Fireworks and Sunsets

Sigh. Back to work after a super-fun, super-busy holiday weekend. I'd like to say I'm all rested and refreshed, but in actuality, I'm unrested and needing about 3 more weeks of time off.

Enough pouting, on to the 4th of July 2008 Picture Recap.

Our friends Tim and Dani live in downtown Maumee, and are in a primo location for all things festival/fireworks/town happenings. So everyone headed to their house on Thursday for a BBQ, classic rock cover-bands, kiddy games, and fireworks.

Here is Dani with their son Timmy, at the kiddy game tents:
Here are Stuart and Nevaeh...I actually got that cow hat for Nev, but she felt like it was beneath her and passed it on to her dad...

Bobby and Nevaeh in a playhouse...

The lovely Bethany and me, in Tim and Dani's front yard...if you look in the background, on the left, you can see Tim's ridiculously coordinated and flexible niece, walking on her hands...

Bobby and Harmony, watching fireworks...imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

Ben, Joe P. and Cory, watching fireworks...

Cheering for the Grand Finale...

Cory, Tim, and Timmy...

Oh, and there was a giant slug- the biggest slug I've ever seen in real life- so of course, Stuart had to pick it up and almost put it in his mouth...

Here's a close-up, so you can appreciate how big this thing was...although I feel like this picture still doesn't do it justice...

Nevaeh was so grossed out by it that she yelled, "Ew, Daddy, STINKY!" and spit on the ground to accentuate her point.

On Friday morning, Cory and I realized it was a gorgeous day and decided it would be a good time to finally get our bikes from his mom's house. She came and picked us up and drove us to her house, and we rode our bikes back to our apartment, stopping to explore a cemetery along the way. I liked how this one lonely tree was all on its own in the middle of the cemetery...

Later that day, there was a big neighborhood party in my parent's neighborhood, filled with tons of food, fireworks, friends, and beer. Here are Kyle and Sara at sunset after a frisbee competition was cut short by someone parking in the throw zone...

Here is what the sunset looks like every night from my parent's front yard...

There were impressive firework displays being set off in four different places in our small neighborhood all night, but the neighbors we were all partying with had the most. Once the rest of the neighbors ran out of fireworks, they sat back and cheered for ours. And here is Lauren, trying to get pictures with fireworks behind her...

Bobby, me, and Bethany, drinking beers in the street...

Someone brought over a very pretty Great Dane, and sometime towards the end of the night, someone gave him/her a beer can collar...

And then Bethany tried to ride the dog. Which I totally don't blame her for, cause this dog is seriously the size of a pony. And Bethany is small enough for a pony.

The neighborhood party was a huge success and also kind of a blur at the end...I remember Cory wanting to set up a tent in my parent's backyard and camp out, and totally agreeing at first, only to decide I was too drunk to deal with such a seemingly big undertaking and begging Jason to drive us home. Then I think I tricked Cory into getting into Jason's car, then felt bad about backing out of the tent thing, so when we got home and Cory still wanted to sleep in a tent, we decided that the only compromise was to set up a tent in the living room and sleep in it. And we did. Then we played Tetris Evolution (from the tent), which I was still surprisingly good at, despite not being able to focus on the screen. Then we went to sleep in our tent, only to wake up the next morning and wonder where the hell we were. I had a giant hangover when I woke up and felt like I was made entirely of beer.

I was just finally getting over the hangover, after a day of relaxing and dinner with Cory and Dustin, when it was time to go to a party at Mike and Stephanie's. Bobby and Dustin both came with us and Mike an Steph had their Wii set up on the lawn with a projector projecting it onto a screen, and there were Jager bombs and Jello shots and good, good times. It was a bit chilly (I had on a dress, sweatpants, and a sweater- super stylish, I know), which you need to know for the next picture.

Here is Dustin fulfilling a Double Dog Dare, aka the Most Serious Dare of Them All:

Cory, Dustin, and Bobby left to pick up our friend Justin and play XBox 360, and I stayed to drink more and chitchat more and be peer-pressured into too many Jello shots. Cory was a doll and came to pick me up around 3:30 a.m.

The next day, Holly, her son Johnny, and I FINALLY went to the zoo! We've been planning this for weeks, and scheduling conflicts, work, and Johnny being sick all kept getting in the way. Finally the stars aligned and off to the zoo we went...

It was a really good day for the zoo- it seemed like all of the animals were hanging out right by the glass/fences and right where you could see them up close and personal. So close and personal, Johnny ran away more than once, thinking they were gonna get him. We could hear the sloth bear breathing, and more than one gorilla swung on a vine right towards the glass, which really made Johnny run.

Here are Holly and Johnny in the petting zoo... By the way, Holly is due in November and finds out what she's having on the 21st of this month... :)

Here's Johnny with his alligator in the Carnivore Cafe, which used to be the lion and tiger cages, way back when...

And here's Johnny and the fake gorillas...we seriously had to drag him away from these, screaming and crying...he was clinging to the butt of the gorilla you can kind of see on the right, which made a bunch of people passing by laugh pretty hard...

Our day at the zoo was such a good time, and I don't get to see Holly nearly enough, so that made it even better. And Johnny is such a cutie, and as Holly put it, "ornery", which always makes me laugh. Even when he looked me straight in the eye and dumped water all over my legs.

After the zoo, Cory, Bobby, Justin, and I went to Taco Sunday, which we haven't done since we lived at Underwood, then we met up with Dustin and some of his friends out in the country. Then Cory and I went home and just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company for the rest of the night, which was much-needed.

Here ends our Tour of 4th of July Weekend, 2008. I hope you enjoied the tour and kept your arms and legs inside the tour at all times and stayed seated until the tour came to a complete stop.