notes on life, etc.: Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July, everybody!!!

Today was a little more restful than yesterday, but still action-packed! Keith's stepdad, Rick had the entire Browder clan over for lunch and he and his brothers smoked an insane number of chickens! While we were waiting for the food to cook, Emily gave us another golf cart tour. Lunch was really yummy...although I'm glad there wasn't a test at the end where I had to recall everyone's name and how they were all related because there is no way I could have passed! (Although the Daniel family clan is also quite extensive so MAYBE I would have been ok since I've had practice!)

Emily and I relaxing in the shade.

Rick and his brother slather the chickens with B-B-Q sauce.
Cooking chickens for 30+ people is no small task!

After lunch, Keith and I took on Mark and Angela in a corn-hole tournament in which we were victorious in a best 2 out of 3! Emily and Abigail were exhausted and took a two hour nap in the afternoon so we took the opportunity to have "adult swim" while the girls were snoozing. Adult swim wasn't nearly as high energy as kid swim was and involved lots of yummy snacks by the pool! We swam with the girls some more after they woke up and were so proud of Abigail who learned how to swim in the deep end for the first time today! She swam all the way from the stairs to the very deepest end of the pool on her own! We were so excited!

Keith concentrates on a throw while Mark watches.

Mark, Angela, Keith and I chow down on hummus and tortilla chips.

After pool time ended, Keith, Mark, Rick and I headed to the field next to the house to shoot some skeet. I'd never shot a shotgun before (although I DID do 4H shooter sports in middle school and had played Annie Oakley in my highschool musical) and had certainly never shot skeet so I was proud when I hit the clay pigeon on my very first shot! I certiainly didn't hit all of them (my stats were approximately 1 hit for every 4 shots) but was proud of my self for having shot a shotgun. Keith, it turns out, is an excellent shot and busted almost every clay target he aimed at!

Keith the marksman keep his eye on the target!

If you look closely below the yellow "rowboat" wind catcher, you can see my yellow shotgun shell flying through the air!

We decided against buying our own fireworks to shoot off and headed out to Lake Murray to enjoy the professional display instead. Rick's sister has a house on the lake so we went there and watched them from the dock of her guesthouse instead of fighting the crowds at the public parks. The main house is absolutely amazing...and my favorite part was seeing the infinity pool...I've never seen one in real life and was blown away by it. The fireworks were beautiful too and far enough away that we couldn't hear them which Abigail really appreciated! The girls and I also splashed our feet in the water on the little beach area in front of the main house and Emily and Abigail even built a sandcastle. We were sad to say goodbye to Mark and his family tonight after the fireworks display and the girls made me promise to come back some other time to visit "even if it isn't even July 4th!" Tomorrow Keith and I will head to Charleston, SC by ourselves for a little mini-vacation which we're really looking forward to. Stay tuned for our adventures in Charleston!!!