Let freedom ring....Happy Fourth of July!!

Happy Fourth of July to all and Happy belated birthday greetings to my brother George. Sorry we missed your birthday George, but it would appear you had a good time without us. We will catch you for dinner in the Cape next week!!

Love your gift!!

Before we left for our trip we took pictures of the girls and ironed them on shirts so they could paint them while at the park and have them for the the 4th celebration!

Finally we are in the boat and on our way to the state park (Grass Point) where we spent the first 2 nights. Pop stayed on the island and worked while the girls and I stocked the motor home.

While we were at Grass Point, Pop came over to have dinner with us. We took the girls to Foxys, to carry on a family tradition. When Betty and Mike were little we took them once, every summer to this restaurant on the water. They ALWAYS ordered a mud pie which comes with a fishing bobber on top.....I know Mike is chuckling as he reads this because the trip was always such a highlight of their summer on the river. He is also probably wondering why the bobbers are only half the size.

And here they are modeling the new T-shirts They were insistent on getting them large enough to use as sleep shirts!

Starting their hooked pillow projects.....

This is Patty....she and her parents were camped next to us at the state park. Patty's parents were both Colonels in the Army. Her mom was stationed at Fort Drum for a couple of weeks.
Her father was joking about the tough life Patty had being raised by 2 Colonels. Our kids would not think it was a joke!


This is the morning we finally left for Tag-a-Soke. the girls thought it was so cool that they didn't have to get up and get dressed before actually taking off.


Here they are about half way there when they decided to go in and take a nap. This is definitely the BEST way to travel with kids!!!

Campfires every night....and of course smores!!

And after the kids were all tucked in the adults were still enjoying the fire.....


I love this picture of Emma....she wanted me to take a picture of her with her shirt after she had finished painting it. I guess she figured if she puffed her chest out I wouldn't miss any of the name or picture.


While a the campgrounds, the girls took advantage of a ceramic class. Here are the molds they picked out. The finished product will render puppies.....


Here are the "guys" bonding over of all things....Limburger cheese, onions and rye bread! The wives made sure they were way away from the site of the clambake!!


Donna, cutting onions getting ready to prepare her Italian Greens....


And here are the girls with their finished ceramic puppies. check out the matching 4th of July bathing suits!!

In keeping up with their cooking classes...we planned a whole 4th of July theme. Here is the "flag cake" they made and decorated. Notice Grandma (with her A personality) did not sort through the blueberries to make sure there were 50 perfect berries nor did she measure the slices of strawberries. Everyone loved it!

Here are their fruit kabobs which were inhaled before they even hit the table!

and the girl's favorite.....jigglers!!

On Saturday we visited the amusement park at Sylvan Beach. Emma still is not keen on the roller coasters....she prefers the smaller rides. Rachael and Mia, however rode the roller coaster several times.

Saturday night was the scene of a large dance.....while Emma showed her skill with the "Cotton Eyed Joe"

Rachael and Mia preferred to be "wallflowers". That won't last long!!

Fourth of July camping trip was a huge success. We missed so many activities on the river but enjoyed our time with our Florida friends. Thanks Dave and Diane Kone for a great time!