Independence Day Festivities

On Wednesday, we went to the Hyrum fireworks with some friends. Lillian had fun playing with Carson and running around like crazy. It was the perfect night for fireworks: not too hot and the sky was clear. Even the traffic getting home wasn't too much of a headache. Lillian wanted to sit in my lap once the fireworks started; I think she didn't know what to make of them. But after a couple minutes, she was watching them with fascination. And then she was off to do something else. She didn't have time to waste watching some bright lights in the sky when there was so much running around to do.

Erik's three-day weekend for July actually fell on the weekend of the 4th, so we decided we better take advantage of it and go camping. We invited ourselves up to his parents' camping spot at La Platta recreation area and made ourselves at home. Once Lillian checked everything out while we held her, she was having a great time picking up rocks and dirt and checking out the bugs. Laddie got pretty stressed out over all the critters he couldn't chase but wore himself out so well by the end of each day that he slept like a log.

Our first night in the tent didn't start out so well. Lillian was obviously tired, but the experience of being in the tent was so exciting that she just wanted to crawl all over us rather than lay down and go to sleep. We finally got her to fall asleep with us and then transfered her to her own spot (a pink camo sleeping bag) where she slept until about dawn (when she crawled in with Erik). The second night was a lot smoother since I got her to sleep before we even got in the tent.

We were in charge of dinner for Saturday night, so we did dutch oven chicken, potatoes, and corn bread. After dinner, we also did pineapple upside down cake, a must have if you're dutch-ovening. Everything turned out great, and I think everyone was impressed with Erik's cooking skills. He did a fabulous job!

We don't know when we'll get the chance again, but we love camping and were so glad we got to go at least once this year.