Hot!  Tired!  And sweaty at the Zoo!

Thank goodness there are these really cool sprinklers where we can all cool off....even little ones in strollers.

When we are good and tired there is always the trusty train ride.  It brings you to the animals and a cool breeze with it!

If all else fails and you have finished with the lions, tigers and bears....oh, my!  You can always try to catch a drop of water in your hand.

Little ones grow bigger over the summer!

Sweet girls find colorful frogs to play with in the pool...

Alpakas named Dexter realize that summer brings sweet watermelon....

And this little boy swears he didn't set the field on fire (thank goodness for an aunt who put out the flames.)

Fourth Blows....UP!!!

Fourth of July is our family's favorite time fo the year.  We gather together two or three or four times in order to eat, visit and blow up as many fireworks as possible.  It helps when one in the family is a dealer in fireworks and can get them at basement bargin prices.....the fun goes on for hours.  Laughter.  Singed fingers. Bug bites. Conversation...

The kids line up their boxes and try to remember in all their excitement NOT to drop their punks amongst the bees, black cats and roman candles.

Little girls play with spraklers.....

While the "little boys" play with the big stuff....

Families sit down after hours of lighting off firecrackers....sweaty and smelling of gun powder...

Children are entranced by the "bombs bursting in air" only fifty feet over their heads.....laughing when the end of an artillary shell smacks them in the shoulder or squinting their eyes as the smoke billows over them....

And exactly how many kids will a trampoline hold before it breaks?????

Veterans are recognized for their service and valor!!!

And the aftermath of four thousand firecrackers leaves its mark...

O Beautiful, for patriot skys, for amber waves of grain.  For purple mountain's majesty, above the fruited plain.  AMERICA!  AMERICA!  God shed His grace on thee.  And crown thy good with brotherhood.  From sea to shining sea!