1st 4th!

I am happy to report this drowsy Tuesday morn that Ben's first 4th of July was without incident.  We used the 3 day weekend to be uber-productive in the Heimer Haus and got the deck sanded and stained/painted, as well as power-washing the swing-set, grill, and anything else we could find.  I will stain the swing-set this week while Ben naps and the majority of our outdoor upkeep goals for the summer will be done.  Ryan is having to re-tread the deck stairs as they were beyond repair with dry-rot.  Let me say the whole concept of dry-rot is a puzzling one to me.  It's not dry at all and only happens in humid climates, so why is it called dry-rot??

We did plan for a little bit of fun and were invited by friends Jay and Onie to join them at their former neighbors house for a bbq and fireworks.  Jay and Onie have historically held fantastic 4th shindigs replete with crazy fireworks, but recently moved out of Andover where the bigger stuff is legal.  Their previous neighbors James, Kim and daughter Allie told them to bring the old gang to gather at their house.  Onie and I had dessert duty and Kim took care of everything else and it all was delicious.  Allie has her own waterpark with 2 pools and several sprinkler toys in her own backyard so Ben was in water play heaven. We stayed for a few fireworks there and Ben actually seemed to like the lights and was more frightened by my hands over his ears than the loud fireworks themselves.  We did stop on the way home for a couple fireworks for Ryan to play with after we got Ben down.  Unfortunately the fireworks kept Ben up until almost 11 but Ryan did get to have his mini-show and get his weird male need to blow things up satiated for another 365 days.  I think we were all moving a little slowly after the long HOT weekend, but nothing spawns productivity like productivity so while were on that subject, I'm gonna go stain the swing-set.  Hope your 4th was fun-filled and safe!!

Tartlets with chocolate ganache and mascarpone cream 

(only help from the resident pastry chef was filling them.)

Peter

Well Protected Ben

First time with the sunnies and didn't mind them.

Blowin' Bubbles

PS-I did fail at yet another family picture attempt.  I had the whole family coordinated for a patriotic picture hoping Onie (who also has a D-SLR) could snap a couple for us.  She came a bit later to the bbq long after the boys were in their swimsuits, but trust me, we would have looked very cute!

This was the morning after, but I want to document his driving skills in case he's a famous driver some day :).