Celebrating!

July has been a month full of celebrating - the Fourth of July, my dad's high school reunion, outdoors and summer, and the biggest celebration - Gates' first birthday!

Our neighborhood had it's annual crazy fourth of July parade. We had about 40 friends join in the fun, one of our best crowds to date. We decorated the Dori and Karl's truck for our "float" and called it, "President's on the Pike." (We live off Columbia Pike, so that's a phrase we all use.) My mom and dad made giant head's of some of the presidents and hooked them on sticks so we could hold them up in the air - it looked pretty funny. We're pleased to report that our float took first prize in the Most Patriotic category.
Next we headed to New York for my dad's high school reunion. He went to a small Catholic high school, so he knew everyone attending and was excited for the events. We took my cousin Francesca with us so she could babysit in the evenings while my parents went to some of the events.

They had a boat cruise, a basketball game, a family picnic, dinner at a restaurant, and Sunday mass. Our favorite was the family picnic because it was on a beach and we got to play soccer and volleyball in the sand with a bunch of kids. By the time we left, my mom said we could have a small beach of our own because of all of the sand we took home with us in our clothes!

When we're in town, you can find us at the pool celebrating summer. All of this pool time is really paying off. I've been perfecting my swimming skills and have recently attempted diving! My face and belly have learned the importance of my hands entering the water first - unintentional belly flops are not fun. Here's a video of one of my dives.

And last, but most important, is our celebration of Gates' first birthday. This is so important that it will get it's own blog post. So stay tuned....