4th of July Weekend

We had a fabulous weekend with near perfect weather. Here is Jane in her holiday getup. I wanted to get a better picture, but this is what we have to capture the festive skirt from Mimi. We kicked off the weekend with a picnic at the beach on Friday evening. Jane had a blast, rolling in sand, wadding in the water and chasing her friend Miles. Not much to report for Saturday, we ran errands, ate dinner at Costco and came home. As we sat at the indoor picnic tables to eat our Costco pizza, Jane said, "pray," so I leaned over and said a little prayer in her ear. This little girl keeps us on our toes with our daily prayers and is such a cutie.

On Sunday we had a relaxing morning and then went to church. Jane is really starting to enjoy nursery. It was touch and go for a few months and most of her visits ended in tears. She is now comfortable in her class, is making friends and seems to look forward to nursery each week. We spent Sunday evening with friends at a park near the lake. Jane was able to see her first fireworks and almost stayed awake for the entire show. She was a little surprised when the first fireworks went off but she put her thumb in her mouth and cuddled up on my lap. I just love when she will sit still and cuddle with me. She was so comfortable (and worn out) that she fell asleep 2/3 of the way through the firework show. We could not believe that she slept through the grand finale. The boom was so loud, you could feel it in your entire body. When the show wrapped up, we put in the stroller and made our way home.

We spent most of today outside and made another trip to the beach this evening. After giving Jane a bath she still had sand in her hair and ears (yuck). It may take a few baths to get rid of all the sand. I am pretty sure we will never be able to get all of the sand out of her bathing suit. I am just glad that she is having fun and that we live so close to the beach. Who would have thought that Chicago has such fabulous beaches.

It was so nice to have Trever home for three straight days and to spend time together as a family. I am so grateful for all of the freedoms and blessings that we enjoy from living in this country. Happy 4th!