Fourth of July

This year Narberth celebrated the Fourth of July on Saturday, July 3rd. We took Nana and Papap, who spent the long weekend with us, to the festivities that included age-appropriate carnival games. Bryn got a firecracker painted on her cheek while Luke opted for a melting ice cream cone on his arm.For throwing three consecutive rolls of toilet paper into a potty decorated with stickers, Luke won the top prize -- a green inflatable elephant. Bryn won the top prize, too, at a different booth where she succeeded in knocking over a group of inflatable monkeys with a beach ball. So she is now the proud owner of an inflatable monkey. Our time in Narberth ended, of course, with cotton candy.
Back at home, Bryn played and played and played with a seemingly never-ending supply of sparklers,
while Luke expended boxes of "snaps" on the patio.
Then, in an impromptu playdate, Bryn and Luke went next door to the Marans' house where the water sprinkler turned their swing set into a water slide.

Sunday morning I put Nana to work on not one but TWO pinatas to have ready for the annual block party on Memorial Day. Pinata-making is a very messy undertaking and art as well, and I don't yet feel comfortable attempting one without Nana's expertise. At some point in the morning everyone got involved, but it still took two hours to complete the two pinatas. In the afternoon of the Fourth we went to our friends', the Moriartys, who have taken to hosting an annual Independence Day party despite the fact that Dave is from the UK! Nana and Papap understandably opted to stay behind, so they caught a movie and dinner.
This weekend was brutally hot -- it reached 100 today! -- so we mostly played inside or spent time in the water. Nana and Papap embarked on their drive back to Florida around noon, and we headed to the pool where it was, once again, overly crowded. We're going to look into an alternative for next summer, but in the meantime, we have a two-week vacation to California that is fast approaching.