Monday, July 21, 2008

Fun in July

My son invited me to spend the day with him, his wife and son out at the home of some friends of theirs for the 4th of July holiday. It was a day filled with sun, good food, fun and LOTS of activity!

My son is a bit of a fireworks fanatic and it is a whole lot different here in Indiana than in California when it comes to buying fireworks for personal use. They are fairly sophisticated by my way of thinking and we usually enjoy a pretty good and lengthy show in the evening.


We started the day watching kids bounce around on the trampoline and after that croquet. They also took turns driving/riding the go-cart. Pictured here is my daughter-in-law, my grandson (flashing the peace sign) and his friend.


They all played in the water for a bit

and finished off the afternoon with a baseball game. It was a great day with family and friends.

I'm adding a photo of my son and grandson in their pool as well - it's not from the 4th, but I love this shot.


Another family day was spent canoeing/kayaking down Pigeon River in the Mongo Basin area of Northeastern Indiana.


My son, his wife and son rent a canoe and I opt for a kayak. It's always a lot of fun! This year we took a 10 mile trip down river. It was beautiful - peaceful and relaxing. There wasn't a lot of people on the river and we were able to travel at a leisurely pace. My son and grandson came into contact with poison ivy and are still suffering the effects of that more than a week later. But it seems that all a part of summer fun in this area!

9 comments:

girlgonethreadwild said...

A stroll down the stream sounds vrry gooood right about now. The funny thing about Summer is we ALLways want sum-MORE!

KV said...

Lovely, fun photos, Grace. Boy do I ever remember dealing with poison ivy when I lived in northern Ohio. The kids all look terrific!


Kathy V in NM (who admires anyone who actually can maneuver a kayak)

Padparadscha said...

It seems like you had a lovely time, good for you ! :o)

Timaree said...

Poison ivy! When I was a teenager visiting my sister in Pennsylvania I found myself in the middle of it while berry picking. It didn't seem to bother me. But I won't test it again! She said it only bothered one in her family. My son came across poison oak and had a rash for weeks.

That's a great shot of your son and grandson. I love the last one of the bridge with the canoe under it also.

You have a lovely family, Grace. Glad you had a great trip.

*~tabby~* crooked heart art said...

hi grace
looks like a great time was had by all :) i sure could use some coooooool river time right about now its been rotten hot here in ct for over a week now-ugh!!
i also really love the last pic of you!! :)
thanks for sharing
enjoy your day
tammy

Pursuing Art... said...

Great photos of your family Grace! What a pretty daughter-in-law and handsome son and grandson!!! It sounds like you had an All-American fun-filled 4th of July! Your trip down the river looks splendid. I love to float down the river too. We haven't hit the river once this year, as it is still moving really fast. We hope to go in August sometime!

Thanks for sharing some fun photos and good times. Would love to see a shot of Jet again, I bet he's cute as ever!!! Is he in that teenage stage yet? ;-)

~Lisa

GraceBeading said...

It's been a couple of weeks now and I'd SOOOO love to be back in a kayak now!

KV & Freebird - I'm so lucky in that I don't think I have any reaction to poison ivy or poison oak. I've never had a problem with it. My son though... oh boy was he miserable

Helene - I did, thank you so much!

Tammy - it was one of those picture perfect days, enough of a breeze that we didn't have a problem with bugs and no humidity, just awesome.

Lisa - glad you enjoyed them, this river moves REALLY slow, perfect for a relaxing paddle down river. And Jet has had a name change. We're calling him Mocha right now and have been known to call him butter bean too. I have taken some new photos - will get those up soon. He's precious!

Anonymous said...

What a blast you had. But then, everything you do seems such fun! One thing though...why weren't you on the trampoline? Don't tell me it was an "age thing", as it hasn't seemed to stop you yet

Don't slow down now just yet, girl!

A secret admirer...uh...surely NOT.
Nee

GraceBeading said...

Aww Neelie - thank you! I don't plan to slow down anytime soon, I promise. And the trampoline... well, I wasn't wearing the proper 'gear' ;)

Leaves of Grass

This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body - Walt Whitman