July 4th

My family enjoyed this celebratory holiday with my close friends and their families, poolside. Our weather was a crisp 69 degrees, but the pool was kicking 90. Adults sat around and watched their kids splash. I, myself, went swimming –like an overgrown child. My daughter, who is 90% fish, now only swims with her arm swimmies on and is in the early stages of going under water. She was thrilled to play with the older kids who very thoughtfully included her with all their games. My son, who is mommy’s new appendage, loved the warm water and desperately wanted to swim like the big kids.

After swimming, we gathered around the fire to warm up and chat about the day.

Dressed in sweats and sweaters, we watched the fireworks from the master suite’s balcony. My daughter, all hyped up on pretzels and chips, finally stood still long enough to enjoy them –noise muffling headphones on of course. My son grasped tightly onto my arm, while resting comfortably on my hip –occasionally uncovering his face long enough to point out the different colors displaying.

Looking around at my close friends and newly met friends, I smiled –knowing this is what summer holidays are made for…

Cookouts

Fires

Poolside

Great conversations

Lots of laughter

Friends –old and new

Family

And memories.

As long as you have people around who care for you, you hit the lottery. I do not have a big extended family (on my side, my husband has a lot), so my close friends and their families are my extended family. Being with them and having our children grow up together makes my heart happy. And spending holidays with all of us together made the celebration of freedom even more special.