don't feel like I have a ton of energy, but I am slowly getting better)
• Tim and I just finished watching season 1 or Heroes tonight (love that show!!!)
• Jacob loves playing soccer
• My mom comes to visit in 2 weeks and I can't wait to see her!

...Just a few little tid bits about our little family... 

House shopping

Well, we are looking into buying our first home and today was an exciting day.  We got our loan approved yesterday, so today we went to look at a bunch of homes in our neighborhood.  We want to stay close to where we are now so that Jacob doesn't have to switch schools.  Out of all of the homes we looked at, we only liked 2.  I have to say, some of them were in pretty bad shape.  It is exciting to think about owning instead of paying rent.  We've been told not to get too attached to any one home because it is hard to get an offer accepted on a short sale (both of the ones we like are short sales).  

After we were done looking at houses we were all really hungry, so we headed out to our favorite Friday evening restaurant, Chipotle.  Then it was off to the Nugget market so the boys could get chocolate chip cookies :)  When we got home, we all got our "jammies" on and snuggled on the couch together while Tim read a couple of books to the boys.  What a great day!!!

Mommy mishap

I totally screwed up today as a mom!  My day was going just fine.  Micah and I went grocery shopping this morning, I made him lunch and then put him down for his nap.  I  made lunch for myself and had just sat down to eat and watch the rest of the VMAs that I recorded last night when the phone rang...

caller: "Is this Kerri Loomis?"

me: "yes"

caller: "This is so and so from Foskett Ranch Elementary School..."

my first thougth:  "Oh no, did Jacob get hurt at school...is he sick!"

caller:  "Did you know that this was an early release Monday?  School got out at 1:30pm today! Jacob is in the office, can you be here soon to get him?"

me:  "Oh no, I forgot, I'll be there in two minutes!"

So I have to wake up a sound asleep little Micah and rush over to Jacob's school.  I am at least 20 minutes late (up to this point I have been at the gate waiting for Jacob everyday so that he doesn't get scared and wonder where I am).  I feel terrible and like the worst mom in the world.  I never wanted my child to be the one that was forgotten, sitting in the office waiting to be picked up from school.  So Jacob is happy to see me and so gracious, although he says, "I hope you don't ever do that again."  And of course I promise that I won't, and tell him that even mommy's make mistakes and I am very sorry.  The worst part of the whole thing is that he cried after school because he didn't know what to do or where to go.  Thankfully his teacher saw him and helped him get to the office.  

Not my most shining moment as a mom.  

Do I have something in my teeth?

My college friends have heard this question a thousand times.  It was just a normal part of our post meal routine for 4 years.  I have always been worried that after eating I would have a huge piece of food in my teeth and then go talk to someone and be really embarrassed.  So I always would ask, "Do I have something in my teeth?"  After a while it just became the routine for all of us to check for each other.  

I remember this one time when we dared Amy to put a huge lettuce leaf in her teeth and go up to some random guy in the cafeteria and start up a conversation with him.  She is the best because she totally did it, with a straight face, while the rest of us watched laughing the whole time.  

These memories still bring a huge smile to my face, but I have not been smiling very much the past two days (at least not in public).  Want to know why?  Well, yesterday I had that little procedure to have the cyst removed from my gums.  I was super nervous for nothing.  The shots to numb my mouth hurt more than getting the cyst removed.  The actual "surgery" took less than 2 minutes and it was so small that I didn't even need stitches.  The doctor just put some kind of acid stuff on the area to stop the bleeding.  I didn't even have to take any pain meds. 

 So that is all good and fine, but when I took the gauze out of my mouth about an hour after I got home, I noticed that my gums were nice and black in that area.  Really cute...it looks like I have a black bean stuck up above one of my teeth.  Or something even grosser.  I will quote Jacob, "Mom it looks like you have bird poop in your mouth!"  Lovely!!!  Tim said I look like I have major gum disease in that one spot.  So Pretty!!!  He wouldn't even kiss me yesterday...I don't know why :)  

Anyway, I am hanging out at home today and it looks a little better than yesterday.  I am just hoping that it is not too noticeable at church tomorrow.   I may have to give lots of close mouthed smiles to people.   I was trying to decide whether to put a picture in this blog or not, but I decided that it makes for a funny memory.  So as for the question, "Do I have something in my teeth?"  The answer is no...no black bean, no bird poop, no gum disease no, no, no.  Just a gross little scab that hopefully will be gone really really soon.  

 

The Busy Life of the Loomis Fam

Wow!  What at week!  Tuesday night we had our first family worship homegroup.  It went really well overall, but Tim and I had a really hard time trying to engage Micah.  He was all over the place and really distracting.  We are trying to figure out how to make this work for our family.  Jacob is at such a good age for this type of group and yet Micah is still a bit young.  I guess we'll learn as we go.  

Wed night Jacob had his first soccer practice of the season.  He had so much fun!  Tim was able to be there, but had to rush off to youth group right after.

Today Micah really took off with potty training.  He went pee pee in the potty 5 times today!  We went to Target after we picked Jacob up from school and he picked out some Lightning McQueen Underwear and we got some pull - ups for nighttime.  I can't believe that he is already potty training!  I was  not really expecting this so soon.  But I am going with it, since he is so excited.

Jacob bit into a sandwich this week and said, "ouch!"  Tim asked him if he had a loose tooth, and it turns out that he has not 1, but 3 loose teeth on the bottom.  I know he is 6 and this is normal, but it took me by surprise.  This is just one more reminder of how big he is getting.  He is doing so well in 1st grade and working really hard at learning to read.  

Well, tomorrow is Tim's day off...yippee!!!  I love when he is home with us.  But I have a bummer of a morning tomorrow.  I have to go get a little cyst removed from my gums.  Yuck!  I think it is a real minor procedure, but I know I'll have a couple of stitches and will have to be on pain meds for at least a day or two.  

Well, I'm off to watch some of the republican national convention.  Good night!

Family Worship Sunday

Yesterday was an exciting day for our church and for our family.   We had a Family Worship Sunday where all of the kids from 1st grade and up were in the service with the adults (we kept Micah in too).  I love our church!  I love that we are being challenged to do things that are outside of the norm.  I love that God is stretching me to try things that I would have never thought to do on my own and that our children are learning to worship with us even at the ages of 2 and 6.  At one point we were singing and I looked at the boys and both of them had huge smiles on their faces and both arms raised up in worship.  They are watching others model a posture of worship and are learning that this is a way to express their love for God.  The message was very visual and hands on.  Even Micah was even able to participate in building a piece of furniture out of playdough when we were talking about the significance of the altar.  He was actually really funny because he kept saying, "Dad, build a sleeping bag!"  Not exactly furniture, but...he's only 2. 

 Last week Jacob came home with a "font of blessing"  that he made the week before in his class.  It is a bowl that he painted and we filled it half way with water.  Every morning before we leave to go out the door, we dip our finger in the water and make a cross on our foreheads and pray a simple prayer like, "Jesus, help me to remember today that I am yours."  This has made a big impact on all of us, but has been especially significant for Jacob as he leaves for a full day of school each morning.  

I have also been reading a book called "Parenting in the Pew" by a pastors wife who brought her 2 boys into "big" church with her every week and very patiently taught them to worship the Lord along side of the adults.  Her perspective has been so refreshing and made me realize that I have had pretty low expectations for what my kids can learn on a spiritual level even at their young ages.  I have gotten super excited as I have been reading this book and I feel like we are all ready to try some new things.   In the past month or two we have seen a real shift in Jacob's heart toward the Lord and toward prayer.  He has become really open and willing to pray in a way we have never seen before.  I feel so thankful that God brought us to Emmaus!  

This week we are starting a small group to put some of these ideas into practice.  Our family has teamed up with the Haskins family to lead a Family Worship Small Group.  We are inviting people of all ages to meet together every Tuesday to worship and pray together and we are going to incorporate really hands on and experiential ways to involve even the youngest of children.  We met together yesterday to plan and just got really excited as we threw out different creative ideas!   I really feel like this is the beginning of an exciting season, not just for our family, but for many others as well.

Potty Time

Micah went pee pee in the potty for the first time today!  He was so proud of himself.  He has sat on the potty so many times, but never ever has he actually gone.  What a great day.  I am having visions of not having to spend $30-$40 a month on diapers...but who knows, it could still take a while :)  Oh well, today is a day to celebrate in the Loomis home :)

Fire Truck Parade

Today our cute little town had a Fire Truck Parade.  Micah is way into fire trucks right now and especially loves this little fire chiefs truck that he has.  We went downtown this morning to enjoy the parade.  The boys even got little hats to wear.  It was fun!  

Mr. 1st Grade

Jacob is a big first grader now!  He started school today.  He was a little nervous, but was very excited about the 3 recesses on the big playground (or apparatus as they call it at school).  He was so happy that he and his best friend Canyon were put in the same class.  We all went as a family this morning to drop him off.  He didn't want us to leave until all of the other parents were leaving, which was just fine with me.  It was weird to leave him after having him home all summer.  His day is twice as long as last year!  When we got in the car and drove away, Micah said, "Where's Jacob?"  We told him he was at school and he just got this sad look on his face and said, "Awwwww!"  When I picked Jacob up, he said it had been a great first day, and of course recess was his favorite part.  He was so proud that he got to walk from the playground to his classroom all by himself.  I think this is going to be a great year for him.  

BINKIES

Some kids have a favorite stuffed animal or a special blanket.  Some have an imaginary friend and others like Micah have binkies.  Micah is so attached to his binkies and I know that some day soon we will have to break the habit, but right now he is so funny about them and we will just let him enjoy these special moments with his "best friends" as we sometimes call them.  He hoards them.  He will carry around 5 at a time if he can and hum a little tune as he walks around.  When he sleeps at night he has to have at least 3 - one for his mouth and one for each hand.  He has a little car that he rides around the house on.  We have named it the "binkie mobile"  because he stores the binkies all around the steering wheel and then scoots around the house.  So yesterday morning Micah was sitting at the breakfast table with 3 of his "little treasures" and Tim and I were sitting on the couch.  We hear the binkies clinking on the table and then with a very affectionate voice, Micah says, "I love you bikies!  I love you binkies!"  I'm sure this will be one of those embarrassing stories that we tell when Micah graduates and when he gets married.  

32 is not so bad

So I turned 32 on Friday and  I had such a wonderful birthday.  On Thursday Tim and I got to get away for a night while my mom stayed with the boys.  I have a great mom!  We had such a relaxing time hanging out together.  It's been a long time since we've been able to just hang out without no real agenda and talk without interruptions.  We went to dinner at my current favorite restaurant, Chipotle.  Then we went to the movies and saw Get Smart - so funny.  We stayed the night at a hotel in Rocklin and slept in the next morning (which is what I really wanted for my birthday).  We stayed in bed watching TV until 11:15 (a dream come true :)), then went to Mimi's for a late breakfast.  We had to be home in the afternoon to take Jacob to his last swim lesson which was really fun.  Then that evening the doorbell rang and Martha Andrews from our church showed up with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers (that she arranged) from our Emmaus Church family.  I was so shocked that people even knew it was my birthday.  Later on, Tim decided to treat me to dinner at my other favorite place, Chevey's and we met his parents there.  When I got home their was a gift on the porch from the Oates Family.  It was a beautiful new journal which I am so excited to begin writing in.  I just felt loved all day and thought of.  To top it all off, my friend Dana made a top 10 reasons she loves me list on her blog that brought tears to my eyes and a smile on my face at the same time.  So 32 started out great even though (as Tim so thoughtfully reminded me) I am half way to 64.  

Swimming Lessons

Jacob just finished a week of swimming lessons yesterday and he made huge progress from day 1 to day 5.  On Monday, he was afraid to even get off of the first step and into the water.  By Friday, he was able to swim across the shallow end with his face in the water without help.  He still gets nervous to put his face in, but we are so proud of him.  His favorite thing to do is float around the pool holding on to a swim noodle.  To celebrate his accomplishments, we took him to the store today to get his very own swim noodle that he can take with him whenever he goes swimming.  

TP

Oh the joys of being in ministry :)  We got toilet papered last night by some of the youth and youth leaders from our church.  Fortunately, someone gave us a heads up (thanks Andy), so we snuck out and hid in Tim's truck.  We let them get started and then jumped out to scare them.  It was so funny.  They cleaned up what they had done and left to get someone else...but then they came back after we went to bed and got us again.  Jacob and Micah were so excited when they saw our house this morning.  It was a family effort to clean it up...and there is still a bit of TP high up in our tree.  It may just have to be there for awhile!  I guess I deserve to be TPed because I was the worst in high school.   Our youth group had a TP war going on for a long time. Those are some of my best memories from that season of my life!

4th of July Fun

I am a little behind on my blogs and I had to include 4th of July.  We had such a nice day.  We went to the Lincoln parade in the morning, which is one my favorite things on this holiday.  As I sit on the side of the road watching the parade go by and look at all of the kids along the sidewalk waving their little American flags, I feel like I am in a movie.  I  love our little town!  In the afternoon we went to Folsom to Torrey and Tessie's house (Tim's brother and sister-in-law).  Jacob was so excited to play with his cousin Calvin.  Tim's parents were there, my mom was there, and Tessie's parents were there.  The boys went swimming and played Wii.  We all ate dinner and then waited for it to get dark.  At about 9pm we made our way outside and lit off a ton of fireworks.  It was so fun and such a relaxing day.