Fourth of July 2012

 For the Fourth of July we decided to go to a Patriotic Band Festival in Bristol RI. I'm not sure what we expected but it turned out to be an all high school band competition. Although it was a little funny to be there we were pleased with how well the bands did, and the kids liked watching all the manuevering of the members. Afterwards there were fireworks so that was fun.
Then we camped at Bristol State Park. It was beautiful.

Raiyah slept in the "one man show" the first night Ryan bought it. He still has yet to sleep in it, and it is Raiyah's tent of choice for our camp outs. She thinks she is pretty cool to sleep in her own tent (which she is since I don't think I would sleep in my own tent, even now). 

 We attended the Bristol Parade for the 4th. This is the longest running parade in the country. It had a lot of fun things like era dressed soldiers firing guns, horses, floats, etc. The only thing it was missing was candy :) I would recommend anyone going but it was VERY long. You could be waiting for a new act to show up for about five minutes. We left before it was over, and still had been watching the parade for about 1.5hrs. Did I mention that the street is painted like this all year round to identify the parade route. And a majority of the houses are completely decked out in patriotic stuff. It felt really neat to walk through the city.

We hung out with our friends the Mease's. We have loved becoming great friends with these guys. Brandon, Lindsay, Brandon II, Ian, Easton, and Grayson

 Later that night we had a party at Chris and Kelly Thompson's house. There was shirt tiedying, sparklers, and slip and slide. Couldn't ask for a better way to spend the 4th. Oh, and I can't forget that Ryan spent the last hour and a half of the night teaching everyone how to play rugby while we waited for fireworks. He was in heaven.

I wish I could have caught it on camera: we saw our first fireflies. It was so much fun to watch. We were watching the fireworks in a glen which was surrounded by bushes, and they literally were on fire with the lights. They were everywhere. I felt like a little kid I was so giddy with excitement.

Memorial Day 2012

 Memorial Day was a lot of fun for 2012. First the kids both did a race in Stonington Connecticut. They had a lot of fun. Then Westerly had a parade, art festival, and memorial service where everyone threw flowers in the river in remembrance of fallen soldiers while the cannons were shot off, and bag pipes played. It really was a great day.

Raiyah getting in position for the race

Look at that concentration!

fountain, and shops in Westerly

Westerly River on Connecticut border

Shops in downtown Westerly

Main Street downtown

Post office

Library

Don't you just love the quaint feeling this small town has. We loved the small, hometown feeling of Westerly.

Malakai preparing for the race. He wasn't sure what was going on, and started a few seconds after the rest of the kids.  :)

PROVIDENCE ZOO,2012

 PROVIDENCE ZOO!!! We always like our days at the zoo. This zoo isn't the biggest we have been to but it has some different animals we aren't used to seeing which is fun, and the children's play area is great.

Kettle Pond, Rhode Island

 Kettle Pond is a beautiful gem that could be easily missed in Rhode Island. We enjoyed taking a little nature hike and enjoying the beauty.

Plymouth Massachusetts

 Plymouth Massachusetts was a place we really wanted to go because you learn about it through all of American history. I have a mixed view of Plymouth and am not sure how I felt about visiting there. I am glad we went just so we know we did but it was not my favorite historical place to visit. That being said the cemetary was beautiful and it was fun seeing where some of Ryan's ancestors settled.

First Church in Plymouth

Replica of the Mayflower

 This cemetary was beautiful and humblding thinking of all the suffering that came to those who died here. it was also the site of the first fort built in 1621. Most of the first settlers are buried here.

Supposed Plymouth Rock. From the stories we hear in school this was some grand rock that lead the pilgrims to their destiny. But really this is just a rock that some settler said might have been here when the pilgrims arrived. 

Maybe we missed it but this is the only mention we saw of the Indians of whom the Pilgrims took this land from. I am glad that I read the book Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick but it definitely put a damper on my ideas of the Pilgrims, and Plymouth.