the 4th was redeemed

The 4th of July was redeemed and all was not lost. I finally started feeling human again Saturday. I had dinner with the family, worked on schoolwork while the kids went swimming, and then went to see some fireworks. Though we weren't at the beach this 4th of July, the fireworks were enjoyable and the waiting for them to get started was bearable thanks to two thunderstorms in the distance that provided some amazing lightning to keep us entertained until the real fireworks began.

Monday was definitely a better day, the best day of the whole weekend for me, but not so much for other members of my family. We all seem to have caught the cold Lily started with and though I seem to have had it the worse and Lance the mildest, he either was feeling its affects yesterday or was just overly tired from staying up the night before and getting up really early or a combination of both. Despite Lance's grouchiness that was apparent at 9 am, we packed up the car and headed up the road to the Virginia Safari park where we paid a small fortune for some close encounters of the wild animal kind.


The drive-thru/feeding part of the park was fun since we could sit in our car and see the animals, but the walking around exhibits was a bit much, it was so hot and HUMID it was miserable and most of the animals were beating the heat by hiding or in some other not ideal for viewing position. So despite the heat and Lance's bad mood, we had a nice afternoon with the animals, we did get to pet a 12 foot python which was pretty neat. We got home and headed over to my mother's house for a cookout. The kids survived dinner, but it was obvious they were exhausted, Lance especially, so right after dinner we took the kids home and got them ready for bed, no fireworks on the actual 4th, which didn't really bother me, I guess I was too tired. So we celebrated America the American way- we went to a tourist trap and spent money and had a cook out. I am thankful for the white, rich, slave-owning Aristocrats so many years ago that didn't want to pay taxes who made this country, happy ____ birthday America.