Summer fun with friends

This weekend was our third annual trip to Long Island to Jen and Gary's family retreat. It was hot, hot, hot, and we spent most of the time in the pool.

Here we are inside insanely large basketball hoop that Sharalyn and Sean brought!

Caroline dropped her puppy in the pool, but that didn't slow down her fun.

Annabel shows off her "big jumps" into the pool, and Annabel and Caroline douse Mommy with water

Jackson and Olivia have fun in the pool, and Zachary and Peyton play on the beach with their daddy.

Caroline loved running into the waves and getting knocked down (no pictures of that since Mommy was holding on tight!) Annabel liked the safety of the beach.

Can't wait 'til next summer in the Outer Banks with our favorite families!

Courtney comes to play!

Courtney came to play with us today and it was great!  It rained all day so we mostly played inside, but we had fun!

Here, we're doing the splits

And I'm climbing Courtney

Finally outside after the rain!  I jumped in all the puddles too but Mommy couldn't get it on camera.

Caroline rode in my car

and finished the day all messy.  Good thing it was bath day!

Thanks for playing with us Courtney!  You're the best!

All done outside!

Today we went to Ridgewood's Fourth of July parade.  We saw men in high feathery hats, baton twirlers, antique cars, lots of firetrucks, and a tall Uncle Sam.  We even saw Shriners riding around in tiny cars (like Mommy's grandpa used to do).  Annabel's favorite parts were the drummers in the marching bands and the abundance of "big trucks."  Caroline liked dancing to the teenage rock band and the guy that was selling stuffed animals.

It was so hot - 102 was the high today - that on the way home, Annabel exclaimed "All done outside!"

Fourth of July Fun

On the playground at Van Saun park on the last day of June - a beautiful 80 degree day.

We also went to the zoo and saw monkeys, anteaters, and bison.

Fun in the scorching sun on Fourth of July

No Fourth of July would be complete without watermelon

and fireworks!  We watched them on the golf course again this year, and the girls loved their glow sticks and playing with the other kids.