July 4th

The long, 3-day weekend has sadly come to a close, but I'm happy to say we had a fabulous time!  It didn't rain this year, so we actually got to see some fireworks out at Old Settlers Park, and our dear friend Ken joined us.  The fireworks are so much more fun now, since Zach is older & not scared of them anymore.  He didn't want it to end!  Here are some shots from that evening:

Let me just pause here to say that, in case you aren't from Austin, the "Yellow Rose" is a strip club.  Yes, they had a plane flying overhead before dark, advertising their establishment.  Nothing says good, clean, family fun like a banner flying overhead for titties & beer.  Moving on ...

As you can see, there was quite a crowd to battle after the festivities ended.  We decided to wait it out, and to kill time, Zach & Aaron ran around like crazies, then Zach asked if he could take some pictures with my camera.  Here are the results of his impromptu photo session, as well as some of them playing:

"Daddy, make a silly face."

Mommy's turn.

Now Ken's turn.

And his own turn.

Of course, he had to photograph the only sign he could find.

As fun as this night was, it was only the beginning!  We left the next day mid-afternoon to join our friends Michelle & Katy at their lake house on Lake LBJ.  Their niece and daughter were there, as well as their adorable, hilarious, and ever-entertaining yellow lab named Ben.  We spent Saturday and Sunday with them, and here are some pics of the trip:

He told me he was meditating.

A worn-out Ben.  He swam A LOT.

An all-of-a-sudden alert Ben, seeing the meat being carried to the grill.

There was lots of swimming, eating, and Wii playing.  It was such an awesome, relaxing end to a holiday weekend.  Michelle & Katy almost convinced us to stay one more night, but my parents were babysitting our old-man dog, so we felt we should get back.  They've invited us to come spend more weekends with them, and I have a feeling we'll be taking them up on that very soon.

Clearly, it was a busy, but really fun weekend.  The weather was sunny & hot, but the wind down by the lake made it bearable.  I think we finally epitomized what July 4th weekend is all about -- relaxing, good laughs, and good company.  We had it all.  

I will wrap this up now, since the new season of "No Reservations" is about to start, and I can't be late.  Don't want to miss one minute of my Anthony!  I know the pictures did most of the talking in this post, but hey - that's not so bad, is it?