america's day, weekend.

the 4th of july! oh just hearing that phrase can make a person go weak in the knees thinking of barbecues and family time and a perfect summer night that goes until way past your baby's bedtime.

and this year's certainly did not disappoint. the very best part was that i could spend it with my MIA husband. summer sales are stealing him from me this summer. also, summer sales, i generally loathe you.

anyways, he had the whole weekend off and we acted like newly engaged lovebirds all weekend because we were so giddy to be able to spend so much time together.

we went to my aunt and uncle's house for most of the day and we played volleyball games, soccer games, basketball games, and card games, PERFECT. did i mention they have the perfect backyard that lends itself to all of these activities plus more?

and it isn't the fourth of july without stained lips from an endless amount of popsicles.

hamburgers,  hotdogs, and a fruit salad (who kinda stole the show) topped off the night. oh wait. homemade ice cream and warm homemade chocolate chip cookies actually topped off the night. as it should be.

it makes me deliriously happy that the 4th of july is basically the only holiday where my husband is all for dressing festively. our country is awesome, and we loved representing it by wearing its colors.

the 4th of july, as usual was a magical day. and i was grateful to spend it with my husband, especially as i remembered back to last year when he was gone for army training and i was left with one very cute, and festively dressed, one month old. it's good to be all together.

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The day after the 4th was just as eventful. Jeff and i woke up early to do 'the incline'. if you don't know what that is, consider yourself lucky. it's just basically some crazy stairs that go straight up a mountain for a mile and a half. no matter how good of shape you are in, it will kill ya! but we did it together because jeff never had done it. as i suspected, he was waiting for me most of the time as i took breaks to quench my thirst and burning legs.

(bottom)

 (top)

after that we hiked down the trail and it was wonderful to be on a date with my husband. i kinda like him. and he enjoyed himself overall even though when i pointed out the incline from far away (which just looks like a VERY steep trail that goes all the way up a mountain) he said "NO i don't want that."...."do they have a train that we can ride up instead?".... "last night i dreamt i ran a  marathon so I'm really tired this morning and i can't do that"....ya, he was quite resistant but i was even more persistent.

 ^^ awesome views

^^ even more of an awesome view ;)

did i mention i did this beast while 9 weeks pregnant? not too shabby....

how's that for an announcement?


later that day, my grandparents came. this is a big stinking deal, seeing as they have been in AFRICA for the past year and a half. it was one of the most joyous reunions. and we could finally take a 4 generation picture!! TA-DA!!

(jane threw up right after this picture. two thumbs up)

that night, we kind of repeated what we did on the 4th of july. volleyball, soccer, basketball, food, the only difference was that instead of ice cream we made s'mores over the fire pit. oh ya, they have a fire pit in their backyard too, because- they have everything.

ya, it was a perfect weekend. and it will be a swift smack in the face when jeff has to go back to work tomorrow...BOO HOO HOO.