Independence Day Weekend Randomness - the freedom of speech no matter how pointlessly expressed by me

• A friend of Heidi's invited us to her family's yearly Fourth of July bash on Saturday the 3rd. They live right on White Lake. Owen brought his swim suit and enjoyed the lake for about an hour. The plan was to let him dry off naturally in the hour or so we had before we planned on leaving. I took him out of the lake and was rooting around in our diaper bag to find his t-shirt. As I turned around I noticed that he had whipped his suit off and was standing there, in the middle of about fifty complete strangers, buck naked. I then had to more quickly root around to find something to cover him. Good times.
• The following day, I let him wear another swim suit to our family gathering knowing there would be some opportunity for him to get wet. He walks into the center of the adult's shaded, relaxation/conversation area and casually blurts out, "I'm not even wearing any underwear right now!" Of course everyone thought it was hilarious, and it was much less embarrassing being around family, but still…
• It's been hot this week. I thought I'd let you know, just in case you've been forcibly held captive in an air conditioned building.
• I enjoy the Fourth as much as anybody, but it's celebrated for way too long in Burton. We usually start hearing fireworks around our neighborhood in late May and they usually last until August.
• We had a lot of fun attending the various get togethers this past weekend. Jasen, I'll make sure to hide the squirt guns next time we come over.
• I found it funny how many people posted "Happy Birthday America" on the 5th and not the 4th, likely because they received Monday off of work due to the actual holiday falling on a Sunday. Hopefully they were just extending the celebration and not truly mistaking the day.
• I should probably include a good Gage story. He's not so much "ha-ha funny" as Owen often is. Last week we went to our neighborhood park. There was a group of three siblings playing together. The oldest girl was crossing the monkey bars and her croc shoes fell off. Her little brother, who appeared to be about two years old, quickly ran over and stole them. He left them about five feet out of her reach. I watched in horror as Gage ran over to the shoes and scooped them up. I totally thought he'd run away with them. Instead, he walked them right back to her. I was laughing, but it was with pride.
• Gage is also doing better with his speech. He's been a little behind the curve, but he's catching up at an unbelievable rate. He qualified for speech classes this month. He only gets three half hour sessions, but he really impressed his instructor today.
• I turned a year older this week. My age is finally catching up to my grey hair.
• I had birthday breakfast with my folks and the boys, dinner with Heidi and the boys, and then ice cream cake with my in-laws and the boys.
• Applebee's makes a great steak. It's no manicotti, but it's close.
• Though the direction and production on the Twilight movies has improved, the overall female centric plot hasn't grown on me one bit. I get it. I do. The horror movie fan in me howls in lamentation over the missed possibilities and sparklies.
• Toy Story 3 on the other hand, what a classic that series is becoming. I'm going to go ahead and say it - I think Buzz and Woody are replacing Mickey and Donald as Disney's top characters. No. I said it. I stand by it.
• I saw the original Tron movie when I was a kid. Impressive then, but let's be honest, not exactly inspiring now. Strangely enough, they're making a sequel all these years later (?). It actually looks good, and the soundtrack on the trailer is exciting. I might have to look up a copy of the original, see if it holds up as poorly as I'm recalling.
• It's amazing that local politicians with checkered pasts are now running for State Representative. I've really got to remember to go vote that day. Some of these guys have such unfortunate last names too. If you think you know who I'm referencing, who's to say? They're all such… I don't even know what to say anymore.
• I wonder if I could put Applebee's steak inside of Italia Garden's manicotti…