BBQs and July go hand in hand!

We've had a lot of fun so far this summer! Our biggest summer surprise was an unexpected refund check from our old car insurance that allowed us to buy a BBQ grill! I have been wanting one since last summer, and we finally took the plunge! We've sure eaten a lot of burgers so far. My new absolute favorite has to be grilled bananas with brown sugar.

To go with our increase in time spent outside we invested in an outdoor toy to keep Erika occupied. She loves her Princess castle!

A table and seat for snack time

Erika and her Prince Daddy!

Like we have every year of our marriage, we headed up to Chris' grandma's for the Fourth of July. We have especially loved going there since we moved. Our neighborhood is parade route territory and the traffic gets crazy. Great-Grandma lives in a small town that is much more our pace. We sit in the front yard of her house in the shade and watch the two dozen or so floats (or more accurately trailers pulled by tractors) go by and collect a fair amount of candy. This year I forgot my nice camera. :( Here is a picture I stole from my sister in law.

Erika with Grandma

That evening we joined my family for fireworks. Erika loved them! She kept yelling, "Wow!" Overall it was a great Fourth!

A chair just her size!

Chris' response to me asking for a nice smile, as per usual.

We put some glow sticks in Erika's binky. She didn't like it very much.

My baby sisters