4th of July

Could my blog titles get any more creative?! I'm strictly trying to document our adventures :) We were back at the beach for the 4th. It's sort of a tradition for my family to all get together on this holiday, and it's always extra special because we get to celebrate my Dad's birthday (the 4th) and we always have an early birthday celebration for Julie (July 10th). Despite it raining for FOUR days straight, we made the best of it and tried to enjoy each other's company and not kill each other. I think it rained 19 inches in Panama City on our second day there! All the locals said they never remembered it raining for that many days consecutively.

William's face says it all... we spent all day Thursday (July 4th) sitting on the porch watching it rain nervously thinking about how we were going to entertain ourselves for the next 3 days :) 

On Friday, the boys managed to squeeze in 12 holes of golf and tried to avoid the puddles. We took William on a stroll and ran into them on the golf course. They weren't that excited to see us. 

 You've got to be really desperate to play golf around a lake puddle that large.

July 4th evening, we had our big traditional meal (ribs, squash casserole, butter beans, slaw) and celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday!!! The fireworks were postponed until Saturday because of the weather. 

 Juju made William's outfit :)

 Jan Jan and Sam bought him a fishing pole.

 Daddy tried to teach William how to fish indoors. 

 We spent a LOT of time lounging around and talking. 

 Grant caught a 25 lb. chunky 14 month old :)

 Sam is probably William's biggest admirer. I absolutely LOVE watching them together. William is a little hesitant around Sam at first (as he is most men) but he grew more fond of him throughout the weekend. He liked for Sam to touch his feet and hands. One night everybody was on the porch BUT William and Sam stayed inside. We all spied on them as William sat quietly and completely still staring at Sam from across the room. 

 It won't be long before they become big buddies! 

 William and his Aunt Birdie

 Juju and William look like they planned matching outfits!

 The humidity made William's curls wild!!

 Dad's Olexa's birthday cake Julie carefully transported from Birmingham

 Our chefs. They cooked EVERY single meal the entire weekend. 

 That's Aunt Birdie's boyfriend, David, in the background! He was quite the trooper to be cooped up with our crazy clan for 5 days while it rained nonstop. 

 William's new trick is giving kisses. He's lays 'em on thick ;)

 It's hard to believe she's a GREAT-grandmother. 

 We saw a little rainbow that evening before the rain came back with a vengeance. 

Happy Independence Day and Happy Birthday to a wonderful Dad!!!

To be continued...