I LOVE the Fourth of July!!

This weekend began sooooo great, and ended great as well! It all started with a surprise day off from work on Friday. (which I really REALLY needed to catch up on some sleep and get ready to head down to Riverton). So Friday I had to go and get some canned cat food for Mr. Kitty (who has yet to be re-named) because he hadn't eaten since the night we brought him home. Thank goodness for hats, I threw one on and ran to Target. As soon as I got back, I went by the side of my bed (where kitty was hiding) and opened the can. Sure enough he popped his little head out and started eating! YAY! My cat wasn't going to die of starvation! I then let Bella out of her cage because she was going CRAZY knowing that I was spending time with the cat while she was stuck all by herself. I spent most of the day re-arranging kitty stuff and Bella stuff so everyone would be happy with each other. Kitty spends most of his days hiding behind the toilet in the upstairs bath, and Bella has to check on him every now and again. They are fairly civil to each other. Bella barks at him because she just wants to play, and he'll hiss if she gets right in his face, but all in all it's going ok for them just starting out! So that's how I spent most of my Friday before my boys got home. As soon as Tim and Taylor got home around 4:15, we had to start getting ready to head down to Riverton for the parade and BBQ at my aunt Melody's house. There wasn't any traffic like I had feared, and we made it just in time for the BBQ. Good food, and family. What more can I ask for?
After the BBQ we walked up the street to the parade. Of course I forgot to bring a blanket to sit on! And we don't have any camping chairs, so we were a little ill prepared for the whole thing. Luckily Jera's dad let me use his chair and Taylor sat on my lap while Tim stood behind us. Can I just say that the parade is NOT as fun as I remember it being as a kid? What's up with businesses piling people in the back of their trucks? That's not exciting! Taylor only got 3 pieces of candy because all of the kids kept running in front of us.
So we sat through the entire parade and made our way back to the Lindleys. Time to swim!!! We had such a great time with all of my cousins. They really are SO great! I have missed all of them, and it was good to be able to catch up. The only cousin's of mine Tim hasn't met are Tam's three boys who live pretty far away.
After a night of swimming we made our way back home. We were greated by a crazy Bella who had been in her kennel for 6 hours straight! (poor baby) She definatelly kept us awake for quite a while. And of course kitty had his usual meowing session once Bella was finally asleep. We ended up shutting our door so the cat coudn't come in and meow under our bed, however he'd stick his head under our door and meow so it's just the same!
We had to take Taylor back to his mom's that Saturday afternoon, so it was just Tim, me, and the animals for the fourth of July. I had a whole bag of fire works that I could not wait to light! I put on a little firework show for Bella and Tim (I think I had more fun then they did). And we made our way to bed. Of course kitty made his way upstairs meowing meowing meowing. At this point Tim and I were both sleep deprived and could not take it! So kitty ended up in his kennel in our downstairs family room for the rest of the night.
We were able to pick up Taylor again Sunday morning. We spent the entire day playing outside with the chalk and bubbles. Man was it hot! We had a very relaxing day, a GREAT way to end the weekend. When it was time for bed, I decided that I did not want to go through meow fest again, however I didn't want kitty forced to stay in his kennel. I made him a neat little set up in the bathroom DOWNSTAIRS so we couldn't hear his meowing (we could still hear it but it wasn't loud enough to keep us awake).
I think after the cat opens up more to us and starts moving around in the day time we won't have to be locked away at night for being too noisy. So we'll just see how it goes! He's starting to be more outgoing too! He'll actually sniff Bella (as long as she's not being hyper) and he'll even play with her a little (if he's under the bed he'll paw at her). I'm excited to see his personality finally open up!
So that was my fantastic weekend! I just love life!