The 4th, my Bday and Brandon Sanderson

A lot has happened since I wrote a mere 2+ weeks ago. :) On July 4th we had a picnic at our apartment complex. A lot of people showed with lots of good food. :D It was fun. Alan bought a bunch of Pop-it's and shared them with the kids.

He also bought some sparklers and shared them with all the kids. The boys loved them. ;)

July 5th we hung out with Alan's childhood friend, Andrew, and his family. :) Here we are walking across a bridge in Harrisburg. :D We ended up on a little island and found a fun park with batting cages and arcade games at one end and a place to swim at the other. I need to toss those shorts. SO unflattering. ;)

 

July 6th we drove up to Canada to visit my brother and his family. My sister-in-law, Sarah, is AWESOME and made me an Italian cream cake. It was sooooo good!! :D She also bought me a cute white Avon watch and a Schick razor which is a DREAM on my sensitive pits. hehehe... ;)

Drooling here just thinking about that yummy cake. mmmmm... :)~

Later that day we drove a couple hours away to a beautiful campground. It was really nice because my brother let us stay in his huge trailer. :D

The mosquitoes were the size of HORSES, but it was so beautiful and serene! We made YUMMY s'mores and tubed down the river and fished (I didn't have a license, but I gutted one my nephew, Branden, caught with a friggin dull knife). My nephews pretty much thought I was the coolest after that. It was a fun camping trip!

One of the days our little family went swimming at this query. It was fun and beautiful! I swam to the other side of it, overcoming my fear of open waters. ;) Go me! It was an awesome day.

We also had family pictures taken. Here's the best of the worst. :D HA!

 lol, there were NONE where we were all looking and/or smiling. ;)

 I sure love my babies. :D Precious boys.

 Alan taught Christian to do the hand/chest slap from Psych. HA! It's the cutest thing to see.

Our feet are all ugly, except the boys' of course, but I like it anyway. ;)

I'm having a hard time deciding which picture I like of Alan and I most...What do YOU think?

For the finale....drum roll please..............on Saturday (July 16th) I went to a Polaris 25 Convention. Yes, I went to a geek convention. ;) One of those where people dress in strange costumes and many don't understand the importance of personal hygiene. I went, however, and had a blast. I am willing to do just about anything once, though it was so fun I'd do it again...if Brandon Sanderson were there. :D He is one of my favorite authors and was a guest of honor. He taught on a few panels (where I learned valuable info about writing), and in the evening he played Magic, a card game, with his fans. I learned and watched and chatted with him. It was so fun! He's down to earth and all around coolio. ;)

He was posing with a close-lipped smile. I told him to show some teeth. :D HA! And boy did he. :D HA! Funny guy. Aaaaah, there we go. ;) That's all folks, I hope you enjoyed the show! ;) Tomorrow I'm off to California to see my family and have many more adventures. What a busy and blessed summer!