4th of July weekend!

We returned home yesterday after spending a great holiday weekend with our friends Kelley and Doug at her parent's home on Lake George. Our boys go to school together and always have a blast when they get together. The weekend was full of everything that one would hope for -- good company, swimming, boat rides, fishing, bonfires, and hours of gigantic fireworks that satisfied even Michael and Erick.

The gang

(OK, clearly these were not the BIG fireworks.)

The boys spent countless hours playing in the lake...

and a ton of time riding the very fun zipline

Mike was happy to have gone fishing and even happier to have landed a pike - unfortunately I was not there to snap a picture, however Erick caught some fish of his own...

while Mikey and Carson concentrated on collecting snails...

On Sunday we went to the parade that ran through town where the boys collected a ridiculous amount of candy that (hopefully) should last at least a week. The parade was truly a piece of small town Americana and it was hilarious watching the boys scurry around after the treats that were thrown out to the crowd.

Comparing their loot.

It was a family parade so Michael didn't have to do anything too crazy for the beads.

This weekend was also a fantastic testament to the willpower that is Mike. He started a diet last week, right before the holiday weekend, and was able to steer clear of the delicious potato salad I brought (I'm not boasting - it is just really good...), and more impressively, the home brewed beer that Doug had. As I am weak, I would have caved with all of the delicious food around, but Mike didn't crack and for that I applaud him!

On a personal note, I managed to leave with a wonderful sunburn on my face, even after loading up with my 45 sunblock -- apparently I needed to reapply which I did not do faithfully and so now I suffer. You would think that I would have learned my lesson this far into life.

All in all, we had a very enjoyable, relaxing and fun weekend and got to know some wonderful people along the way! Kelley's dad pointed out that if you come to their place and don't have a good time, then it's your own fault and truly he was correct!