4th of July – mid-week holiday!

Though it was the first year we didn’t have a pool party at my parents’ house, this year’s 4th of July was a total blast. We didn’t do the pool this time around mostly because it was a Wednesday so it felt kind of weird to plan on drinking and playing beer pole all day with the thought of going back to work the next day weighing on our minds. Also, for about 30 seconds I actually believed the weather forecast with the whole 40% chance of rain – silly me.

Aunque fue el primer ano que no tuvimos una fiesta en la piscina en casa de mis papas, este ano el 4 de Julio fue muy entretenido. No fuimos a la piscina esta vez porque era Miercoles y se sentia raro tomar cervezas y jugar beer-pole todo el dia con la idea de que al otro dia teniamos que volver al trabajo. en la cabeza. Ademas, por 30 segundos le crei al meteorologo que decia que habian 40% de chances de lluvia – que ingenua soy.

As it turned out, we still wound up drinking a bunch of beer and when Thursday rolled around and we had to do work it all turned out okay. Around mid-morning our friends Steve and Melanie came over with their darling baby girl Anne Claire (or AC) and we grilled some steaks, sausages and sweet potatoes, chowed down on Steve’s home made mac&cheese and read lots of Disney princess books to AC. Yay America! Whenever AC is around you better believe I have my camera out, so we wound up with a ton of fun photos from the day (a few are below, but go here to see more). After lunch AC got a little tuckered out so she took a nap on our bed while we spent the afternoon enjoying air conditioning and talking about how perfect AC is. Really, it’s almost unfair for Melanie and Steve to take her out in public because she leads us pre-child couples to believe that every child will be as wonderful as she is. She’s just SO CUTE and she’s got a personality to match. She’s also developing a hilarious southern drawl that adds a ‘y’ and an extra syllable to the middle of every word. For example: “touch da-yow-wn” or “I don’t wanna take a na-yu-p.”

Al final, igual tomamos unas cuantas cervezas y cuando el Jueves llego y tuvimos que ir a la pega, todos nos sentiamos bien. A media dia, nuestros amigos Melanie y Steve llegaron a nuestra casa con su hermosa hija Anne Claire (o AC) y tiramos unas carnes a la parrilla, longanizas, y papas y nos deboramos el macarron queso praparado por Steve y leimos un monton de libros de princesas de Disney. Viva America! Cuando AC esta al rededor, puedes apostar que mi camara esta ahi, asi que termine con un monton de fotos entretenidas del dia (hay unas cuantas aqui abajo pero para mas fotos hagan click aqui) Despues de almorzar, AC se acomodo en nuestra cama para su siesta diaria mientras nosotros disfrutamos la tarde en el aire acondicionado conversando lo genial que es AC. En serio, casi no es justo que Steve y Melanie muestren a AC al publico porque hace pensar a las parejas que no tienen ninos que todos los ninos seran tan perfectos como ella. Es TAN TIERNA y su personalidad es genial tambien. Tambien esta adoptando un acento sureno donde agrega “y” y extra silabas en la mitad de las palabras.

In the late afternoon we went over to Josh and Sandy’s house to celebrate happy birth of July day – a 4th grill out + Sandy’s bday celebration, all in one festive gathering. We played bocce ball, grilled out some more, enjoyed 3 huge sparklers and spent the evening hanging out with a bunch of awesome people! It cooled down in the evening (and it almost looked like that 40% chance of rain was actually going to deliver, but you know, another false alarm) and it was a perfect end to the day. So while we didn’t spend the day doing canon balls off the diving board into the pool, we did get to spend time with some good friends, eat a ton of good ol’ American food (some of it homegrown!) and listen to the distant sound of downtown fireworks while thanking our good senses for keeping us from going to see them. A very happy 4th of July!

En la tarde-noche, fuimos a casa de Josh y Sandy a celebrar el cumpleanos del 4 de julio – una parrillada de 4 de julio + el cumpleanos de Sandy, todo en uno. Jugamos juegos de jardin, cocinamos un poco mas, encendimos unos fuegos artificiales y pasamos la tarde compartiendo con gente genial! Se puso mas fresco en la tarde (y casi perecio que lloveria pero fue una falsa alarma) y fue un dia perfecto. Asi que a pesar de que no pasamos el dia tirandonos bombitas en la piscina, pasamos el tiempo con buenos amigos, comiendo buena comida (mucha cosechada en casa!) y escuchando el sonido de los fuegos artificiales a la distancia. Feliz 4 de Julio!