Fourth of July Week

Tuesday marked the first anniversary of our return to Peoria from Texas.  Not sure how I feel about that in many ways, but it certainly was cooler than last year.  We pitched the tent in the backyard on Wednesday, and the kids and I slept there the last few nights. Wednesday night was rather noisy with all the fireworks in the neighborhood. I finally had to resort to sleeping on couch cushions last night to get comfortable (not like I could backpack those into the woods on a real camping trip).  Tonight the warm sticky weather is back, the mosquitoes were out in force, and the cars were making noise at the racetrack, so I decided to take down the tent and sleep indoors.  On Thursday we celebrated the 4th of July by attending the parade in West Peoria with Bland children (who recently gained a baby brother) and by watching the fireworks in downtown Peoria from an office at OSF hospital.  On Friday, after assorted chores, we visited a farm owned by Kristine's friend's family and picnicked and swam in their pond.  Today, Karen took a statewide test in Bloomington, IL, associated with her teaching certification.