Fourth of July Fun

 Independence Day is by far my favorite holiday.  Unfortunately we didn't make it out to Utah this year to be with my family.  With a new baby I didn't want to make the 18 hour drive.  So we made our own fun.

One day last week was wet and rainy, so we stayed in and made cookies and did red, white, and blue crafts.  The boys loved it!

Coen and I made these cookies.  

 My proud little helper.

 This was our breakfast the morning of the 4th.

 Marshall doesn't normally eat anything with jelly on it, but he ate this toast up!

 Coen took one bite and handed me the rest.

I took the boys out to the pool for a couple hours while John stayed with a napping Hudson in the afternoon.

I went all out for our dinner:

Layered RW&B drinks 

 The boys looked forward to this drink all week.

 And it was so worth it.  YUM-O!!!

 Another layered RW&B treat, jello.

 A delicious patriotic salad.

Rocket dogs!

 And for dessert, trifle!

Then we went to our friends, the Reinhardts' for fireworks and card games.

 Hudson and his self-declared Godmother, Emily.

Hudson was surprisingly good for the fireworks.  The first few scared him with the loud noises, but after that he did really well and was intent on watching them.  My Aunt Robin sent him this cute little Polo shirt & short set because our family is all about the flag swag when we get together on the 4th.

 Curtis & Coen.  Coen is holding his new "special alligator pillow" that Curtis made for him.  He has carried it around the house with him all day today.  Coen and Marshall like to argue about who is Curtis' best friend.

 Here in Missouri, fireworks that shoot into the air are allowed, so we got a first hand view of some good stuff, even without the rodeo back home.

We had a fabulous Independence Day, despite missing the Marshall family festivities.

A Trip to the Dairy Farm

A couple weekends ago, we went to Shatto Dairy Farm's family day.  Shatto Milk is a local farm and bottling company.  They are one of 5 or so farms in the country that bottles and farms the way they do.  They use glass bottles and do not use growth hormones.  They have the milk from cow to store in 12 hours and serve a hundred fifty mile radius.  They make flavored milk like strawberry, banana, orange dream, cotton candy, and rootbeer.  They are to die for!! 

 The hour long drive to the farm was very wet and rainy.  Despite the weather the farm was hopping with fans and we had to park and walk through a lot of mud.  Marshall was not too pleased about either the drive or the weather.

 We stood in a really long line out in the rain.  Hudson was in the wrap against me and able to stay dry, luckily.  I even figured out how to nurse him while wrapped.  Nursing at a dairy farm, now that's coming full circle!  We finally got inside and were able to sample the most delicious cheese curd ever.  Then we heard the run-down on the bottling process.

 It was very cool to see and listen to their process.  They were only demo-ing with water, so we'll have to take a trip to see the milk coming through.  I love their glass bottles and Riley even took some home with her when she was here.  Our next stop was the Shatto store where we each picked our own treat.  The boys and I grabbed some ice cream sandwiches.  A local bakery makes the cookies and Shatto does the ice cream.  Marshall had a brownie and vanilla sandwich, Coen had a sugar cookie and strawberry ice cream, and I had oatmeal raisin with salted caramel ice cream.  John chose squeaky cheese.

 By the time we got through the store's check-out line with a single cash register to serve a hundred people, the rain had cleared.  We walked out to sunny skies, a live band, and a bounce house for the kids.  We had free hot dogs and Shatto lemonade.  Then we walked to the cow barn where John asked a million questions about cow farming and Coen and Marshall swapped attitudes. 

 I loved the sides of their delivery trucks.  In fact, all of their products have witty little comments on them.

 Here's Hudson, just snoozing away in the wrap.

 We all tried milking the cow.  Marshall was a pro and jumped right in there to show us how it's done.

Even Coen sprayed some milk out on his first try!  After hearing that the cows produce 15-17 gallons twice a day, I gained a whole new level of respect for them!  Here I thought I was the dairy cow, having to nurse all the time!

We had a fun time and are looking forward to going to visit again when it's not so crowded.  Or rainy.  Oh, and when our car won't get stuck in the mud on the way out.  They had several tractors helping pull people out of the mud and the boys tying chains to the cars were absolutely 

covered in mud.  Marshall thought it looked fun.

The List

POOOOOOLIO!!! I would like to hit a museum of the arts. uh... Games nightS, for sure! Do you still have those magnetic marble courses that RIley and I were such a fan of a few Christmases ago? I'd like to see what the boys do for fun. Maybe we could go to a park and bring their bikes, or a frizdisk or something. Make and eat a cake for flag day, and then another one for fathers day! Make a paper chain, counting down the days till summer. Manny and petty day of course. We could go to the mall and pickup on chicks... skanky ones. We could go to the corner of Aaaaaaaw yeaaaaahh, and electric boogaloo, to catch the grand funk railroad to funky town for the day. We could make believe your living room is a fairy tale land and built a pillow and blanket castle and battle Japanese ninjas. We could listen to Owl City till our hearts are full of joy. We could make and distribute biscuits to the homeless. I'd like to go to John's work and get my picture taken with him on my lap and then me on his. We could rent an adventure movie and eat popcorn and candy, and snuggle close. Riley mentioned that she'd like to hold the new baby, and then hold Dash, and then hold the baby, holding Dash. We could go to the clothing department at Walmart or some such place, and then dress each other up, and laugh about how silly we look. Fly Kites. Water Balloon Fight. Share stories from our respective childhoods. The drawing game of course. We could explore new realms of thought thru the vehicle of psychotropic drugs and then start a family band called, the Keds Kids. And we'll all wear red Keds. We could go for, and subsequently become a part of, a nature walk. We could go to a baseball game. We could go to a nursing home and pretend to be family of strangers, cause sometimes they write you checks when they think you're family. We could save up all our pennies and then when the moment is right, huck them at ducks from behind bushes in the park. We could play bigger or better. We could invent a board game and then become millionaires from the sales profits (This one i'm pretty serious about). We could take candy from a baby (possibly Hudson) and then give it back, cause it's adorable when babies think something is gone forever. We could write a short story called, from the mind of Marshall. We'll need two sticks of butter and a cheese grater, but I think we could re-invent the way toast is buttered. We could play basketball in our red Keds, and then win the championship. We could make a trail thru the wilderness after mobs of anti-momos kick us out of their town, ending up in Deseret, and making BFFs with the local Indian tribes. We could hold on to the night! Or turn up the night! Or we could dance like spirits all night! We could hide in a park until somebody finds us. We could invent a perpetual motion machine. We could go to the grocery store and put shopping carts in people's truck beds. We could go bar hopping, and size up the local talent. On flag day we'll have everyone we know call the local pet shop and ask, Are you open? And then say oh good, it's flag day, didn't know if you would be or not. We'll need chalk and a park with a lot of sidewalk, but I think we could make a really long hop scotch course. We could mentor retarded youths. We could make sandals out of old tires and lanyards. We'll need to learn the words to Cats in the Cradle, a Boy named Sue, and Isn't she Lovelyl, but I think we could go Father's Day caroling. We could buy bread for the ducks at the park, but then refuse to give it to them. We could train Dash to pick up the boys toys. We could start a colony on a planet somewhere in another universe and mine a precious metal called unobtainium, and then I'll fall in love with a native girl called Pocahontas, and I'll marry her and bring her back to England with me, and Riley will become best friends with a bat called batty. We could go to a flee market and subsequently re-invent our selves as some of the hippest Hipster in Kansas City. Photo Caption Contest! We could ask people if they'd like to be part of a blind taste test, then we'll blind fold them and run off immediately after we lick their arms. We could hope and pray that the clouds will part so we can go outside and play. We could come up with some sick lyrics for Cooper Sunshine to use in a rap song. We could spit lyrics so sick that when it comes time to ryhme, no one will notice that we aren't. We could join Twitter and then hang out in your living room tweeting, and every once in a while we'll laugh at things we've just tweeted. Do you have Mario Kart? Mario Kart tournament. We can go to Stonecutters in honor of Cooper! Philosophical discussion night anyone? Are you bringing your camera dad... if you're still reading at this point... ? We'll all take turns taking a picture of the same thing, then we'll pull them up on the computer and declare a winner. Scavenger hunt (list to follow). Throw'n Coen contest. We'll buy a Lego set and each do one piece at a time. Coupon clipping night anyone? Make up the rules to a game called If it doesn't move, it's yours. Have some brownies in honor of Cooper. We could play Who's Toothbrush, that's where we decide who's toothbrush it is by smelling them. We'll make our own photo caption contest by taking random photos while we're out and about! Nice. We'll come up with numbers and have John analyse them. Alright, I'm done. someone else's turn. We could hold a press conference. We'll need a hand full of sunshine and a large sieve, but I think we can we can make powdered joy. We can go to the book section of a thrift shoppe, call out a subject, then take two books who's title meet the subject criteria and are also funny when read together. Make up the rules to a game called, by the time you know what's in your hand you don't want to play anymore. Poker night anyone? We'll go to the post office and ask them for a list of places they ship to. Geo cashe anyone? Discuss Snoop Dog's lyrical meanings. Go to a grocery store before it opens, then when it opens, ask to see the produce manager and ask him or her if anyone has touched the fruit yet? Write letters to editors. Write the screen play for Riley's movie. I for one would like to go Milf Hunting. We'll need two balloons, a poodle skirt and blouse, and a razor, but I think i'd make a pretty 50's era girl. Make up the rules to a game called, if it doesn't taste right, spit it out and try the next one... I'm thinking someone will be blind folded for this game... and we'll need a lot of Legos and different kinds of condiments to dip them in. Ok, I'm probably done again. Feel free to jump in here, anyone.

EPIC

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