Baby You're a Firework

My best friend, Alison, came to visit for the Fourth of July.  What fun!!  We've been friends since the first week of college, where we met while brushing our teeth.  She lives in Ohio, so our visits are few and far between.  Thanks to the miracles of science, though, we are able to talk, chat, or text daily.  

Still, time in the same zip code is precious so we literally cram a year's worth of activities into a tiny little window.  Some of the things we did in the week she was here include: painting, playing Trivial Pursuit, cooking recipes from Pinterest, going to the beach, seeing Magic Mike (ahem...twice...), and lighting stuff on fire.  

Haha!  Really!  We got together with Deanna and Tom for some fireworks on Independence Day.  Nothing says freedom like bottle rockets.  True story - this was the first time I've really done anything fireworky since I almost burned off my hand with a sparkler when I was a kid.  As a teen, my pyrotechnics were more confined to campfire rings.  Anyway, my camera actually has a firework setting, so here are some highlights!

I think the next two were bottle rockets.  I've no idea why they are called bottle rockets.  They didn't look like bottles OR rockets.  Wait.  

That one kind of does look like a rocket, if you squint.  This next one is my favorite... so gorg:  

Aww, what a fun week!  Here we are just being goobers for the camera.  I like the way my eyes match my dress in addition to Ali's headband.  We did not plan this. 

What a fun week! 

How often do you get to see your bestie?  What do you do for fun?  

Summer Vacation

Last month, my parents and my brother and sister-in-law (Justin and Ruth) drove from Pennsylvania to Myrtle Beach for a well-deserved vacation.  So close to my neck of the woods!!!  In fact, they came down to my house for an afternoon.  My parents saw the house while it was still in limbo (and my mom helped during the move-in) and  so it was very rewarding to show off the painting update and everything else that's been done on the road to decorating mi casa.

Anyway, I ended up driving to MB to spend a couple more days at their condo with them.  It was pretty fun to get out of the house for a bit!  One highlight was going deep-sea fishing with Justin and Ruth.  Here's Justin and me on the boat!

It took an hour for us to get from the boat place to the open water.  The ride was pleasant, though, and the view was great.... you know I love me some lighthouses!  I've long thought that if I could be any inanimate object, I'd be a lighthouse.  I like the water and I like helping people.  Also, I really liked Pete's Dragon. 

Finally, we got to the open water and I took a moment to squint in the sun enjoy it.  I love the water! 

We had to move locations a few times because no one was catching anything... eventually, however, there was some success!  Two guys even caught sharks!  What?!  I even caught a couple fish!!  I released them back, though.  Here's one the guy beside me helped take off the hook.  And by 'helped' I mean the kind gentleman did everything for me.  I did pet the fish hello, though, and I baited my own hooks with *squid*. 

That evening, my mom and I went over the Barefoot Landing in MB.  It was all fun and games until this bad pirate got put in the stocks.  

Sadly, I soon had to get home and so did the rest of my family, so we parted ways after breakfasting at Bob Evan's.  By the way, check out my hot mama:

All in all, it was a fun mini-vacation! 

If you could be any inanimate object, what would you be?