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…

Randomness Inspired by My Weekend

• One thing I won't miss about my children's early years: Their irrational fear of hair cuts.
• There's a great place out in Imlay City that cuts hair for $5.
• At one point yesterday my outside thermometer read 45˚. I had to shovel the driveway already this morning. I'm not sure I could live in a more predictable state.
• Moved Gage into a 'big boy bed.' We got tired of hearing him fall out of his old bed. Cribs that claim the ability to work as toddler beds aren't good ideas. Gage started crying Saturday night. Heidi went up to find him half way under the crib. He had fallen hours earlier, fallen back asleep, and then rolled - the wrong way.
• I had forgotten that 'Oh Crap! This might hurt' aspect of sledding.
• My cousin, Michelle lives about an hour away. She invited us out to her place for sledding Saturday. When we got there (Owen will kill me later in life for sharing this), he says, "That took so long to get here I have to go poop!"
• It was great to spend time with the extended family like that and see them enjoy the company of my kids so much. Kids have the power of joy. I wish I had that power.
• Favorite quote from the movie Appaloosa: "Life has a way of making the foreseeable that which never happens… and the unforeseeable that which your life becomes."
• Also, Renée Zellweger always ruins everything. Just look what she did to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. Okay. Matthew McConaughey didn't help either. That was a scary movie for totally other reasons than the rest.
• The second Twilight movie was better than the first, but that's like saying that eating ice cream is better than a root canal. Ed Wood's creations were more movie-like than the original Twilight movie.
• Why is it that American remakes of foreign movies always lack the things that made those movies great? I know the answer! They have to make room for their Hollywood flourishes which often leads to cutting out the less formulaic, unique qualities for time purposes.
• To the horror fans out there: Quarantine was a fine horror movie. It disturbed me because I have an unnatural fear of rabies. Rec is the Spanish movie Quarantine was based on, and it's much closer to a horror masterpiece without any mention of the 'R' word.
• Our church, Wildwind Community Church is moving, getting their own building. They've always rented space. Ownership is exciting. Check out the website here: www.wildwindchurch.com
• Tiger Woods.
• Sorry, just wanted to jump on the band wagon.