4th of July

You know me...Miss Better Late than Never. So in true form, I am now going to share with you the pictures of our 4th of July.
Or, maybe we'll start with the 3rd. On Saturday afternoon/evening, Duke and his Dad took Grant to the Outlaw Sprint Car Races. Since Tootie and I were on our own, we hit the river at my friend Lisa's Dad's house.
They have an annual golf tourney but since Lisa is 9 mos pregnant and has an almost 1 year old she opted not to golf (go figure!) and just hang on the beach. I also had the job of getting some prego belly pics of her like we did last year and they turned out adorable.
After our afternoon visit there, we headed up to Duke's parents for the weekend. Since they live on the lake, there was a lot of swimming, boating and sunshine to enjoy. (The pic below was just of 'traffic' on the lake...no one we knew sailing)
Now that Grant is getting more and more comfortable in the water he decided it was time he learned to jump off the dock.
I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that Emily is an old pro at the canon ball and he's never but two steps behind his Emily!
That afternoon, Grant declared to the neighbors, "Hey Jeff and Karen, I learned to swim today." In his mind, he is now a real swimmer, I guess :) Throughout the day he also perfected the 'dead mans float'. As proud as I am of him for learning how to hold his breath under water, I hate when he practices this. Even the picture of it creeps me out!
Little Miss Siss wasn't brave enough to make the leap off the dock unless I was there to catch her (which, coincidentally, is hard to do with a camera in my hands) so she enjoyed a game of push the big kids in the water.She sure thought she was something...not sure what, but something!
Here is Emily and Duke trying to convince Grant to jump of the end of the dock. He was having NONE of that.
The side of the dock was plenty for him. Thankyouverymuch!
Until Daddy talked Little Man into being tossed off the side of the dock that is!
Here is the pre-launch pep talk...
And we have lift-off!
Next it was Emily's turn.
...And Grant's turn...
...Emily's turn...
...and Grant's turn! {Notice how they keep getting higher and higher...YIKES!}
And finally, the last launch of the evening. This one cracks me right up. I can just hear him yelling 'YEE-HAW!"
One more of Audrey channeling Pamela Anderson on Baywatch. Can you picture it in slow motion with the cheezy music in the background? I totally can!
After a long day of swimming it was time for jimmer jammers...
...and a snack (or some BBQ chicken!)...
and a couple of hundred laps around the house chasing the little neighbor kid, Noah!
All while us adults were able to enjoy an adult beverage (or two!) and this beautiful view.
Duke's Aunt Karen and her husband Carl were in town from WA but I never ended up getting a picture of them. Darn it! But it was really nice having a chance to visit with them, reminisce and have a few laughs. You can't beat a 4th of July filled with sunshine and good company.