4th of July

1.We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. Enjoyed a long weekend at home. Took all the boys to the beach for the 1st time, had a BBQ with friends, a dinner with family & a day off from work to spend time alone together as Rick & Cathy (not mom & dad).

2. To start the long weekend off right we took the boys to the beach. Rick took the boys down to the water to check things out. They just did what daddy did. Watched the waves. Took off their jackets soon after he did & then walked closer to the water when he did. They just looked so cute & so tiny.3. It was a first for Jimmy. He just watched the people walking by & his brothers frolicking in the water. 4. The coats were off & then it was time to play. They were very brave until the waves started coming & then they squealed for daddy to pick them up.5. And Rick turned his back on Joey for a second to pick up Johnnie who had fallen down & he lost his footing & face planted in the sand. Didn't cry at all.6. On the morning of 4th of July we met up with the Laughreys & Vuosos at Redondo Beach for a morning of fun & then a bbq all before naps. 7. The Vuoso boys enjoyed the water as much as the Bolander boys. Paul had to work but we were lucky enough to have Sara's mom Angela there. She was great with the kids. She taught Joey how to build sand castles & he did great. Never even tried to knock it down but he had a great time. 8. Jimmy stayed awake for the entire beach session. Being carried around in the Bjorn, watching his brothers & the waves & laying out with his girlfriend Lorelei. Judging from the photo he was obviously enjoying himself.9. Our weekend at the beach ended soon after our 1st family photo at the beach was taken. Couldn't get everyone to look forward but it shows we were all there. Then that evening my dad came over to bbq & to watch fireworks. Jimmy & Joey went to sleep right on schedule. Joey slept through the night even through all the fireworks noise. Jimmy only woke up once but went back down very easily. This year Johnnie was more interested in teh fireworks but the noise still scared him. BUT he really did want to watch. So he & I spent most of the evening sitting in my truck watching out the windows so we could block out the noise & he actually was willing to let grandpa hold him outside for a little while at the end of the evening. Maybe next year we can spend all night outside watching th fireworks. We'll see. 10. Yesterday Rick & I took the day off from work to hang out together ALONE. I went for a run while he dropped the kiddos off at daycare/school. Then we went to breakfast, saw the movie Transfomers (an almost 3 hour movie but entertaining) & just enjoyed each other's company. Can't wait for our next alone day hon. Jimmy also turned 19 Weeks Old yesterday. Getting bigger & hungrier everyday. And to my joy ate at 8pm & then not again until 6am the next morning on Sunday. Hopefully this means he is working his way to sleeping all night every night.