after a perfectly lovely week in the adirondacks, a quick little ride out to orchard park, we finally settled in batavia for a few days. on the morning of july fourth, we awakened to perfect conditions for a full day of celebrating our nation’s independence.
we had gotten in pretty late the night before, so first things first, we hit up aldi to get some provisions for the day/week. our newly permitted teen driver did the honors, so of course we had to commemorate her first aldi’s run with an official photo.
we waited (im)patiently for jake and erika to arrive with the cousins. my girls love them. and i think they love my girls.
the rest of the extended family rolled in throughout the day. aunt eleanor joined us for a july fourth boat parade. we were slightly underprepared for the event, but my parent’s friends went all in with a full tribute to our forefathers, so we would have lost either way.
anna and eliot took a little spin on the tube. being pulled by a pontoon. haha.
the day was long. we ate a lot of food. well, i ate a lot of food. finally, it was fireworks time. we took the boat out to the middle of the lake, but had to go back when hazel started to feel pretty sick.
she joined this kiddo at the house, all decked out in his noise canceling head phones. all of the anti fireworks folks crashed hard.
my pal julie brought her kiddos over the next day and we spent the afternoon playing spikeball at the beach and cannonballing into the lake. well. some of us. others sat with their moms and refused to participate in any sand or water fun.
the rest of our time in batavia was filled with lazy adventures. kayaks. bike rides. (walks for me, the photographer).
on one particular walk, i happened upon a coneflower, which pairs nicely with the coneflower block wall hanging i gifted to my mom for mothers/birthday this year.
no trip to batavia would be complete with out at least two pizza and wing nights, and this one was no different. they just don’t make it like this in winston salem.
our time went by pretty quickly this time around. but appointments and camps and practices and work beckoned, so off to north carolina for us….