Happy 4th of July Weekend!

We have had alot of family time together and it was wonderful.

Friday I was off work but both girls still had day care and summer camp.  So I was going to work on a project that has been needing my attention for a very long time.  But..... Elizabeth was super tired and stayed home with me.  We did alot even though she was "sick".  We brought Ella to daycare, loaded the van with the Goodwill stuff, dropped it off, went to lunch, great shopping at Target, and time for a rest.  Then we got the little one and we all went and had a great visit with Dad.

Saturday we left about an hour later than I planned but still got to do everything we talked about.  We went to Stillwater and played at Teddy Bear Park but it was so HOT.  We also had to find a public restroom so after that we walked around Stillwater a little.  We got candy and the girls got sparkly eye makeup at a great shop.  Then we headed to our friends' place at the lake. 

Our suits were on and tubing and swimming were the fun items on Saturday.  Both girls tubed and had a blast.  Other adults were on the boat so I stayed back to visit with friends and the next thing I saw was Elizabeth bopping by.  She was smiling from ear to ear.  Then a few minutes later here came Ella bopping along.  That was her first time tubing and I didn't have my camera.  I know she will remember it forever though.  She loved it!

After the sun went down we did fireworks and everyone loved it.  Ella and I had an interesting conversation though.  She has been discussing death for a few days.  She asks about my mom alot and says she wishes she had met her.  She also asks me if I miss my mom.  I don't mind these conversations because they are good to talk about, just like adoption.  Anyway, Ella said to the stars, Hi Joan's Mom - How are you?  So it turns out she thinks my mom is a star in Heaven.  I couldn't do better than that so we both talked to my Mom for a bit.  I also reminded Ella that Mom's name is Grace.  So then she called her Grandma Grace. 

We spent the night and played more on Sunday.  They tubed some more and swam alot.  Then we packed up and stopped at another friend's cabin in the area.  The girls didn't want to go in because they were tired.  But, I forced them and then they saw Kristinna's trampoline and I couldn't get them out of there to leave.  LOL

We got home about 8 and we stayed up watching TV and then went to bed.  They slept in until 8:25.... SUCCESS.  We now have sleeping in.  YEAH. 

Today we are going to the MN Zoo so I'll load pictures when we get home.  I have some from Stillwater but none at the cabin.