Fourth of July, Evan style

I'm not a huge fan of camping.  Never have been.  Why camp when I can be comfy in my own bed with a bathroom a few feet away?  Thing is I married a man who loves to camp.  Adores it.  Is fulfilled by the mere mention of it.  And I have sons.  Thus far, I've miraculously avoided doing much more than an overnighter and packing up first thing in the morning.  Fast forward to the 4th this year when some good friends of ours invited us to camp by Lake Michigan and go to the beach.  The beach and camping??  I think I saw stars in Evan's eyes just thinking about it.  So camping we went and the boys were in heaven.  All three of them.

The boys loved hanging out with their buddy, Mark and started catching fireflies, ants, and all things bugs the second we hit the campground.

The first night of camping the kids went to bed late and woke up at the crack of dawn.  And I do mean the actual crack of dawn.  Hence why Cade is sleeping in the car before we even got to the beach.

I worried that Delaney would have issues not getting to play in the water with the boys but she was completely happy to play in the sand.  Give that girl a shovel and she's good to go.

Evan doesn't agree but Lake Michigan was coooold.  I might have put a foot in and called it good.  Is it just me or does Colton look a tad hypothermic?  Evan's thermometer might be a little off after growing up in the frigid waters of Cali.

Cade wasn't the only one feeling the effects of the early morning.

Not that Evan was complaining.

The prune effect after a full day spent in the water. 

Rather than watch fireworks, Evan was gung ho on buying some of our own.  I've never seen the man so giddy.  He went into the fireworks shop with our friend and asked to see the big stuff in the back.  What??  Are we putting on a show for our family or for the state of Indiana?  At one point he came out to the car and my oh so frugal husband asked me how much exactly I was ok with him spending.  Once I squashed his dreams of spending our retirement on fireworks, he bought a few and we had our own little show after the beach.

I wasn't too keen on the idea of the boys helping Evan light the fireworks but after he promised me the boys would still have all of their appendages, I gave him the green light.  And Colt and Cade loved every minute of it.

This little girl, on the other hand, not so much.

Kind of beats the point to do sparklers when the sun is still up but I, for one, was not willing to keep my tired past the point of exhaustion kiddos up past dark.  Turns out they didn't mind one bit.  And my verdict on camping?  I hesitate to put this in writing, but I had a great time.  I think the combination of very clean bathrooms with running water and hot, clean showers didn't hurt one bit.  Not to mention that we've never camped where I didn't feeling like my nose was going to get frostbite while I slept.  Evidently, if I'm warm, fed and not using a bush as a bathroom, I'm one happy camper.  Throw in some great friends to hang out with and celebrating the 4th Evan style wasn't such a bad way to go, after all.