4th of July

For the Fourth, we were invited up to the Anardi's Cabin. Dr. Anardi is our dentist, and his son Jared lived with Joe in college. Beka, his wife, is the one who became paralyzed by a tumor after giving birth to their son, Anthony. Please continue to pray for her and Jared!!

We spent the morning of the Fourth at home, got the kids an early nap, and headed out to the Hood Canal. The kids had an absolute blast!! Jared dug up clams, and Dr. Anardi had Ben's help for cleaning and sorting them. He also had a chair next to the barbeque so he could watch them cook!

Maddie had SO much fun playing with the dogs. Both Anardi families have Burmese Mountain Dogs, and Jared's sister Colby and her husband have a golden retriever. Suffice it to say, there was no shortage of wagging tails and noses to occupy the kids. A few months ago we bought the movie Bolt. Maddie has taken a true shine to this movie, and as she's now 3, her imagination has truly blossomed. For at least the last week or so, she's been walking on all fours around the house calling herself "Bolt." So to have a REAL dog to follow around and take queues from was priceless! Mitus, Dr. Anardi's dog was so calm and mellow that she followed him everywhere. He taught her to pant and he let her crawl all over him. Poor guy! He needs a treat for all the torment the kids caused :)

Ben was...well, Ben most of the day. It was hard to contain him. Anthony is 3 months old, and Colby and Mike have a new little guy, Lucas (7 weeks). I think Ben terrified poor Mike with all his antics! He'll be ok, though. All four are great parents, and their little boys are so lucky to have them!

Ben, for his part, ran through a sprinkler, climbed over a dock ladder (that wasn't attached yet!), helped with the clams, followed the dogs around, jumped off the deck, climbed tables, and attacked Linda Anardi's chair! He was a very busy bee! Linda was very sweet, and didn't seem to mind the surprise.

For the very first time, we allowed the kids to be up late enough (i.e. 8pm. haha!) to watch the fireworks! Maddie was a little surprised, and immediately put her fingers in her ears. It's amazing how inate some behavior is, and we don't even realize. But once she figured out she wasn't going to be shot down, she really enjoyed them. She actually stayed up the whole way home to see them on the car ride.

It was a WONDERFUL Fourth of July filled with good food, good friends, and lots of laughs! Thanks again to all the Anardi's for letting the Ames' invade your home!