July 4th

I think I've mentioned before that Amara has a bit of a party obsession. She wants to invite everyone she's ever met, and decorate days in advance. Games are mandatory and desserts are carefully planned with the help of Martha Stewart. She begged and begged to decorate with streamers starting on Tuesday for Saturday's celebration. We had to put on the breaks with that one. There's no way streamers hanging in doorways would last 5 days. In the end, she barely did any streamers at all, and we also never got around to playing "Pin the pole on the flag," which she had all planned out. We did have a fun day though, and she spent some time on preparations.

Cheesecake cupcakes were made. Amara did a lot of the work and they were tasty!!

The decorators working together.

Some time spent relaxing and legoing, of course.

How can you go wrong with a pinata? I thought it would last a long time when the kids took their first swings at the thing. Finally Amara got the hang of it and really gave it a beating.

Pillowcases as collecting devices. Amara told the adults that they were allowed to take what they could hold in their hands. Perfect. I guess that was the solution since we were without pillowcases.

Thoroughly enjoying the spoils.

My grandmother and my aunt (dad's mom and sister) were visiting for the week.


Here's how you know its been a good day. He fell asleep, still swimsuited, and watching Star Wars. He woke up nicely for the fireworks, so no complaints here.

Thanks, Amara for all your contributions to this fun day!