Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!
Now for those of you who don't know... a little backstory.
Oh what a week this has been! Monday, my sister Katie was Granny-sitting and asked if I would go to an open house to see a house with her husband Roy before it closed. (They had gone earlier in the day and looked at a bunch of houses, and they were all duds.) We went over there, and we both liked the house. It's a really cute house with three bedrooms and two full baths. They went and looked at it together Tuesday. They liked it so much they put a bid in on it. The next day, the realtor called and said the owner had accepted the bid. WOOHOO!! Closing should be August 1.
Now for those of you who don't know... a little backstory.
Katie and Roy were living in a little bitty town called Hull just across the river in Illinois. They had been living in a nice little duplex and liked the town so much they decided they wanted to buy a house there. They were in the process of closing on a place (had inspections done, the owners had done the little repairs needed, etc), and then the Flood of 08 came. The river was going to come close to or meet the records set in the Flood of 93. In 93, the Sny Island Levee gave way and Hull was under about 5 feet of water. The flood of 93 was supposed to be a 500 year flood. Not a 15 year flood. They wisely backed out of the deal, not wanting to deal with floods every few years. Since they had given up their apartment, and didn't have a house to move into, they've come to stay with me.
This place in town is away from the river, not too far from me (yay!), and is a better house than that one in Hull. For one thing, the stairs at this place don't scare me like the ones in Hull in did. It's got a new air conditioner, new heat pump, new double paned windows, new bathtubs, new toilets, new dishwasher, and it's sitting empty so they can move right in! It's true, God closes a door, but He opens a window.
We saw Wall-E last weekend. What a cute movie!! Pixar sure knows how to make hits! The theater was full of kids, and it's always fun to see a 'kids' movie with a bunch of kids. There's this tense moment where we don't know what Wall-E's fate is going to be, and a three year old a few rows down from us cries out, "Waaaaall-Eeeee!" It was so adorable.
I got the 4th of July off this year. It's the first time in 5 years I've had the 4th off from work. And I had to fight to keep it that way. It landed on my regular day off, and I think just about everyone wanted to switch with me for it.
It was perfect weather yesterday. The high was 77F, no humidity, hardly a cloud in the sky, it was wonderful. Mom called us from the parade and wanted to know where we were. I didn't know we were going to the parade, so the three of us jumped in the car and headed downtown. Oh my goodness!! There were so many cars parked everywhere!! When Roy went to try a parking space, I bailed and walked up to the parade. I had my cellphone, they had theirs. I figured they'd find me eventually. And they did. They found Mom first with her BFF Sharon and Sharon's family, and then got me. After about 45 minutes, the four of us got bored because it was mostly cars, politicians, and lil miss beauty queens going by. So we headed for the crafts market in Central Park. (We walked faster than the parade.) We cut across the parade to get to the park. There were lots of cool booths there. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the booths because it was just so darned crowded with people.
Sharon and Mom.
Mom giving Sharon's BF a kiss.
A cool car in the parade.
A National Guard truck full of kids!
A Shriner in his little car doing donuts for the crowd.
A lot of people thought these were tombstones until they got closer. Turns out they were the 10 Commandments.
A little dog dressed up for the parade.
A spectator. Who couldn't love a mug like that?
A mastiff in the parade. He was huuuuge!
Breathe Easy, Hannibal!
Lots of whirligigs for sale at the crafts market.
A cool whirligig.
Cool stones for your garden.
The new Becky Thatcher gets crowned with a kiss from the outgoing Tom Sawyer.
Our new Becky Thatcher for the year.
This place in town is away from the river, not too far from me (yay!), and is a better house than that one in Hull. For one thing, the stairs at this place don't scare me like the ones in Hull in did. It's got a new air conditioner, new heat pump, new double paned windows, new bathtubs, new toilets, new dishwasher, and it's sitting empty so they can move right in! It's true, God closes a door, but He opens a window.
We saw Wall-E last weekend. What a cute movie!! Pixar sure knows how to make hits! The theater was full of kids, and it's always fun to see a 'kids' movie with a bunch of kids. There's this tense moment where we don't know what Wall-E's fate is going to be, and a three year old a few rows down from us cries out, "Waaaaall-Eeeee!" It was so adorable.
I got the 4th of July off this year. It's the first time in 5 years I've had the 4th off from work. And I had to fight to keep it that way. It landed on my regular day off, and I think just about everyone wanted to switch with me for it.
It was perfect weather yesterday. The high was 77F, no humidity, hardly a cloud in the sky, it was wonderful. Mom called us from the parade and wanted to know where we were. I didn't know we were going to the parade, so the three of us jumped in the car and headed downtown. Oh my goodness!! There were so many cars parked everywhere!! When Roy went to try a parking space, I bailed and walked up to the parade. I had my cellphone, they had theirs. I figured they'd find me eventually. And they did. They found Mom first with her BFF Sharon and Sharon's family, and then got me. After about 45 minutes, the four of us got bored because it was mostly cars, politicians, and lil miss beauty queens going by. So we headed for the crafts market in Central Park. (We walked faster than the parade.) We cut across the parade to get to the park. There were lots of cool booths there. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the booths because it was just so darned crowded with people.
Sharon and Mom.
Mom giving Sharon's BF a kiss.
A cool car in the parade.
A National Guard truck full of kids!
A Shriner in his little car doing donuts for the crowd.
A lot of people thought these were tombstones until they got closer. Turns out they were the 10 Commandments.
A little dog dressed up for the parade.
A spectator. Who couldn't love a mug like that?
A mastiff in the parade. He was huuuuge!
Breathe Easy, Hannibal!
Lots of whirligigs for sale at the crafts market.
A cool whirligig.
Cool stones for your garden.
Mom bought me this hat at one of the little booths. It's made of old pepsi cans. It was fine while I was in the shade of the park. Then I stepped into the direct sunlight when I wandered around the carnival. On one hand it fried my little brain, on the other hand it kept the aliens from reading my thoughts!
I watched the new Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher be crowned. It's a big deal. The 7th graders try out all year long for it. The official Tom and Becky get scholarships, go to Washington, D.C. and get to speak to the Senate, go visit the U.N. and most years Japan. They meet and greet anyone important who comes to Hannibal along with wandering around the historic downtown during tourist season meeting and greeting the tourists. The alternates get some cool stuff too. They get a $100 gift certificate, free movie passes, free popcorn and such.
The outgoing Tom and Becky alternates.
The outgoing Tom and Becky joined with Huck Finn.
(who was some kid from California, I don't know why he was there, there's never been a Huck Finn at the crowning before I don't think.)
The new Tom Sawyer gets crowned with a kiss from the outgoing Becky Thatcher.
Our new Tom Sawyer for the next year.
I watched the new Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher be crowned. It's a big deal. The 7th graders try out all year long for it. The official Tom and Becky get scholarships, go to Washington, D.C. and get to speak to the Senate, go visit the U.N. and most years Japan. They meet and greet anyone important who comes to Hannibal along with wandering around the historic downtown during tourist season meeting and greeting the tourists. The alternates get some cool stuff too. They get a $100 gift certificate, free movie passes, free popcorn and such.
The outgoing Tom and Becky alternates.
The outgoing Tom and Becky joined with Huck Finn.
(who was some kid from California, I don't know why he was there, there's never been a Huck Finn at the crowning before I don't think.)
The new Tom Sawyer gets crowned with a kiss from the outgoing Becky Thatcher.
Our new Tom Sawyer for the next year.
The new Becky Thatcher gets crowned with a kiss from the outgoing Tom Sawyer.
Our new Becky Thatcher for the year.
I walked around the carnival a little bit after the new Tom and Becky were crowned. I ate a funnel cake and had a lemon shake up. That cost me $9 all together! What a racket! The lemon shake up was a lemon squeezed into ice water in a plastic cup. After I got done with my very expensive lunch, we went home. Katie and Roy had barely gotten any sleep the day before because of all the excitement about their bid being accepted on that house, and then they worked all night, so they were about to drop.
Mom called and invited me over, I told her I wanted to see the fireworks because I hadn't gone downtown in years to see them. She called me back a little bit later and said we could go to Chuck's place (Sharon's BF) down on 8th and be able to see them really well. We were the first ones there. Chuck was second. Finally, much later, Sharon showed up. About 20 minutes before she did, I had leaned over to Mom and whispered, "If Sharon doesn't come, I'm going to kill her for leaving me here with a bunch of strangers!" LOL
While waiting for the fireworks to start, Mom's godson started pounding a pipe into the ground out away from us. You could lots of "uh-oh"s and "this ain't gonna be good" going through the group. He let off some kind of screaming firework that didn't go straight up, it curved right out over the street. I'm not kidding, about 15 seconds later a cop car came by sweeping us with his spotlight. We all sat there and innocently looked at him.
I had a blast taking pictures of the fireworks!! I love this new camera I got for Christmas. I borrowed Mom's tripod, and I got a lot of good shots.
I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July!
Mom called and invited me over, I told her I wanted to see the fireworks because I hadn't gone downtown in years to see them. She called me back a little bit later and said we could go to Chuck's place (Sharon's BF) down on 8th and be able to see them really well. We were the first ones there. Chuck was second. Finally, much later, Sharon showed up. About 20 minutes before she did, I had leaned over to Mom and whispered, "If Sharon doesn't come, I'm going to kill her for leaving me here with a bunch of strangers!" LOL
While waiting for the fireworks to start, Mom's godson started pounding a pipe into the ground out away from us. You could lots of "uh-oh"s and "this ain't gonna be good" going through the group. He let off some kind of screaming firework that didn't go straight up, it curved right out over the street. I'm not kidding, about 15 seconds later a cop car came by sweeping us with his spotlight. We all sat there and innocently looked at him.
I had a blast taking pictures of the fireworks!! I love this new camera I got for Christmas. I borrowed Mom's tripod, and I got a lot of good shots.
I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July!
Images posted this week!
(click on the image to go to it's page)
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(click on the image to go to it's page)
Looking for a group to join?
!! ~*~ A Place for Pets ~*~ !!
!! ~*~ Battlestar Galactica Fans ~*~ !!
!! ~*~ Geeks R Us ~*~ !! (new group this week!)
!! ~*~ Insane Asylum ~*~ !!
!! ~*~ Nature ~*~ !!
!! ~*~ Photos ~*~ !!>
!! ~*~ Show Me the Points ~*~ !!
!! ~*~ Triple Points Week 2008 ~*~ !!
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Comments: 46
great ESSAY!!
Thank you so much for all the great pics too ! *smiles*
Looks like you and your family had an awesome time for the parade and all the festivities!!
After little Aidan wakes up from his nap today (July 5th) Lenny and I are taking the kiddos downtown to the fair. I am hoping there is a merry go round of horses down there!
I am also hoping that we don't sweat our a*$ off! ha ha ha ha
Have an awesome holiday weekend!
Happy 4th of July weekend!
you win!
;)
Forgive the generic message here, just trying to catch up as fast as I can.
Thanks for posting!
Must be a spectacular camera.
I just wanted to say I am finally going through what is now under 5,500 pieces of gather new mail that is in my inbox on here. So with that in mind I have finally come to a piece of mail that was addressed to me in regards this article submission you have created to share with the gather community. Thank you for taking the time and sharing your piece with us here at gather. :o)
And I hope you have a Happy New Year... in 2009 :o)