july the fourth + more.

On Friday July 1, the day after the bear incident, we went to go explore a pretty waterfall and natural bridge, and have our classic Chicken Salad Sandwich picnic.  After that, the girls napped in the cars and we took a scenic drive up Mount Greylock to visit the Appalachian Trail.  We ended up going to the top to see the Veterans War Memorial and stood on the part of the trail and saw some A.T. hikers!












The next day, on our way back to Eastern Mass, we stopped and had an impromptu PB&J picnic and waded in the river.  This reminded me of my childhood, when we would stop in Fillmore, UT to wade in the ditch and play at the park. (wasn't it in Fillmore Mom?)







On Sunday we went to church in my sister's ward (looking quite patriotic, I must say).  We took a short nap and then Connel, Aaron, Hannah, Tessa, and I went for a walk while Emily and Meg took a nap.  While we were out, it started to sprinkle, then rain...then pour!  We huddled under a garden vine awning and waited while Aaron ran back through the rain to get the car and pick us up.  After a minute, the rain started coming through the vines and so we ran to stand under a random someone's porch.  Tessa and Hannah were both having the time of their lives running in the rain and splashing in puddles!  By the time Aaron picked us up we were all soaked!  We drove home with two soaked but happy-go-lucky girls!  The rest of the afternoon we relaxed.  Well, I guess relax doesn't fit into Hannah's lifestyle.  The whole time we were there, busy little Hannah ran around chasing the cat saying "tat, tat!"  I'm sure Quincy was quite sick of her by the time we left.




On the 4th, we went to the beach and played in the sand with the cousins.  Hannah practically learned how to body surf, and I got magically turned into a mermaid.  We always love the beach and I love to see the pretty New England Houses along the road! :)











Later in the afternoon, we were spoiled my some of my sister's good friends and got to go for a ride on a sailboat in the harbor!  It was beautiful and somewhat peaceful (Hannah was tired, and was not very happy that she had to wear a lifejacket!  So she was a bit fussy about that.)  Connel and Aaron jumped in the frigid water and swam for a bit.  The girls had fun playing in the "hatch" and Emily and I got to have a nice visit and try to relax.  The view was stunning and the company was great.










We went straight to the fireworks, where Emily and I busily staked out or place to watch fireworks.  As soon as we were set up the raindrops started falling!  :)  We waited under a blanket (with 2 out of the 3 girls very unhappy) and texted Connel and Aaron to hurry with the umbrellas!  The rain subsided fairly quickly and the guys arrived with food and sweets to devour.  The rest of the night we listened to the orchestra play "America the Beautiful" and more as we watched the light grow dim over Salem.  It was so lovely to be so close to Boston, where it all got started, and feel the patriotism, and hear the music, and see the fireworks boom over in the sky over the harbor!  However, even over all the booming, Hannah was exhausted from the day and fell asleep! :)