A christening, but no fireworks

That pretty much sums up our July 4^th weekend; and it was wonderful!

My youngest niece, Maggie, was christened on July 2^nd at this incredibly beautiful church in Orange, Virginia:

The only thing better than the views was the star of the show herself.  Does it get any cuter than this?

Lots of family gathered to be around this adorable little bundle:

Godparents, Matt and Shannon

The McKillops





The Morrisons (sorry - the picture won't get any bigger!)





The Heils





Everyone!



And Frances and George’s favorite part of the day—the food!  Maggie was kind enough to have made all of F&G’s beloved dishes including chips with cheese dip, mac n’ cheese and cupcakes.  Needless to say, they were in heaven and slept like logs on the ride to Lynchburg. 

Thank you to Maggie (and her parents) for a terrific day!

Frances, George and I spent the remainder of the holiday weekend in Lynchburg with Nana and Pop having a blast and trying (and usually succeeding) in escaping the near 100 degree temperatures. 

Truthfully, Frances and George’s favorite thing about visiting Nana and Pop’s house is just being there—playing with different toys, chasing each other around the house, eating snacks, sitting on the porch and just enjoying their days.  And that’s what I love too; an unscheduled day where I am forced (because it typically takes force) to stop being productive and just sit, read and talk to my family.  I suppose I did have one moment of weakness when I cleaned and organized my parents’ toy cabinet:



The "after" picture



But other than that, lots of playing!

(By the way, what parent does not know that a wagon walk will always end in a wagon pull (for you, the parent)?)

We did venture out for a July 4^th event at Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson’s summer home.  It was hot, but the children had fun; of course with Ariel body paint and pony rides, what is not to love?

My two favorite pictures from that day:

Pop and his namesake

My fearless cowgirl

We decided on the “no fireworks” part of the July 4^th celebration fairly early in the day—Frances and George were getting grouchy, the rain starting coming in, and they have an old fuddy-duddy for a mother who puts PJ’s on her exhausted body by 7pm each night.  (As a public service announcement, I did buy sparklers at Kroger around 5pm July 4^th in the event the rain let up and so I wouldn’t be labeled a true party pooper.  The good news is the rain did stop around 7pm.  The bad news is I bought the sparklers at Kroger and they were terrible—all smoke, no fire.  I think the saying “there’s always next year” was uttered about twenty-five times that evening).

And of course because I love my parents’ home, I am including another round of pictures from one of the least used but most beautiful rooms, the sunroom.  When I was little, this was the family room (or den as most people call it).  It seems so small to me now to have been the room that Henry and I spent most of our downstairs time in; wrestling, jumping off the stairs, playing with Star Wars figurines, watching TV (when allowed—rare), and just hanging out.  Since my parents’ house fire in 2001, my mother changed it into a beautiful sunroom complete with an original art collection.  Sigh.  Maybe one day?

Finally, this weekend George learned how to say “CHEESE!” when someone is taking his picture.  I am sure I am the only one who finds these hilarious:

I love my boy!  And my girl!