The 4th and other recent happenings

A first - Rachel falling asleep in her high chair

Rachel likes to carry things around with her teeth while she crawls. This impromptu pig impression was one result of that.

The 4th

Cicily loved the water balloons.

Grillin'

We have some fun 4th of July traditions in Mike's family. One of them is playing water balloon 500, which involves trying to catch water balloons on a trampoline. It's also a nice way to cool off.

Did I mention Cicily liked the water balloons?

Watching the fireworks in the driveway.

Another tradition: The Barbie-Q. Usually it's a Barbie in the middle, but since Jenny is now 15, she didn't have one for us to plunder anymore. This stuffed animal sufficed.

The aftermath.

Rachel's reaction to the aftermath.

The boys also like to dunk basketballs over fireworks. This is photographic evidence of how girls have more common sense than boys.

Rachel has figured out how to climb into the dishwasher.

And that it gives one better access to the counters.

Just a random picture of us.

Yesterday was my birthday. No, I'm not trying to lie about my age, but we didn't have enough candles, or the numbers 2 and 6, so we improvised. 18 + 8 single candles = 26. We had cake and ice cream and played games, it was a great birthday! And we're going to see Harry Potter on Wednesday. And Mike is giving me for a present his iPhone, which I have always coveted and can only have on condition that it can be fixed, as Mike dropped it in the toilet while playing Bejeweled to keep himself occupied. It's in California right now with a guy who supposedly can fix water-damaged iPhones. Fingers crossed.