4th of July Knockout

Luckily, our power came back before the 4th of July.  We decorated the kids bikes for the neighborhood bike parade, and boy was it hot!  Nash & Harley only made it through half of the parade route.  In the evening we barbecued with our friends the Johnson's and Scott's parents, then walked to the fireworks show at Langley High School.  When we got home, we busted out our personal stash of fireworks and the kids took turns lighting them.  It was during this portion of the festivities that I got knocked out-cold on the patio.  Nash was leaning down getting something and I leaned over him for something else.  He raised up quickly nailing me in the eye with his noggin.  All I can remember is thinking I am going down, next thing I remember Scott was hovering over me trying to pick me up, Atley was yelling at Nash, "You killed our mother!" and Nash was crying and saying he was sorry. I am told I was only out a few seconds.  I was nauseous and had a headache for two days, but my black eye/cheek is finally getting better. 

Ft. McHenry

On day number 2 without power and a heat index well over 105 degrees we abandoned our oven of a home and went to Baltimore.  We took a water taxi from Inner Harbor to Ft. McHenry.

What should have been an uneventful ride on the water got a little scary when we spotted a body floating in the water. The boat approached and thankfully it was a dummy that the crew heroically rescued. Apparently, the coast guard was conducting man overboard drills.  Nash was a tad traumatized, since he already has a boat phobia. He was convinced we were going to hit an iceberg.

Ft. McHenry was particularly important during the War of 1812, when the new nation had to prove themselves against Great Britain once again.  In June of 1814 the British began the siege of Baltimore.  An attorney named Francis Scott Key was sent aboard an enemy ship to try to negotiate the release of some American prisoners.  While aboard, the British began attacking Ft. McHenry.  The bombardment lasted all night and it wasn't until "dawns early light" that Key would know if the U.S. fort had withstood the British canons.  When he saw the flag being raised over Ft. McHenry he knew that the British were unsuccessful and it was then that he wrote The Star Spangled Banner.

Visiting the fort was a great precursor to the 4th of July.  We were able to watch them fire canons and explore the fort for most of the afternoon.

Atley's Baptism

It should have been no surprise that any event for Atley would be unique and memorable.  The night before Atley's baptism we had a terrible storm. The weatherman called it a Derecho.  Anyway, 1.5 million people lost power. We were no exception and neither was our church building.  We went ahead as planned. Atley was baptized in the dark, hence the grainy dark photos. It was a wonderfully spiritual day for all of us and certainly a day Atley will not soon forget.  Thank you to all of our friends and Scott's parents who spent this special day with us in the dark. 

Atley was baptized and confirmed by his dad. Nash and I gave talks on the Holy Ghost and Baptism respectively. Nash did a fantastic job. He spoke clearly, loudly, and remembered everything we had practiced.  He was rewarded with lots of melting chocolate cake.

We barbecued in the church parking lot and had tons of food.  No one wanted to go back to their hot and dark houses so we all stayed for as long as we could.

We are so proud of Atley's decision to be baptized.  He is such an amazing little man. We feel so lucky to have him in our family.

Sand & Sun

We were able to squeeze in a beach day after school got out and before we left for Colorado. We spent the day at our favorite beach in Delaware-Rehoboth. We only had a couple of hours before the lightening required us to pack up early. Nash and Harley had so much fun splashing in the waves. Atley was still a little nervous of the water due to his last beach experience. Nash is fearless at the beach and a total chicken in a pool and Atley is the exact opposite.

Butter Beer

My boys are obsessed with Harry Potter. Atley is almost finished with Book 5 and Nash and I are just starting book 3.  Even Harley runs around the house with a butter knife yelling, "Avada Kedavra!"  A few weeks ago I found a recipe for Butter Beer. They were very excited to try the Three Broomstick's speciality and pretend they were in Hogsmeade for a day.

Here is the recipe:

2 liters cream soda

2 tablespoons butter extract

2 teaspoons rum extract

Mix and pour into a glass.

Cream Topping

1 7oz container of marshmallow creme

1 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon rum extract

 Mix together until smooth and drizzle over the butter beer.

Source

Summer Time

We are  out of the heat and humidity of home and in Colorado for the month.  Hopefully, I will have a chance to catch up on my blogging while I am here.  Before we left we did our best to stay cool by spending lots of time in the water.

Atley and Nash have had swimming lessons everyday.  Atley is learning to perfect lots of different strokes and is doing a great job at the butterfly and breaststroke.