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Fireworks!

Happy Fourth of July!  What a great holiday weekend it has been.  We kicked off the weekend with a viewing (or two) of The Lego Movie - Ava already saw it in the theaters, but I really wanted to see it, too, so we rented it for the weekend, and have had "Everything is Awesome!" going through our heads for the last three days.

Scott had to work a little bit on the 4th, but in the evening we headed over to Eagan's carnival and fireworks display.  Ava's a big talker, but when it comes right down to it, she's not a fan of the carnival rides.  She chickened out on going down the big slide (a slide!), and practically had a nervous breakdown when we were riding the Dragon Manor (the smallest roller coaster ever.)  We found a few rides that she liked, and then quickly moved on to the food.  We had root beer floats, cotton candy, popcorn, beer, and then attempted to get cheese curds.  But, after we stood in line for 20 minutes and moved about three feet, I threw in the towel and gave up on cheese curds.  I figure there will be plenty of chances for cheese curds at Leprechaun Days (Rosemount) this month, as well as the State Fair next month.

Cotton candy fingers!


Wishing he had cotton candy fingers!



Ava's brave walk up to the "Fun Slide" - within 5 minutes, we were both walking down those same stairs...


The look on my face sums up my irritation over the failed slide attempt.  So, let's go ride some horses instead.


The dragons didn't go over too well, either.  This was PRE-ride smiles.  Tears and screaming quickly followed once the ride got started.


All good on the bumper cars!




See, bees aren't ALL bad!


After we gave out our last few ride tix, we headed back to the car and got set up for the fireworks show.  I was a little nervous about how G was going to do with his first fireworks, especially with it being so far past his bedtime.  We had him all tucked into his car seat, but around 9:45pm, he was starting to get a little grumpy, so we put him into his seat in the car, left the windows down, and within 10 minutes, he was passed out.  Even when the fireworks started, he opened his eyes briefly, and then went back to sleep.  The rest of us enjoyed the show, and this year's grand finale was really good!  Some years, it's only so-so, but this year was GREAT!  Of course, we packed up super fast and booked out of there as quickly as we could...but we still got caught in firework traffic.  It blows my mind how peoples' common sense evaporates when it comes to exiting a parking lot.  Crazy.



Perfect weather for a show!



On Saturday, I was busy around the house in the morning, took Ava swimming for a few hours in the afternoon, and then ended up going for a walk with a few neighbors around the neighborhood after dinner.  In the meantime, Scott worked incredibly hard and got the 2nd tier of our retaining wall finished.  We (lol, HE) just have a few things left to do, and that project will be done.  Even though the idea of sod is becoming more and more distant (thank you RAIN for making the fields too wet to cut any sod so far this year) at least we are doing what we can.  Next up will be the deck.



Last night, we met up with the neighbors for a bonfire-s'mores-fireworks gathering.  The weather was absolutely perfect, and the company was even better.  At one point, all of the guys disappeared, and we realized they were admiring Scott's handiwork with the retaining wall.  They were gone for quite a while, so I think there was some good male bonding happening.  I eventually found them all in our garage, sharing real-life ghost stories.  It ended up getting really creepy, so when I went to bed, I had way too many scary thoughts flitting through my mind.  Everyone ended up leaving around 2:30am, and our sweet little G (and the dogs!) even slept in this morning - we didn't get out of bed until almost 9am.  Unheard of in this house!

Ava's first sparkler


Turns out that "home" fireworks all pretty much look the same - they really only vary in color! :)



Our neighbors had given us homemade Bloody Mary mix, so we had a little Bloody Mary bar for breakfast this morning.  I'm pretty sure G, Scott, and the dogs are all napping right now...:)  Ava got some new toys this weekend, so she's holed up in her room playing.  So, this time is Dee-time. Woohoo!

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