Well I'll be Yankee Doodle Dandy!

The 4th of July is my fave. If it doesn't scream family, fireworks, freedom, patriotic music, homemade ice cream and time at the lake then I don't know what does. I honestly LOVE July 4th and have since I was a little girl. My parent's best friend have a lake house and we have literally grown up going there. We have spent many a July 4th watching our dad's shoot fireworks from the dock and singing America the Beautiful and God Bless the USA at the top of our lungs with Beth as our ringleader. For one reason or another we haven't been able to go to the lake for July 4th since Dave has been around, so he had no idea how special this place was to me. Thankfully, this year we were able to go!

We left last Thursday and headed to Cedar Creek Lake outside of Tyler, TX. We got there just in time to witness Beth moonwalk across the living room....she's quite the entertainer! The next morning the women went to Canton while the men went fishing. As usual it was a good time. I actually left only buying a necklace! Mom was a little more successful.....

She proceeded to be the butt of a lot of jokes from the men when we got home...

One of my favorite events of the weekend was when mom, who is VERY afraid of heights, decided she was going to jump off the top deck. I was literally shocked that she actually did it, but as usual I was ready with the camera...

In keeping with tradition the men made their July 4th last minute trip to the firework stands to wheel and deal and get their loot. Dave joined the crew (it's a bit of a right of passage) and they put on quite a show for about 45 of us who were at the house for the celebration. They thought they were pretty cool. :)

It was so fun and fabulous! I am very thankful that Beth and Rick and Jaye and Cathy invited us to be a part of their celebration. I hope you all had a wonderful July 4th too!!