Week in Review...4th of July Week

This past week, the week of the 4^th of July, has been all about the greatness of living in a small town wrapped up into 7 days. It was scorching hot, but fun was had by all. There were bbq’s with friends and bbq’s with family; there were fireworks at the town park, beach days, learning how to make refrigerator pickles and also baseball. If there was ever a week that symbolized my mantra of Back to Basics, it was the previous week and I would like to share some pictures from our fun. 

Baseball

We started the week off with a little baseball. My youngest son helped an old coach out with filling in on their team as they were short some players. It was a ton of fun and the coaches really are super nice people.

 Then it was time for our small town's celebration of the 4th of July. There was a parade through town to the Lakeside Park. It is a wonderful park located on the shores of Bush Lake. There is a playground, pavilions, basketball courts as well as at the top of the hill Lakeside Cemetery. The cemetery has graves of fallen soldiers from wars that go back to the Civil War. It is a special place to remember the fallen and celebrate the meaning of the 4th of July. After the parade and ceremony, there was a beach day. Lots of neighbors and people from our little community spending time at the beach, grilling foods and swimming away the heat of the afternoon. We spent some time at the beach and then attended a cookout with my Husband's parents at their house. At dusk, back at the park,  vendors had set up and music was playing from one of the pavilions. Children were running around and parents chasing them. It was an enjoyable evening leading up to a fireworks show. It was an awesome production put on by the volunteers in the community. We found a spot right on the lake shore to watch, the view was spectacular.

Friday was another day of Baseball. My youngest son was selected to play in an All-Star game. It really is an honor to be chosen and I am very proud of my little boy for the work he put into his sport. I am sure he feels some pressure on himself being the youngest and his older brother plays baseball too. He accomplished this all on his own and that is an awesome thing.

Saturday was a spur of the moment visit out at Iron Oak Farm in Fenton, MI. You can find their blog at http://ironoakfarm.blogspot.com. There, I got to snack on nachos while getting a lesson in making refrigerator pickles. Have I mentioned lately how much I like going to the farm? lol I also brought some ingredients to make Sangria with my friends, the farmers. It was a really nice spontaneous night to be had.

My Boys

Today, my family and I loaded up the car with a cooler of drinks and a dish of fruit salad to pass and headed out to see one of my very first friends in life. She lives in a super cute house on the coast of Michigan. My boys really could not believe that the land across the river from her backyard was indeed Canada. Her yard is so peaceful. The sound of the waves against the sea wall is all I would need to relax. I enjoy everything there is about water. I love the smell, the sound of sea gulls, the waves, boats...well in this case freighters, just about everything. Seeing her was an awesome treat too. We do not get to see each other enough that is for sure. It was especially sweet to witness out boys hanging out together. It was like a circle closing. What a journey from first meeting when I was 4 years old to having our kids play ball in her yard at now.

You see, this week has been hot and busy and my garden got devoured by rabbits and I could dwell on all the negative but... I just can't. It was been a great week. I mean, could there really be anything more back to basics as spending time enjoying life, visiting friends and spending time with family?