What a weekend!

You know it's been a good weekend when it takes this many pictures to capture the fun! And what a great one we had.

Friday afternoon I snuck home a little early to spend some time with my favorite little man, and to give Grandma a little break. Naptime was already over (by 3:00- quite unusual), so we had extra time to play. Not so much time to clean or prepare for the weekend, but I suppose it was a blessing. We made a run to my office to finish up a few little odds and ends, then headed home to play outside until Daddy got home from work. Due to the short nap in the afternoon, we didn't figure it was a good idea to attempt the fireworks in Lewisburg Friday night given the number of things going on on Saturday and Sunday. So off to dreamland he went at a reasonable hour.

Saturday morning, Daddy headed off to work with our Kiwanis Club at the festival stand and cooked so many hamburgers and sausage sandwiches that he couldn't see straight by the time he got home. I felt a little guilty because while he was off working, Joshua and I met up with Emily, Earl and their adorable kids, McKenna and Cooper, to enjoy the parade downtown. I continue to marvel at how well attended and greatly appreciated this parade is in Lewisburg. Honestly, everyone I have ever met here was either AT the parade or IN it. Over 200 entries, including large scale drum and bugle corps, horses, more fire trucks than you can shake a stick at, and every high school band within several counties. I'm eternally grateful to Earl for getting us great seats to watch the parade. I believe Emily shared that he had gone downtown around 5:45 Saturday morning to claim our little section of the curb. But honestly, people had their things out there since Friday morning if the truth be told.

Joshua had a blast with the parade. It started, like it does every year, with a very low flying fighter jet that felt like it buzzed the tops of our heads. Joshua's reaction to the VERY loud plane was "Cool dude!" with a big smile on his face. He loved the horses and the bands. He was imitating the drums all weekend by banging on things and telling us how they sounded. The highlight of the parade for Joshua was a rainstorm that popped up on us very suddenly. There were big drops and lots of them. Emily, Earl and I gathered up the kids and everything we could hold in our arms and jumped up under someone's porch. In a few minutes, it was over, leaving mud puddles galore in its wake. Joshua spent the rest of the morning splashing, eating dirt and swishing around in the mud. He was covered head to toe by the time we got home. He also was "sharing" the mud with McKenna, although Emily assures me that he didn't do any major damage to her very cute outfit.

Saturday afternoon after Joshua's nap, we headed to Lewistown to spend some time with Nana, Pap, Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig. We had a nice lasagna supper (Mommy's FAVORITE!) and some good visiting time with them at their house. After supper, Joshua was wide awake and in pretty good spirits, so Daddy, Aunt Libby, Joshua and I headed out to see the fireworks display that Lewistown had. We lucked out and found a spot in prime location. Joshua had never seen fireworks before, so we weren't sure how he'd react. When the booms started, he kept saying "Pretty!" or would repeat us when we said "Wow!" The noise didn't seem to bother him one bit. The picture below is of Joshua (in his mokey pajamas) curled up with Daddy in the back of the Jeep to keep dry. It was sprinkling a little bit through the whole fireworks show, but we had fun.

As if all of this wasn't enough fun, Sunday afternoon we got to go to a picnic with all of the friends that I grew up with in Lewistown. The Heckmans were gracious enough to host the whole clan of us, and it was a great time to do some catching up. These picnics used to be annual events, but with all that's been happening in all of our lives, we haven't made it a priority to get together. So, we got to see Courtney and her daughter Teagan (adorable) and spend some more time with Emily, Earl, McKenna and Cooper. Some of the "adults" (in my mind, the adults are OUR parents) weren't able to be there, but it was still fun to be together with everyone. The kids had a blast playing in Tom and Lisa's yard. It was funny to watch Joshua interact with the other kids. He was very intrigued by all of the toys that they had there and went about his business exploring everything around him. He was fascinated by a table filled with bubble supplies and spent a lot of time there. He'd stop every now and again to check out what the girls were doing, but he didn't get too involved with them. The pictures below crack me up. The first is of Joshua with the bubbles. The next two are of Teagan and McKenna having a little concert for us- they were both singing some very silly songs. While they were singing, the last picture was taken. Joshua was digging in some sand at the bottom of the slide and looked up at the girls. I swear, he was trying to say "What are you crazy girls doing?"

It was a fantastic weekend! I hope you enjoyed the pictures!