I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July!
The BF has been out of town all week so I celebrated without him…and with HIS family. I felt bad, and missed him, but really I had a great time. (Sorry Dave!)
Tuesday night we went over to his aunt and uncle’s house where we blew up a watermelon and many other fun fireworks.
Since I already posted about that, I will tell you about a (hopefully!) new tradition…going to his sister’s boyfriend’s cabin on a lake. (Please enjoy the pictures taken on my Blackberry..since it’s awkward taking my fancy camera everywhere.)
It was approximately 105 degrees when we arrived so after standing outside for 2 minutes, we decided we would cool down and jump in the water.
For some reason I get weird about getting into a swimsuit for the first time..especially when I hardly know anyone. I usually try to dress semi-conservatively, but all of my swimsuits are bikinis. Go figure.
So I literally sat in the bathroom, in my swimsuit, 5 whole minutes wondering if I should wear clothes over my bikini to walk back out to the lake…since everyone who was currently in the house was fully dressed. But then you are in the awkward situation of stripping for everyone once you get to the water. I didn’t have a towel either, so I compromised and put the shorts on. And still felt naked.
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| Debating….also my headband didn’t match my swimsuit lol |
Can anyone relate to swimsuit weirdness? It’s not even a body image thing, I felt pretty darn good yesterday, but more of a feeling naked thing. (And being around my BF’s mom naked thing.)
We got down to the lake (I did end up finding a towel), and Laura (BF’s sister) and I decided we should take a paddleboat ride. Which, really, I thought we were trying to cool down….so this wasn’t the greatest idea for that.
Laura and I started paddling and then Chris (her BF) jumped in the back as a passenger. He didn’t get a free ride for long as neither of us could seem to figure out the steering.
So he straddled the steering contraption and we paddled around the lake for awhile. I caught a beach ball that apparently one of the pontoons was throwing out in the pontoon parade (which we never saw…or maybe it was just the three pontoons driving around?). We also saw baby ducks, which of course Chris and Laura told me to catch one of them too. That didn’t happen.
We got back, thouroughly sweaty, not even gotten in the lake water (well, except for the feet..it was muddy and slimy so I’m not too sad) and went back into the delicious A/C.
After sitting in my bikini and towel for awhile, I decided it was time for real clothes again. That felt much better…especially since it was time for food, and holding a towel and food seemed treacherous.
I actually helped start this guacamole by grinding a few veggies with the mortar and pestal. Now that is a decent workout! The onions and jalepenos I was grinding were slippery and didn’t seem to want to go to a paste form, but I made it happen. I was pretty proud and felt the need to point it out the fact that I helped with the guac at random times.
The food was amazing. So much green on my plate! There was also steak, but can I be honest with you?
Confession: I am from Nebraska and steak is not my favorite food in the whole world. Neither is corn.
Did I just blow your mind?
Anyhow, the steak was pretty good, so was the corn bread which had actual pieces of corn in it and tasted more creamy than the usual dry texture of corn bread. I also loved the broccoli salad and bean salad. I need to get these recipes!!
Dessert was equally delightful. I had a reeces pieces cookie and the best brownie I’ve ever had in my entire life.
Do you think I’m joking? No, this brownie had melty chocolate-carmel goodness in the middle and also had the right amount of chewy (NOT cakey) texture. I’m lucky I didn’t drool all over the table. Or take a second and third helping. This is why I like to eat dessert with meals…I was already pretty full.
We took a pontoon (a type of boat that doesn’t cause a wake) ride and headed back when debris started to fall on us from early fireworks lighters.
Let me tell you, the fireworks at the lake were amazing. And numerous. And went on for about 2 hours.
The best fireworks I’ve seen yet. Even at coordinated fireworks you only get 10-20 minutes of fireworks. At the lake, there is usually something going off all around you.
I will say that I wasn’t too thrilled with the people to the right (and slightly behind us) letting their little kids hold fireworks that shoot off. I’m pretty sure I was checking over my shoulder a lot of the night and cringing whenever the fireworks shot off. They would light one of those dangerous lanterns that the news recently told everyone not to buy (because they will probably start a forest fire) and have the kids try to hit it with the fireworks. Not a good idea folks. At all.
We went inside and I sampled some of the best icecream I’ve ever had. I am lactose intolerant so I only had one (okay two) bites of the homemade praline pecan icecream, but it was glorious. We used to make homemade icecream with my dad growing up so I also got a tiny nostalgic. And a tiny mad at my stomach for being lactose intollerant.
I’m so happy I was invited to hang out with Chris’ (Laura’s BF) family to eat some amazing food, get in a paddleboat workout and watch fireworks with some entertaining people.
Crossing my fingers for an invite next year. 😉
Have a great day everyone!
How did you celebrate the 4th of July? Do you have any special traditions?
P.S. You should probably enter my Chobani Greek Yogurt giveaway for a chance to win a whole case of the good stuff!
