4th of July, books, and funny neighbors

So the funniest thing happened the other day. We were all ready and headed out the door, on our way to story time a la biblioteca(the library). We were getting into our car when our neighbor walked by. He's a really nice guy in his early 40's maybe. I talk to him on a daily basis, just small talk, because he's always out walking his dog when we go somewhere. Anyway we were getting in the car and he said hello, and I said hi back. Then he asked me, "Are you guys lost?" I thought, ok I couldn't have heard him right. So I asked him, "What?" And he repeated the question, "Are you guys lost?" And I said, "Umm no we live here." He said, "Oh, ok, just making sure. Utah huh?" Sort of long story, our car has Utah plates because we recently bought the car from Utah. Ok, so that wasn't such a long story. Returning to our story...I explained to him that we just bought our car from Utah and that's why we have those plates. He said, "Ok, cool tag" and just kept walking. He left me standing there utterly confused and speechless. My first though was the obvious "I see you everyday and I talk to you every day!"

He really was just so nice so I didn't say that, but then my second thought was, if we were lost, and driving through NC for whatever reason, why on earth would I get off the highway, find an apartment complex, park there, and walk around trying to get directions.

He probably went home thinking nothing of it. I thought it was so funny, I was laughing the whole way to the library.

The real reason for this post is because I realized I hadn't post any pictures from the 4th of July. Happy Independence day! Only 10 days late.

















































We didn't get any pictures for the rest of it. That was actually the Sunday right before. But the next day we woke up and went down to Carolina Beach and stood in line for some famous Britt's donuts. If anyone ever comes to visit, this experience is a must. We were watching them make them, and they gave them to us in the bag piping hot. The kids did pretty good for standing in line for 1/2 an hour. Then we came home and went to the pool until the afternoon. Then I had to make 1,000 baked beans for our ward partay. That evening we went to our ward 4th party, which we all had a great time at. They had ladder golf, badminton, ultimate frisbee, horseshoes, and best of all, NC bbq. Pulled pork, fresh hush puppies, fried chicken, slaw, and loads of baked beans. I was extremely happy that I did not have any left over! I would not want to take home a huge crock pot of baked beans. Then after the kids ran themselves wild, we headed downtown for the annual fireworks/military band/funnel cakes/thousands of people fun. Except this year I was really disappointed because there was no military band, and we were all way too full for any treats. I really debated this year whether or not it'd be worth dragging the kids down there. I mean, are fireworks set off over the riverfront, right over the infamous battleship NC really worth two tired toddlers? We decided to just go anyway, and I'm very glad we did. Ava wasn't glad, but I was. She covered her ears and eyes the entire time. Kael loved it though, and their fireworks are the best I've ever seen.

Well, I realized I hadn't rated books in a while. Finished the Charlie Bone series a while ago. Awesome series! I highly recommend it. Here's a short list of some others:

Firelight by Sophie Jordan- Really good, I recommend. About dragon shifters, and similar to many fantasy young adult books out there right now.

Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart- Excellent! I thoroughly am enjoying this series. I have read 2/3 and it is so fun to follow these genius kids along their adventures as they try to stop the evil Mr. Curtain. The most fun part is testing your knowledge, along with theirs. Am I smarter than a 10 year old? Nope, definitely not.

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan- Yup, same guy as Percy Jackson. I do recommend this book. I do not like it as much as Percy Jackson, but it's still a very good read.

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare- This is the newest installment of The Mortal Instruments, and I honestly was a little disappointed. It was still a good read, but I felt like it moved very quickly and lacked some of the spunk of the original 3.

Kiss the Girls by James Patterson- I know, who doesn't enjoy a book about serial killers? Nope, I do not recommend.

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman- I finally finished the series! I started it in 2007, and I just now finished it. Talk about a slow reader! Some might be more familiar with The Golden Compass. This is the entire series. Golden Compass is the first one in the series with 2 more to follow. I'm glad I finished the series, and I really loved the first 2. The third one was the weirdest one, and I was really unhappy with the ending. But overall, yes I would recommend.

Ok, so there are many others, but those are the ones coming to mind right now. Passez un bonne journee mes amis!

Snap to it!

After watching Mary Poppins, did anyone else try over and over again when they were little to just snap their fingers and their room would clean itself up?

























Well I did. And it didn't work when I was little. And I found out today it doesn't work as an adult either.