Fantastic 4th!

The past few years the 4th of July has meant family fun at the beach, but this year the celebration had a little extra meaning.
Pop retired July 1st after 41 years with the VA. I know it was a bittersweet week for him, lots of memories and lots of close friends. We are so proud of him for his hard work and dedication to his country both while serving in Vietnam and in his work for the VA.
I am so glad he can kick back and relax now, well at least for the summer.

So on saturday morning, our gang invaded the peaceful solitude of South Bowers. Saturday was a gorgeous day, I dont think you could have a better beach day. Perfect temp, perfect sun, the right breeze and no greenhead flies!

We hung out on the beach most of the day, playing in the water, searching for shells and rocks, and floating in the bay on the rafts, oh and we enjoyed a few Landsharks as well.

Saturday night was fireworks night for South Bowers. Pop and Noni's next door neighbors are now known for their rockin July 4th party and fireworks. Kevin and I are a little jealous of them, imagine being in your mid twenties and having a brand new house on the beach to live in-with all the toys you need (waverunners, dunebuggies, etc,..you get the picture).

Anyway, their fireworks displays have gotten better each year. So we were looking forward to seeing what 2011 would bring. We had a great dinner, Kevin grilled up some steaks, we had corn, tomatoes, sweet potato fries. Then it was time to head to the beach to build our campfire.

Alek takes his job as daddy's firebuilder helper very seriously. He is always sent off to look for kindling and smaller sticks. He loves it. Kevin built the fire a little close to the water this year as the tide was moving in, Pop and I kindly reminded him of that and so the fire was moved.

Roasting marshmellows, listening to Jimmy Buffett, having a few beers while sitting around a fire on the beach, it is very hard to top that.

But the fireworks did! They were awesome. Maks still doesn't like the loud bangs of the fireworks, so after a bit, the boys walked with Noni to Mr. Al's deck to watch from there, though apparently they were more interested in watching SpongeBob and eating cheerios in Mr. Al's living room. Oh well, their loss!

Not sure, if it was just the total experience, but the fireworks were so good this year-we were really impressed. It was so nice just sitting on the beach hanging with Kevin and my Dad.

The boys finally wandered back down the beach and we could tell they were ready for bed.

I walked them back down the path and looked longingly at the party on the beach as the DJ was just getting started and people were dancing......But I shook that off, put my mom hat back on and got my babies washed up and tucked into bed. They passed out very quickly.

Kevin and I were close behind them, alot of sun and fun jammed into one day-and knowing Maks morning would come quickly!

Kevin had borrowed a kids dunebuggy from Tim for the weekend. It was a big hit. Thankfully it had a good harness seatbelt and Kevin could control the speed as I was very nervous to have them drive. They loved it and it was a blast to watch their expressions.

Pop's lawn may never be the same though! It worked great on the beach during low tide and the tighter packed sand, there were issues though in the deeper sand.

Alek really had it down, spinning out as he turned, he definitely thought he was the man while he was driving, the cocky look on his face said it all.

Maks was more serious and more cautious which was funny. He seemed to get himself stuck more often, but he was a little short for it, another inch or two in height and he will be good to go!

It was another fantastic weekend at the beach. I love watching how happy the kids are down there. I love watching them run around free on the beach and the fact they have so much room to explore. I just think of what great memories they will have and we are grateful for Pop and Noni for providing them with this awesome place to build those summer memories!
So congrats again Pop, I hope you try and relax this week and not jump right into any projects--you earned the time to sit back and put your feet up!!

Monday the 4th we headed home early to hopefully beat the traffic, which thankfully we did.

We then headed over to our friends for a impromptu cookout, water balloon fight.

We took in the fireworks at Skippack to wind down our holiday weekend. It was a long 3 days jammed pack with a lot of fun and we are thankful for all we are able to do.

Summer needs to slow down a little....I need more time to soak up the sun!