Growing greater: Looking Back to Ross Bridge, and HAPPY 4th of JULY!

Happy (late) 4th of July! John and I had a wonderful time at Ross Bridge on July 1st and 2nd. Our dinner at Brock's was delicious- he ate swordfish, and I had veal- one of our favorite meals ever! Mom brought Addison to the hotel the next morning to swim with us. She absolutely loved the pool, and went down the slide (in our laps) over and over and over! The pool has a salt water system, which is so much nicer than chlorine.

The afternoon of July 2nd, we packed up and headed to the lake. Randy, Grayson, and Braden came late that night. Julie, Emerson, and Mom came the following day. We had a great time riding in the new paddle boat that Mom bought! We swam and rode in the big boat.

On July 4th, we headed back to B'ham for a joint birthday party at Mary and David's neighborhood pool. They had lots of delicious food, and it was nice to hang out with our cousins/family.

Later that afternoon, we went back to the lake for barbeque dinner and fireworks. The kids really enjoyed stepping on (and throwing) "poppers" and holding sparklers. Our neighbors had a huge fireworks show, so even Addison got to stay up until after 9:00. Anders drove us crazy barking constantly until the fireworks ended around 11:00.

On Sunday, we all rode in the boat. Addi rode the inner-tube behind the boat and seemed to enjoy it (no smiles, though). She also (after getting warmed up) had fun swimming in the lake in her life jacket. Anders gave us quite the scare when she decided to push her ball across the lake. She was literally about to be hit by boats. John raced after her in the paddle boat as Addi yelled and clapped "Anders, come!" The whole week was a wonderful adventure that we'll always remember!