4th of July at Port Alto

It was our turn to use the bay house at Port Alto on July 4th. Wendy and Kelly and the boys came down on Friday and left Sunday, the same as me. Wayne came on Saturday and left on Sunday. Carolyn and Brent and their children came just for the day on Saturday. It was great having everyone there.

The kids had fun in the inflatable pool. It's remarkable how confident Zane is in the water now. On Memorial Day weekend he still didn't want to get his eyes wet. Now he's jumping in and holding his breath as he swims the length of the pool (all 8 feet or so of it!) But the point is, he really enjoys it and isn't fearful of being underwater. He and Gage and Kate had all sorts of floats in the small pool and took turns pulling each other around on them. Carlee got in every once in a while, but it was pretty crowded in there with the 3 older kids, 2 or 3 floats, noodles and diving rings.




Virgie and Bo offered to take the families on a boat ride. Jax had just been fed, so I was happy to stay at the house with him. He went right to sleep and didn't wake up for 3 hours. The kids and parents all enjoyed the boat ride. Many thanks, Virgie and Bo!

Another activity was Mexican Train dominoes. We explained it to Gage and he and Wendy played one round together. The next round he played on his own with a little help. The third time we played, he understood the moves and rules better than I did and knew exactly what to do. In one of the videos posted here, Zane was humming music from "Star Wars" while we were playing Mexican Train.

The big fireworks show was supposed to start at 9:30, so we were keeping Gage and Zane up to see it. We played Mexican Train until 9:30 and then got our chairs situated outside and waited for the show to start...and waited...and waited...and waited. Other fireworks were going off all around us and Zane didn't want to stay outside. So he and Kelly went in to lie on the beds and watch through the windows. Zane made it till about 11:00, but finally just couldn't stay awake any longer. Neither could Wayne...he went in to bed about the same time.

After waiting outside more than an hour, we came in and were playing another game of Mexican Train when we suddenly heard the deep booms of the fireworks. So, we rushed out to our chairs. This was at 11:30 PM! The show was awesome! The fireworks were set to go off at 8 second intervals in order to finish quicker (since it was so late.) Usually, as I understand it, they go off at 15 second intervals. This is all electronically controlled (I think.) Previous shows have lasted more than 2 hours!

It was worth the wait. Gage kept exclaiming, "Gorgeous! Awesome! Beautiful!" I used the "fireworks mode" on my camera, but should have had it on a tripod. These pictures don't do any of the fireworks justice...but, they're posted here anyway. They might look better if you click on them...I don't know.