4th of July in Rochester

Happy 237th birthday, America! We were so happy for the 4th to finally get here. It was Josh's first day off in 10 days. He starts night tomorrow which should be interesting. Thankfully, we were able to sleep in until after 9 am. Then we made banana walnut pancakes and got ready to go swimming. I just joined the Rochester Athletic Club and they have an awesome outdoor pool area. There's a zero depth entry for younger kiddos and a huge water slide. Right next to the pool is a huge playground that's fenced in. So you can lay out and watch your child play. Peyton had a blast. (Today's high temp was 86. Wow Toto we are definitely not in Texas.)

After swimming at the RAC, Peyton ate lunch and went down for a nap. Josh grabbed a few things from the store while I worked on our first flag cake! Some neighbors invited us over to grill and we had fun. We also made our favorite corn dip (thanks Aunt Lynn for the recipe! see below) and pan de queso (Josh's favorite bread from his trip to Brazil in 2002). 

Corn dip:

2 cans mexicorn (drained)

1 can Rotel (drained)

1 cup shredded mexican style cheese

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayo

Mix all ingredients and serve! We usually make in advance and chill in the fridge. Josh likes it when I add paprika and garlic salt or powder. We serve it with the Fritos scoops and it's always a huge hit.

We enjoyed hanging out with the people in our neighborhood. Colin and Christina were so kind to host it at their house. They both love kids and Peyton treats them like family. There's a new couple that just moved in with 3 and 4.5 year old boys who also came over. Peyton had a hay day :) We were able to watch a firework display from our house along with a few fireworks in the street.

"Look, Daddy fireworks! Loud!"

4th of July, 2011

4th of July, 2012 (first popsicle!)

4th of July, 2013 (we made this shirt at a playdate last week!)

I love looking back on how our big boy has grown. What's your favorite 4th of July memory?