4th of July Fun

Katherine so peaceful despite the noise, people and fireworks!

She decided to wake up and enjoyed watching the end of the fireworks. It was a great show!

Me and my daughters



We had a nice 4th of July. Started it out in our traditional way - running the 5 mile Freedom Run on the shores of Lake Michigan in Sheboygan. I pushed the girls in the double stroller and still kept 10 minute miles! Had lots of encouragement along the way from other runners. Weather was perfect - not too hot or humid. After the run we watched the parade all 101 entries. Now that Emma is older and likes parades it is hard to not stay for the entire thing. She enjoyed it. She especially likes it when they throw candy. She was very concerned when we left Nana and Papa's for the run that we did not have a bag to put the candy in but we did! They threw free Frito Lay chips too.

After the parade we returned to Nana and Papa's for a cookout lunch with my sister and her family. It was tasty. Emma always enjoys being able to play with her little cousin, Ian. We made our way home later in the afternoon/early evening and then headed downtown to find a spot to watch the fireworks. We were not sure how Katherine would do 1) with the fireworks and 2) with being up so late. She did fabulous! She fell asleep before the fireworks began and laid on my stomach through half of them. At some point she woke up and we sat up and she just looked up in the sky and watched. It was amazing. Back at the car she was ready for her bed but she did great!

Thank you to all veterans who have fought and are fighting for the wonderful freedom we have - this includes my brother, a Desert Storm veteran.

Ethan is off in Atlanta for a training seminar. He left yesterday afternoon. Emma and I were quite sad but hopefully the week will go fast. He is not home until later Friday evening. We did see his plane take off from the parking lot, and he called to say he saw us waving. That made Emma's day! This week is the start of another 3 weeks of swimming lessons. The last session she did so great and had such wonderful improvement I signed her up again. Tomorrow night soccer starts. She is so excited. And a friend from swimming lessons that she made last session will be in soccer with her too. Can't wait for tomorrow night! Otherwise just hoping to make it through the week as a single mom.

Last Thursday we enjoyed an afternoon at Bay Beach with Emma's cousins. She had a great time! A couple moments were priceless - see below.

Updates on Katherine - likes green beans. She has finally decided to give eating real food a try. She will eat rice cereal but likes something with more flavor so she will not eat it for long before becoming mad. She has rolled from her tummy to her back a few times in the past weekend. So we know she can do it although she still sometimes gets mad. She can sit up bent over at the waist, if that makes sense, for a short time. I think sitting up alone is not too far in the future.

Green Bean Face!

Cousins - Friends - Love. Ian took Emma's hand after riding the train at Bay Beach last Thursday.
Enjoying ice cream cones together!
Our daughter - not sure what the pose is but she sure makes us laugh. Her hair is in beautiful braids that her babysitter did on Wednesday. We kept them in until this morning before swimming. Her hair was so wavy! It looked neat both ways. Here is a photo of the braids.