Another 4th of July has come and gone, and we had another fantastic weekend celebrating it!
Thursday night was an amazing night! Not only had Christian just come home from camp; so the boys got along marvelously together, but the weather couldn't have been any better. It was not hot, cold, muggy, windy, rainy, cloudy...it was just ideal. We grilled out, and ate outside, then walked to the bike park. Brian thinks he is 12 and tried to "get air". Which as you can see in this picture...he succeeded!
I could barely watch, because I would rather not watch my husband break his neck acting like a 12 year old. But, he came out unscathed, so I suppose I may have overreacted. I adore family nights like these.
We planted ourselves in our driveway one last time on Friday for the garage sale, and boy oh boy am I glad that we did! We got rid of SO. MUCH. STUFF. The sofa, the 2 wing back chairs, blanket racks, tables, benches, huge stuffed horses, jewelry, plastic potting pots, games, books, clothes, oh my goodness the list goes on! Thankfully the Hoesktras came over and kept us company for the day. We didn't anticipate having people join us, but it was so much better with them there. It turned out to be a beautiful day...did I mention that we got rid of SO. MUCH. STUFF? Everything was loaded up at the end of the sale and donated! Ahhh, it feels good!
Tahnee and I ducked away for a bit in the afternoon to head to a garage sale that we heard about from someone who came to ours. They told us that there were mountains of fabric and yarn and patterns...so we had to check it out! I am glad we did.
I found a terrific vintage piece of fabric that is large enough to make a blanket out of. So I need to get to work on that. More projects...as if I need those!
We parted ways with the Hoekstras after a backyard lunch at our house, only to meet up again for a backyard dinner at their house. We grilled out, had a few drinks, played with the girls, watched their new chicks, and stayed up WAY too late! Time gets away from us when we are together. Boy I sure do miss living closer to them. And we just may be moving even further away...hmmm, what does she mean by that you ask? You'll just have to wait and see....
Saturday we went to the Farmers Market to load up on veggies for the week. We also picked up 3 fantastic floral arrangements from the uber talented Lynelle Webb.
She did the flowers for our wedding, and she is my go-to gal when I have questions about gardening. I have been given a few dried arrangements by her as gifts as well, and am glad she is at the market so we can see her more frequently. Maybe you remember back in the fall when we got our Monarch? Lynelle was the one who gave the caterpillar to the boys, and we are crossing our fingers that she will do it again this year...(funny that these previous posts also include ChesterBay and the Hoekstras...we may just be becoming too predictable?)
Saturday evening we headed over to the Silver Lake pool to join some of the Lincoln families. They had rented out the facility after hours for just us to use. We ate while the kids swam and we had a few drinks...it was a terrific start to our 4th of July evening.
It was very cool to have the pool to ourselves! The kids sure loved it when they turned on the slide--just for them!! Thank you to the ladies who organized it and included us in their plans! I truly love the friendships I have made at Lincoln and I look forward to spending time with the families that I have gotten close with. But tonight it was oh so nice to spend time with even more families who we don't typically see. Good times!
Here is where the post title comes in.
tra⋅di⋅tion /trəˈdɪʃən/ [truh-dish-uhn]
–noun 1. the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, esp. by word of mouth or by practice: a story that has come down to us by popular tradition.
2. something that is handed down: the traditions of the Eskimos.
3. a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting: The rebellious students wanted to break with tradition.
4. a continuing pattern of culture beliefs or practices.
5. a customary or characteristic method or manner: The winner took a victory lap in the usual track tradition.
6. Theology. a. (among Jews) body of laws and doctrines, or any one of them, held to have been received from Moses and originally handed down orally from generation to generation.
b. (among Christians) a body of teachings, or any one of them, held to have been delivered by Christ and His apostles but not originally committed to writing.
c. (among Muslims) a hadith.
We are a blended family. The boys have a very dedicated pair of parents who like to spend time with them. Unfortunately, with this comes alot of back and forth and inconsistency. Sometimes there is confusion, and there are days you just know they wish it would all just be "normal". So I try very hard to make sure that there is as much consistency and "normalcy" as possible. No, our situation is not ideal. But it is our normal now, and we have to make the most of it. With that said, tradition is a GREAT way to maintain that normalcy for them. I know it was disappointing to the families that were at the pool when we left. And it made me rethink actually leaving to watch the fireworks as a family, in the same place that we have watched them in the past, on the same blanket we have used since Brian and I have been together, and in the same positions as we have nearly every year. (we have missed 2 years, one when Benjamin was at camp, and one we spent with Chad in Wabasha)
But as we snuggled together on that blanket it was reconfirmed to me that this is an amazing tradition that we have with the boys. We all lay together, and we talk about the ones we like, we clap together when we love one, we point out the "duds" and we just share with each other the experience--all together on that little blanket. This years finale was amazing and I am thrilled that we stuck to our guns and watched them together as we have in the past. I can appreciate that not everyone holds tradition in the same esteem that I do...but when I think of the boys and their futures, I am compelled to continue holding tradition in high regard. So even though the families were somewhat disappointed that we left their festivities, and Christian was a bit hesitant to leave his buddy back at the pool, and Benjamin was bummed that he had to stop skateboarding, and then even MORE bummed when I wouldn't even let him take a sip of the A&W that he opened w/o asking at 9:30pm (yea right buddy, you aren't drinking soda that late at night...nice try) as soon as we settled onto the blanket we were a family unit and we were transported back to many years of laying on said blanket watching the same sky together and we added another year of memories. Tradition.
(It really is time for a new camera)
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