LIFE LATELY PART TWO: FOURTH OF JULY

Without a doubt, one of my favorite holidays is the Fourth of July. I love grilling out, summertime, and fireworks, so it's an obvious match. It's always been a holiday that I spend with my family and friends, and I have so many fond memories of watching the parade, greased watermelon and coin dives at the pool, and scrambling to make it to the big pine tree in front of Memorial Stadium to watch the fireworks. I also love the Fourth due to growing up going to our country club's 3rd of July party which is always a guaranteed good time of fireworks, live music, and non stop dancing. Being in Hilton Head and Atlanta for the past 4 summers, I've missed out on these good times at home (although I always made up for it - not to worry) but this year, my five best friends and I finally managed to get to Champaign for the holiday. It. Was. The. Best. Since the Fourth falls on a Friday next year, I think we are going to have to make a repeat performance.


 We all got into Champaign by Wednesday so we didn't miss the 3rd party. So much fun being with our families and family friends!

A highlight of the night might have been when the band finished playing (last song was questionable) and we broke out in Camp Tecumseh flag pole songs. Completely normal. And no night in Champaign is complete without a stop to Steak N Shake, which we totally did. Double steakburger, please!


For the Fourth, we drove down to Southern Illinois to spend a couple days at the Sullivan's lake house on Lake of Egypt. It was so relaxing and just what I needed for a mid-summer vacation!

 

Years ago, Kaitlyn and I stayed up till 3:00 AM to finish a clock puzzle. We didn't see it anywhere in the house (completed puzzles typically get framed) until we played some beer pong and Kaitlyn started screaming. It was such a joyous moment!

We were also lucky that more family friends from Champaign were at the lake at the same time, so we had a great time having happy hours with them and playing on the water trampoline with the kids. Eight year olds at heart, I'm telling you!

It was such a great extended weekend and holiday - but I'm definitely ready for another vacay soon. Luckily I'm heading to Hilton Head with my family in 2 short weeks. Cannot wait!

On more happy news, it's Friday!! I have a few fun plans for the weekend and I hope you all do too! 

Hooray weekend!